Brandt Snedeker’s American squad brings the deeper résumé to Chicago, while Geoff Ogilvy’s International Team tries to end a losing streak that stretches back nearly three decades.
One of golf’s most familiar stages will have a dramatically different look this week when the Presidents Cup arrives at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago.
The United States and International Team begin four days of match play Thursday on Medinah’s renovated Course No. 3, with Brandt Snedeker captaining an American team led by World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Geoff Ogilvy attempting to engineer what would be a historic breakthrough for the Internationals.
History has been brutally one-sided.
The United States owns a 13-1-1 record in the competition and has won 10 consecutive Presidents Cups.
The International Team’s only victory came at Royal Melbourne in 1998, while the teams tied in South Africa in 2003. The Americans most recently won 18½-11½ at Royal Montreal in 2024.
Yet this edition arrives with enough intrigue to make Medinah worth watching.
Snedeker’s captain’s picks remain a major talking point after J.J. Spaun — the 2025 major champion and a two-time winner in 2026 — was left home, then immediately traveled to England and won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Meanwhile, one of Snedeker’s picks, Jacob Bridgeman, arrives in Chicago scorching hot after firing a final-round 61 Sunday to win the opposite-field Biltmore Championship Asheville for his second PGA Tour victory of the season.
And then there is Medinah itself.
The course made famous by Tiger Woods’ PGA Championship victories and Europe’s miraculous comeback at the 2012 Ryder Cup has undergone a major transformation since viewers last saw it on a global stage.
THE SKINNY
- What: 2026 Presidents Cup
- Where: Medinah Country Club, Course No. 3 — Medinah, Illinois
- Par 72, 7,564 yards
- When: Sept. 24-27, 2026; practice rounds Sept. 22-23
- Format: 30 matches — five Thursday four-balls, five Friday foursomes, eight Saturday team matches and 12 Sunday singles
- U.S. Captain: Brandt Snedeker
- International Captain: Geoff Ogilvy
- Defending champion: United States
- All-time series: United States leads 13-1-1
- Last International victory: 1998, Royal Melbourne
- Last meeting: United States def. International Team, 18½-11½, 2024 at Royal Montreal
- Schedule
- Thursday: Five four-ball matches, tee times: 11:35 a.m.-12:47 p.m. CT
- Friday: Five foursomes matches, tee times: 1:05-2:01 p.m. CT
- Saturday: Four morning and four afternoon matches, tee times: 7:02 a.m. and 1:15 p.m. CT
- Sunday: 12 singles matches tee times: beginning 11:02 a.m. CT
HOW TO FOLLOW
Thursday, Sept. 24
- Noon-12:30 p.m. ET — Opening Ceremony, Golf Channel
- 12:30-7 p.m. ET — Four-balls, Golf Channel/Golf Channel mobile
Friday, Sept. 25
- 2-7 p.m. ET — Foursomes, Golf Channel/Golf Channel mobile
Saturday, Sept. 26
- 8-9 a.m. ET — Golf Channel/Golf Channel mobile/Peacock
- 9 a.m.-7 p.m. ET — NBC/Peacock
Sunday, Sept. 27
- Noon-6 p.m. ET — Singles, NBC/Peacock
Golf Channel will also air extensive Live From the Presidents Cup coverage throughout the week.
Online: PresidentsCup.com
X: @PresidentsCup
Facebook: @PresidentsCup
Instagram: @PresidentsCup
THE TEAMS
United States:
Brandt Snedeker (Captain)
Scottie Scheffler*
Cameron Young*
Wyndham Clark*
Sam Burns*
Russell Henley*
Collin Morikawa*
Chris Gotterup
Justin Thomas
Xander Schauffele
Patrick Cantlay
Jackson Koivun
Jacob Bridgeman
International:
Geoff Ogilvy (Captain)
Si Woo Kim*
Ryan Fox*
Hideki Matsuyama*
Tom Kim*
Min Woo Lee*
Adam Scott*
Sungjae Im
Nico Echavarria
Corey Conners
Nick Taylor
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Ryo Hisatsune
*Automatic qualifier
A VERY LOPSIDED HISTORY
The Presidents Cup was launched in 1994 as the PGA Tour’s answer to the Ryder Cup and international team golf, pairing the United States against players from the rest of the world excluding the Ryder Cup’s Europe.
Competitive balance has largely failed to materialize.
The Americans have won 13 of the first 15 editions, including every Presidents Cup played in the United States. The International Team’s lone victory came under Peter Thomson at Royal Melbourne in 1998, while the 2003 matches at Fancourt ended in the event’s only tie.
The current U.S. winning streak began in 2005 and has now reached 10 consecutive Cups.
That history creates an unusual dynamic for Snedeker. The Americans aren’t merely attempting to defend the trophy; anything other than another victory would constitute one of the biggest departures from historical precedent in Presidents Cup history.
MEDINAH — BUT NOT THE MEDINAH YOU REMEMBER
Medinah No. 3 may be one of the most recognizable championship venues in America, but the course players see this week is substantially different from the one remembered from the 2012 Ryder Cup or 2019 BMW Championship.
Originally designed by Tom Bendelow, Course No. 3 underwent a major redesign by Australian firm OCM Golf — Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead — completed in 2024.
The project widened fairways, expanded greens and bunkers, opened sightlines by removing trees and significantly reworked the closing stretch around Lake Kadijah.
