Although the Internationals played better as a team this week at the Presidents Cup, the American side ended up as the winners thanks to a record-setting performance in Sunday singles.
The Americans captured the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club 17-13, winning their 11th straight at the biennial competition. The home squad put a beatdown on the Internationals in the final, winning the session 9.5-2.5 — the largest Sunday singles margin in Presidents Cup history.
The U.S. was down 10.5-7.5 heading into the final day and although it’s a simple way to look at it now, they just flat-out played better than the Internationals with 12 points left on the scoreboard.
“Sometimes you’ve got to hit the shots and make the putts. The U.S. just did that a little bit better today,” said International captain Geoff Ogilvy. “First four sessions, you couldn’t ask for more than to have a three-and-a-half-point lead going into singles in the U.S., that’s a hard thing to do. We did the hard work the first three days. The guys tried their hardest today. A good bit of red on that board, and Chicago got louder and louder and louder as that happens.
“You have a couple putts go in at the right time and the momentum goes our way, and it just didn’t do that today.”
This dominance in the individual portion of a team competition was reflective of the Ryder Cup last fall, where the U.S. went 8.5-3.5 in the finale but still fell short of Europe. It also shows just how poor the Americans are in the fourball and foursomes portions of these events, especially foursomes — where they are 8-26 over the last two years.
But their Sunday effort marked the largest final-day comeback to win the Presidents Cup with Jacob Bridgeman earning the clinching point when he defeated Min Woo Lee 1 up.
“I’m super proud of them. These guys never gave up. They believed in each other. They did a (heck of a) job. They were really special. I knew these guys were special,” said American captain Brandt Snedeker.
“I keep saying they fought for each other today. It was impressive to watch. The fact that we went out… Is it a record in singles? That doesn’t happen unless you have a special group of guys, and we do.”
Rookie Chris Gotterup was tied as one of the highest points-earners for the American side along with world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Cameron Young, who won the first match of the day and set the tone for the American comeback.
In all, Snedeker’s captain’s picks went 6-0-0 in singles, including 21-year-old Jackson Koivun. Koivun staged a furious comeback against Si Woo Kim, the International team’s highest-ranked player, with three birdies in his final seven holes. The exclamation point came on No. 18, when Koivun, after both his drive and his approach, unleashed a pair of vicious Tiger Woods-like club twirls — much to the delight of the rest of the team, who had gathered to watch the young rookie try to take his match to the finish line.
“I put him in a big spot today, a really big spot. That was a massive match. If we were going to have any chance today, he had to win that match,” Snedker said. “The guys were cheering in the room last night when we made that decision to put him in that spot.
“The whole team went crazy because they knew they wanted the kid to go up against Si Woo, and he delivered today in a big way.”
For all the talk of the International stalwarts, like Kim, putting in work over the previous three days, the big names fell flat for the finale.
Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Kim, and Lee all lost their matches — with Lee’s loss to Bridgeman the deciding point — while Ryan Fox, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Ryo Hisatsune (in the first match of the day), and Nico Echavarria (against Scheffler) also losing.
Canadian Corey Conners got run over by Justin Thomas in the third match of the day, sitting 5 down through just seven holes. Thomas defeated Conners 5 and 3.
Nick Taylor ended up tied with Russell Henley in the final match of the 2026 competition. Conners earned two points for the Internationals — both alongside his countryman in foursomes — while Taylor ended up with 2.5 points after his Sunday result.
For Taylor, he stepped up in a big way as a rookie on the squad. He’ll be 40 the next time the Presidents Cup is played, but hopefully he plays well enough to earn a spot on the team — or did enough to earn another captain’s pick — as he was heaped with praise for both his game and his attitude through the week in the team environment.
Tom Kim and Sungjae Im were the lone winners on the International side Sunday, with Kim defeating Wyndham Clark 3 and 2 and earning four points for the week, the highest point-earner for the losing side. Im defeated Sam Burns 3 and 1.
“The effort makes me really happy as a captain,” Ogilvy said. “They did an amazing job this week. It was incredible. It doesn’t make it any less disappointing. Proud to be a captain, disappointed that it didn’t go their way.
“They wanted it, and they did everything they could to win this tournament this week.”
Although the Internationals ultimately fell short, it seemed to be, at minimum, another year of building a winner brick by brick. This core group should be back in two years’ time in Australia and with another year of experience under their belt to try to win for the first time since 1998.
“This is an incredible group of people, and it’s not just the players here… the International Team is a very big group of people, and they’re very passionate about this team. They love the shield… They love everything about this tournament and this team,” Ogilvy said. “This team is no joke. We’re coming, and when we crack this thing, it’s going to get really good.”