Scottie Scheffler Is The Best Golfer In The World...But Not At This Ryder Cup

It might be a little surprising to see Scottie Scheffler struggling to find his A game - or B/C game for that matter - but is anyone really that shocked by what we've seen so far from Tommy Fleetwood at the Ryder Cup?

Let's get one thing straight: the 34-year-old Englishman is the best player in the world right now - he proved that when he won the FedEx Cup at the end of August, and he's carried his blistering form into Bethpage.

Scottie Scheffler has enjoyed another ridiculously good season. His win at Royal Portrush in July already seems like a distant memory, for two more victories have been added to his growing count since then. Win number 19 came in his last start before the Ryder Cup. We ran out of superlatives for the official World No.1 long ago.

However, it's entirely possible that he's peaked for the season. Every time he's settled over a wedge shot so far this week, we've expected hime to stiff it; every time he's lined up a makable putt, we've expected the ball to disappear - and it's just not happened for him. So far.

Let's cut him some slack. Scheffler has won 30 per cent of the tournaments he's teed it up in this year; he's won two more Major Championships; his worst finish is tied 25th. His numbers are ludicrous.

But he's also human, as this week has proved after three consecutive losses to start his Ryder Cup.

Meanwhile, the man from Southport - a player way too good to go 164 events before winning his first PGA Tout event - can do no wrong. They say the Ryder Cup is all about momentum, and no one has more of that right now than Fleetwood.

Fleetwood finished tied third at the FedEx St Jude Championship; tied fourth at the BMW Championship; and first at the Tour Championship to claim the FedEx Cup.

He really had been banging at the door. Only the pressure he was under to finally get over the line was holding him back.

Now he can claim to have won one of the biggest trophies in the game. When you shoot 63, 63, 68, 68 to beat the top 30 in the standings, you can claim to be the best.

Scheffler might have something to say about that, of course, but we can all see who's playing the best golf in the world right now.

In day two of the foursomes, Rory McIlroy and Fleetwood maintained their perfect Ryder Cup record together. Fleetwood was being his usual modest self when he said that he "was the lucky one that gets to play with Rory".

If you're on that European side and you want to win a point, Tommy is your man right now.

Fleetwood is 3-0 so far and tops the Data Golf Strokes Gained metrics for the first three sessions with +5.26, ahead of Jon Rahm with +4.40.

"I think when you've got a partner like Tommy you can play with so much freedom and so much trust in your game because you know you have someone that's going to back you up," Rory McIlroy said on Friday.

"That's the way I felt the two times we played in Rome and then today."

Sometimes it's not about the statistics. If we go down that route, Scheffler wins just about every head-to-head.

I'm no expert when it comes to the Official World Golf Ranking (who is?), but the four-time Major winner won't be knocked off his perch any time soon - he's racked up so much credit.

However, on current form, he's been surpassed at Bethpage, temporarily perhaps, but he's not performed like a World No.1 so far this week. Nowhere near it.

Having finally got that monkey off his back, Fleetwood is playing with even greater freedom and is now well on his way to securing his status as a European Ryder Cup great - as the remarkable statistic below shows:

He probably won't want the season to end, to wait another six months for the next Major Championship.

Luke Donald's star men have come up with the goods so far this week at Bethpage, and it's easy to see who those star men are. Jon Rahm, McIlroy and Fleetwood. The Englishman might just be the best of the lot right now.