Medinah comeback, same old problem: what the US take to Adare Manor

The United States went into Sunday at Medinah three points behind, won nine singles and took an 11th straight Presidents Cup. The full scorecard is less comfortable reading ahead of next September’s Ryder Cup: the Americans took only two of nine foursomes.

Two wins from nine foursomes

The US went 3-2 in Thursday’s four-balls, then lost all five of Friday’s foursomes. ESPN calculates that since 2023 the Americans are 8-26 in foursomes across two Presidents Cups and two Ryder Cups.

Scottie Scheffler’s record in team foursomes now stands at 1-8-0 by ESPN’s count, and captain Brandt Snedeker left him out of Saturday afternoon’s session. Scheffler still finished the week with three points from four matches.

Against an International side whose highest-ranked player, Si Woo Kim, sits 14th in the world, a deficit could be recovered. At Bethpage last year the US needed a near-record singles session and still fell short. At Adare Manor, a team that has not won a Ryder Cup in Europe since The Belfry in 1993 cannot afford to go into Sunday three points down.

Young, Gotterup and Koivun

There were positives for Jim Furyk, who was one of Snedeker’s assistants this week and will captain the side in Ireland.

• Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup look like a partnership. Not paired on Thursday, they won both their matches together on Saturday, including a 6 and 4 foursomes thrashing of Adam Scott and Sungjae Im. Gotterup went 3-0 over the weekend and, per ESPN’s figures from Data Golf, led both teams in strokes gained putting.
• Jackson Koivun, Snedeker’s rookie pick, finished 2-0-1 and was the only American not to lose a match. He came from two down to beat Si Woo Kim in the singles.
• Singles: 9½ points from 12 matches.

The disappointment was Wyndham Clark, who went 1-4 despite ranking third of the 24 players in strokes gained, according to ESPN.

Ryder Cup points start in January

Medinah earns nobody anything towards Adare Manor. Under the qualification system confirmed by the PGA of America, US Ryder Cup points will be earned only in 2027, from The American Express in January to the BMW Championship in August. The top six qualify automatically, and Furyk makes six captain’s picks after the TOUR Championship.

With half the team picked, Furyk can build pairings around what he saw this week rather than the points list alone.

Snedeker’s warning to Europe

Snedeker was bullish afterwards. “This team is going to be a problem in Ireland,” he told PGA Tour Radio. Europe used American comments as motivation last year, ESPN notes.

We think the US have the players to win a singles session against anyone. Until they find partnerships that work in foursomes, they will keep needing Sundays like this one, against a Europe led by Luke Donald, who is going for a third Ryder Cup in a row.

Relive the week on our Presidents Cup tournament hub and in our final-day report.

Sources

• ESPN: How the US won the Presidents Cup and what it means moving forward
• Sky Sports: Presidents Cup 2026 final scores and results
• Golf Monthly: How many points every player scored at the 2026 Presidents Cup
• Ryder Cup: United States announces selection criteria for 2027 Ryder Cup
• Wikipedia: 2027 Ryder Cup