GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Åberg has the makings of a Ryder Cup partnership for Europe for the next decade or more.
The Scandinavian studs might never have a better session than the one they had on Saturday morning.
Their 9-and-7 win over Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka took its place in Ryder Cup history as the biggest margin of victory in an 18-hole match.
For posterity, Hovland took a photo of the scoreboard beside the 11th hole at Marco Simone, where the blowout finished after just 2 hours and 20 minutes.
He couldn’t quite believe it. Neither could Scheffler, who was seen a few minutes later wiping away tears and being comforted by his wife.
The world No. 1 and Koepka, a five-time major champion, were taken down by a guy playing his second Ryder Cup and another — Åberg — who only turned professional four months ago.
The Americans started double-double-bogey and were 4 down after four holes. Hovland and Åberg didn’t even have to play particularly well in that run, but they kept the pressure on to go 7 up after nine holes and then 8 up after 10.
The match finished on No. 11 thanks to a concession by Scheffler and Koepka. The Europeans didn’t even have to make a putt.
The previous record for foursomes was 7 and 6, most recently when Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley beat Luke Donald and Lee Westwood at Medinah in 2012. The record for a fourballs match is 7 and 5, while the singles record is 8 and 7.
Hovland, a 26-year-old from Norway, and Åberg, a 23-year-old rookie from Sweden who hasn’t even played in a major, have been speaking their own language during their rounds but they understand each other just fine.
They are getting to know each others’ game, too, and won Friday morning in the foursomes against Max Homa and Brian Harman, 4 and 3.
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