Presidents Cup – On Tap Thursday

Writing from Medinah, Illinois

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

After a great deal of palaver – which we have spared you – the Presidents Cup gets underway Thursday morning at Medinah Country Club on the much-revamped No. 3 Course.

Jim Cornelison will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” flags will be waved, and what is expected to be a large crowd will jostle for position to see five foursomes traipse around the course in search of birdies.

The American team is the heavy favorite, as it has beaten the International team 10 straight times and holds a 13-1-1 advantage since the series started in 1994. The 12-man American lineup is deeper than the World minus Europe side – Ryo Hisatsune? – so an 11th straight victory is expected. That run of success hasn’t created complacency among the American players but it has brought about the argument that the competition needs changes because it isn’t, well, competitive.

One argument is for making it co-ed, with six LPGA players and six PGA Tour players on each team. That could be fun, but there’s already a similar competition at the end of the year, and few pay much attention to it.

In reality, the Presidents Cup, aside from the volume of TV coverage and splendid marketing of corporate suites, is where the Ryder Cup was before the Europeans begin to beat the Americans in 1985. Nobody in the U.S. much cared until the Americans lost.

Could that happen at Medinah? Well, nobody expected the Euros to bounce back from a big deficit in 2012 – at Medinah – and the next thing you know, Tiger Woods was trudging up the 18th fairway knowing all was lost. It might be worth tuning into Golf Channel for a bit to see if the Internationals have a pulse.

Thursday’s best-ball matches (Internationals listed first):

11:35 a.m.: Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im vs. Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns

11:53 a.m.: Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune vs. Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele

12:11 p.m.: Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria vs. Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun

12:29 p.m.: Ryan Fox and Adam Scott vs. Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa

12:47 p.m.: Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim vs. Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay

Tim Cronin