At 7,564 yards and par 72, the modern Medinah features larger strategic targets rather than simply narrow corridors and punitive rough. Its redesigned final six holes were specifically routed to make Lake Kadijah a more important visual and strategic element.
Perhaps most intriguing for match play is the new par-4 16th, which presents a diagonal carry over water and potentially offers aggressive players a chance to challenge the green, followed by a newly configured par-3 17th across Lake Kadijah and a muscular 487-yard finishing hole.
And there is some delicious symmetry in Ogilvy captaining the International Team on a course redesigned by the architectural firm bearing his name.
Medinah also carries plenty of match-play ghosts. It was here in 2012 that Europe erased a 10-6 Sunday deficit to defeat the United States in what became known as the “Miracle at Medinah.”
Fourteen years later, another International team arrives looking for a considerably bigger historical upset.
STORYLINES TO WATCH
Can the International Team finally make this competitive?
That question hangs over nearly every Presidents Cup.
The International Team has produced talented rosters and several close calls, but the overall numbers remain staggering: one win in 15 attempts and none since 1998.
Ogilvy has legitimate firepower at the top with Hideki Matsuyama, Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee, Tom Kim and Ryan Fox, while Adam Scott will make yet another appearance at age 46. But depth — particularly against the bottom half of the American roster — has historically been where the U.S. advantage becomes difficult to overcome.
Scottie Scheffler Leads Another Loaded American Team
Scheffler enters as World No. 1 and the unquestioned centerpiece of Snedeker’s team.
Remarkably, though, Presidents Cup play has not yet produced Scheffler’s best golf. He owns a 3-5-1 record across his first two appearances.
The Americans hardly lack support around him: Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa all qualified automatically, while Snedeker had the luxury of adding Schauffele, Thomas and Cantlay as picks.
The J.J. Spaun Elephant in the Room
Snedeker’s selections were always going to be scrutinized. Then Spaun made the discussion impossible to ignore.
Spaun finished 10th in the U.S. standings but was passed over when Snedeker selected Schauffele, Thomas, Cantlay, Gotterup, Koivun and Bridgeman.
Spaun then went to Wentworth and won the BMW PGA Championship Sunday, closing with a 67 and openly acknowledging that the Presidents Cup snub provided additional motivation.
Spaun won’t hit a shot at Medinah, and given America’s enormous historical advantage his absence may never materially affect the outcome. But the episode has put additional focus on the captain’s-pick system and ensures Snedeker’s selections will be watched closely.
Bridgeman Arrives on Fire
The flip side of the Spaun debate is Jacob Bridgeman.
One of Snedeker’s more inexperienced choices produced perhaps the strongest possible answer one week before the matches.
Bridgeman erased a five-shot deficit Sunday at the Biltmore Championship Asheville by shooting a career-best 10-under 61, winning by two strokes and collecting his second PGA Tour title of 2026.
Suddenly, Snedeker has a rookie arriving at Medinah as one of the hottest players on either roster.
What Does Snedeker Get From Justin Thomas?
Thomas brings one of the strongest team-match résumés on the American roster, but his preparation became another talking point when he withdrew from last week’s Biltmore Championship without an announced reason.
Thomas has been working his way back after back surgery following the 2025 season and enters Medinah without having played competitively since August.
His Presidents Cup history — 11 points from 15 previous matches — helps explain why Snedeker valued him so highly. But his form and workload will be worth watching from Thursday onward.
Adam Scott’s Latest — and Perhaps Best — Shot
Nobody on the International roster understands the frustration of this competition better than Adam Scott.
The former Masters champion has spent much of his career trying to help the Internationals solve the American puzzle, and he again arrives as one of Ogilvy’s most important veteran voices.
Scott also arrives in form after finishing tied for second at Wentworth behind Spaun on Sunday.
Three Major Champions Give the Internationals Some Firepower
Ogilvy’s roster includes major champions Matsuyama and Scott along with 2026 major winner Ryan Fox.
The question is whether the Internationals can turn individual talent into enough productive partnerships before Sunday’s singles.
The Presidents Cup is frequently won or lost in the team sessions, when captains must find combinations capable of repeatedly earning points together.
The redesigned course could actually encourage match-play drama
The old Medinah was often characterized by length and demanding execution.
OCM’s renovation has introduced more width, angles and choices.
That matters in match play. A player whose partner is safely positioned can attack a dangerous line that might make little sense in stroke play. The redesigned 16th and the water-heavy closing sequence could produce exactly the type of volatility a team event needs.
A Presidents Cup Without LIV Players
Unlike the majors, or the Ryder Cup, the Presidents Cup remains a PGA Tour-controlled event. LIV Golf players are not eligible to qualify or receive captain’s selections.
That means players such as Bryson DeChambeau, Joaquin Niemann, and Cameron Smith are outside the competition regardless of world standing or résumé — another reminder that the Presidents Cup represents a narrower slice of elite men’s golf than the majors.
Trump Returns as Honorary Chairman
President Donald Trump has accepted the role of honorary chairman for the 2026 matches, the second time he has held the ceremonial position after 2017.
Presidents Cup honorary chairmen have traditionally included sitting or former U.S. presidents and heads of government from host nations.
That adds another high-profile element to an already busy week in Chicago.
⸻
For all the intrigue, the central question remains the same one that has defined this event for more than two decades:
Can the International Team finally make the Presidents Cup a genuine fight again?
Medinah has already witnessed one supposedly impossible comeback in international team golf.
The Internationals will need to summon some of that same magic this week.
