Presidents Cup – Internationals lead by 3 entering singles

Writing from Medinah, Illinois

Saturday, September 26, 2026

O Canada!

If not for Corey Conners and Nick Taylor, the International squad would only have a one-point lead entering Sunday’s final round of the 16th Presidents Cup.

However, Conners and Taylor, 3-down to Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman through 10 holes in the afternoon’s alternate shot competition at Medinah Country Club, rallied by winning four of the next five holes and hung on for a 1-up margin to set the difference at three points – 10.5-7.5 – entering Sunday’s dozen singles matches.

To retain the big bowl, the Americans will have to win seven of the 12 matches and halve another to get to 15 points. The Internationals need only win five matches to get to 15.5 points to win the trophy for only the second time.

“The boys hung tough and sort of weathered the storm if you like and started making a few putts,” International captain Geoff Ogilvy said. “To get 2-2 in that session was a really good result for us.

“The thing that's really nice and makes me proud of my team is how well they've played the last five, six holes, the last couple of putts, especially today. These are not easy things to close out when all your teammates turn up and the crowds get bigger and bigger on the last few holes.”

The U.S. has scored 7.5 or more points in singles in six of the previous 15 Presidents Cups, including 2024 at Royal Montreal, when they romped 18.5-11.5.

Whoever win on Sunday won’t consider it a romp but a rumble.

“Yeah, it's going to take a team effort,” American captain Brandt Snedeker said. “I think we're going to try to get our guys out there that are ready to handle it. They're playing well. Get this crowd going. But as I said, it's just one point per match.”

The Americans, up in all four afternoon matches through the sixth hole, squandered two of those points, silencing the often-boisterous galley of about 30,000. 

Conners and Taylor won the par-4 11th hole with a par, took the par-4 12th with Taylor’s 12-foor birdie putt, won the par-4 14th to square the match when Henley missed a 5-footer for par, and took the lead when Taylor sank a 20-inch putt and Bridgeman’s 66-foot attempt at a miracle par ran four feet by. Conners sank a 6-footer at the last to lock up the point.

“It was a pretty straight putt, just get it rolling, and felt good to see that one go in,” Conners said.

“For Corey to hole a putt like that on the last and Min Woo and Foxy winning going away -- they were really struggling and they were having a tough match, and they played really well toward the end,” Ogilvy said. “That's what a captain wants to see.”

Ogilvy was right. The other International win was also a come-from-behind affair. Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee lost the first two holes, were 1-down through six, then won five of the next nine en route to a 3 and 2 triumph.

“I felt like I started terribly, and he was right there on my back cheering me on,” said Fox, the British Open champion from New Zealand. “It's okay. We turned it around, which is awesome.”

Henley and Bridgeman had won the first three holes with a birdie-bogey-par combination while Connors and Taylor played like Medinah members, opening 5-6-6. Once they found their game, it was the Americans who were on the ropes.

The U.S. team won a pair of matches in the afternoon, with Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup subduing Adam Scott and Sungjae Im 6 and 4, and Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele knocking off Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim 2 and 1, the first loss for the Kim-Kim combo in four sessions.

For Gotterup and Young, it was the second win of the day as a team. Gotterup had lost a match on Thursday, and Young was 0-2.

“I didn't think we needed much motivation,” Gotterup said of Saturday’s plan. “Obviously we played well this morning. They said we're sending you guys back out there and get ready to go. We had a half hour to go get ready. We both went and grabbed something to eat and went right back to the 1st tee.”

Sometimes, no plan is the best plan.

Sunday pairings

U.S. player listed first, matches start approximately 11:05 a.m.

Cameron Young vs. Ryo Hisatsune

Wyndham Clark vs. Tom Kim

Justin Thomas vs. Corey Conners

Scottie Scheffler vs. Nick Echavarria

Sam Burns vs. Sungjae Im

Chris Gotterup vs. Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Collin Morikawa vs. Hideki Matsuyama

Patrick Cantlay vs. Adam Scott

Jackson Koivun vs. Si Woo Kim

Jacob Bridgeman vs. Min Woo Lee

Russell Henley vs. Nick Taylor

Xander Schaufele vs. Ryan Fox

Americans were morning glories

For a while Saturday morning, it appeared the American Presidents Cup team would wipe out the lead the International squad had built on Friday, and do so before lunch.

It didn’t quite happen. Led by Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim, the International squad grabbed 1.5 of the four available points and held an 8.5-5.5 lead halfway through the day’s play at sun-splashed Medinah. But shaving the margin from four to three points kept the U.S. in the thick of it.

With a gallery of at least 30,000 looking on, the two Kims came back from 2-down after eight holes to beat Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark 2 and 1. They won the ninth, 11th, 16th and 17th holes, the latter via Si Woo Kim’s birdie, to score a point.

A few minutes earlier Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im completed a comeback from 2-down with four holes to play to force a halve and take a half-point against Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun.

Two American teams led their matches all the way: Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young scored a 2 and 1 victory over the Canadian duo of Nick Taylor and Corey Conners, and Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns turned back Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune by a like 2 and 1 margin.

Late in that match, American captain Brandt Snedeker announced the pairings for the afternoon alternate shot competition, and world No. 1 Scheffler was not among the eight U.S. players. Burns was paired with Clark instead against Ryan Fox and Lee in the day’s final pairing.

Around Medinah

The only Internationals triumph to date was at Royal Melbourne in Australia in 1998, a 20.5-11.5 win wit a couple more points available. Peter Thomson, an Australian legend, was the International captain. Frank Nobilo, working for Golf Channel this week, went 2-2 in the matches. … NBC’s Sunday coverage begins at 11 a.m. CT.

– Tim Cronin