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Presidents Cup 2026 tees off at Medinah: pairings, format and what to watch
The 16th Presidents Cup is under way at Medinah, on a course redesigned by the International captain. Thursday's four-ball pairings, the format, and what the Internationals have in their favour after ten straight American wins.
Medinah Country Club outside Chicago became the first course designed by an active team captain to stage a Presidents Cup when the 16th edition began on Thursday.
International captain Geoff Ogilvy reworked Medinah’s No. 3 Course through his design firm OCM in a $26 million project unveiled in July 2024, according to Golf Digest. The US captain, Brandt Snedeker, played in the 2012 Ryder Cup there, when Europe came back on Sunday to win, and he has described that week as one of the low points of his career.
There are 30 points available from Thursday to Sunday:
- Thursday: five four-ball matches
- Friday: five foursomes matches (alternate shot)
- Saturday: two sessions
- Sunday: 12 singles matches
Each team has 12 players, so two players on each side sit out every team session.
Thursday’s four-ball pairings and the two teams
| Match | Tee time (ET) | USA | International |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12:35 pm | Scottie Scheffler / Sam Burns | Min Woo Lee / Sungjae Im |
| 2 | 12:53 pm | Cameron Young / Xander Schauffele | Hideki Matsuyama / Ryo Hisatsune |
| 3 | 1:11 pm | Justin Thomas / Jackson Koivun | Corey Conners / Nico Echavarría |
| 4 | 1:29 pm | Wyndham Clark / Collin Morikawa | Ryan Fox / Adam Scott |
| 5 | 1:47 pm | Chris Gotterup / Patrick Cantlay | Tom Kim / Si Woo Kim |
Pairings via GOLF.com.
USA (captain Brandt Snedeker): Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa qualified automatically. The six captain’s picks are Chris Gotterup, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Jacob Bridgeman, Patrick Cantlay and Jackson Koivun.
International (captain Geoff Ogilvy): Si Woo Kim, Ryan Fox, Hideki Matsuyama, Min Woo Lee, Tom Kim and Adam Scott qualified automatically. Ogilvy picked Corey Conners, Nico Echavarría, Sungjae Im, Ryo Hisatsune, Nick Taylor and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Russell Henley, Jacob Bridgeman, Nick Taylor and Christiaan Bezuidenhout sit out Thursday’s session.
Ten straight American wins
The United States leads the series 13-1-1 and has won ten in a row. The Internationals’ only win came in Australia in 1998, and the 2003 match in South Africa was tied.
Ryan Fox arrives as the reigning Open champion after his win at Royal Birkdale in July. At Royal Montreal in 2024 the Internationals trailed 5-0 after the first session, then won all five foursomes on Friday to level the match at 5-5, before the US pulled away over the weekend.
Snedeker has been wary of Friday’s foursomes in particular, noting that alternate shot can shrink a talent gap because one poor swing leaves your partner in trouble.
Sources: GOLF.com, Golf Digest, Yahoo Sports.
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