Scheffler vs Rahm: The Rivalry We've Been Missing Returned At The Ryder Cup

Scottie Scheffler is well on his way to going down as this era's greatest player, but right behind him is Jon Rahm.

The pair, who have played each other in each of the last two Ryder Cup Sunday singles sessions, were back at it on Friday afternoon at Bethpage Black where Rahm and Straka took down Scheffler and Spaun in the four-balls.

We can only imagine what Jon Rahm would have done on the PGA Tour over the last two years in a spell where Scottie Scheffler has stolen the limelight and won three Majors in a total of 13 PGA Tour titles plus the Olympic Gold and another Hero World Challenge.

Rahm has been a cut above the rest in his first two seasons in the LIV Golf League, winning two tournaments and two Individual season-long titles, but it's difficult to argue that he would not have been a genuine rival to Scheffler amid the World No.1's dominant two seasons on the PGA Tour.

Would he have been able to win more titles and deny Scheffler some wins? We will never know.

Friday was a reminder to PGA Tour fans of Rahm's pure quality and incredible competitiveness for those who may not have been watching him as much on LIV Golf over the past two seasons.

Many will point to Rahm's winless 2025 season when critiquing him but I would argue that 54-hole tournaments are possibly tougher to win and Rahm would come out on top more often over four days.

Again, that is something we'll never know.

Either way, the Spaniard is undoubtedly one of his era's greatest players and to see him and Scheffler going toe-to-toe once again was pure theatre. They are arguably the best two male golfers in the world and have already faced off in some great battles on the biggest of stages.

It was a reminder to me of what we've been missing out on over the past couple of years after Rahm left for LIV Golf following a 2023 campaign that included four wins, one of which was The Masters.

Rahm is well on his way already to becoming a European Ryder Cup legend and not even Scheffler could fend him off on Friday, where the LIV Golf star extended his streak to seven wins and two halves in his last nine doubles matches.

Scheffler, on the other hand, is now surprisingly winless in his last six Ryder Cup matches.

A poignant moment came on the tricky 15th at Bethpage on Friday afternoon, where Scheffler poured in his longest putt of the day down the hill to look likely to claw a hole back before Rahm followed him in to bring a European point closer.

It was his sixth birdie in 15 holes and led to a 3&2 win on the very next green.

The two stalwarts will have a lot of sway over where the trophy goes over the next two days, and there's every chance we'll see them both out first again in the singles on Sunday.

Keegan Bradley will be worried after day one and desperately needs Scheffler to perform over the next two days, while Luke Donald can be confident that Jon Rahm has delivered two points from two matches and looks at his unbeatable best.

As things stand, the next time we'll see them compete against each other in the same tournament will be April at The Masters - so let's hope we get to see the battling it out again at least one more time this weekend at Bethpage.