Presidents Cup 2026: How the U.S. Rallied at Medinah

By PingAces Team · October 24, 2026

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The United States needed a historic Sunday to keep the Presidents Cup, and it got one. At Medinah Country Club in Illinois, the Americans turned a 10.5–7.5 deficit into a 17–13 win, according to the official Presidents Cup results page. The tournament ran September 24–27, 2026, with Brandt Snedeker captaining the U.S. side against Geoff Ogilvy’s International Team, per the same page.

How the comeback happened

The Americans trailed 10.5–7.5 entering the final day, and then won the Sunday singles session 9.5–2.5, as reported by PGA Tour. PGA Tour writer Will Gray says that 9.5–2.5 margin set a record for Sunday domination. BBC Sport reports the U.S. won nine of the 12 singles matches.

Jacob Bridgeman delivered the deciding point with a 1-up win over Australia’s Min Woo Lee, which pushed the U.S. total past the 15.5 points needed, according to PGA Tour. BBC Sport says Bridgeman holed a four-foot par putt at the 18th to finish the match, as noted in its match report.

The moments that swung it

Several matches stood out. PGA Tour reports that each of Snedeker’s three rookies won, including Jackson Koivun, a captain’s pick who raised some eyebrows. Koivun toppled the Internationals’ top-ranked player, Si Woo Kim, by winning five of the final eight holes, per the same PGA Tour report. Chris Gotterup, another rookie, beat Christiaan Bezuidenhout, according to that report.

Snedeker did not hide how much was riding on Koivun’s match. “I put him in a big spot today, a really big spot,” he said, as quoted by PGA Tour. “If we were going to have any chance today, he had to win that match.”

Collin Morikawa’s match against Hideki Matsuyama turned on the 15th hole. PGA Tour says Morikawa was 1 down, then holed a 30-foot birdie putt, Matsuyama missed from inside four feet, and Morikawa went on to win 1 up with a par at the 18th. Morikawa’s own take, quoted there, was that the 15th was the pivotal moment, and that “that’s match play right there in a nutshell.”

Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele never trailed in their singles matches, according to PGA Tour. PGA Tour adds that Cameron Young wrestled the opening match away from Ryo Hisatsune to set the tone for the day.

The bigger picture

BBC Sport reports this was an 11th successive Presidents Cup win for the United States, and that the team, which included eight of the world’s top 11 players, had been trying to avoid just a second defeat since the biennial event began 32 years ago. The setting added some history. Medinah was the scene of Team Europe’s famous Ryder Cup comeback win in 2012, as BBC Sport notes. Snedeker was a member of the U.S. team beaten that week, per the same report.

A captain under pressure

This was not a smooth week for the home side. According to PGA Tour, Snedeker entered as a hefty favorite, but the Americans had burned through most of their margin for error by Saturday night, when he spoke openly about lineup and matchup mistakes he felt had not put his players “in the best position possible.” PGA Tour also notes that his Sunday lineup prompted quick second-guessing before it paid off.

Before the matches, Snedeker told reporters, “I told the guys last night that funny stuff happens here. Medinah’s got a history of funny things happening,” as quoted by BBC Sport. After the win, he credited his players: “All these guys fought for each other, fought for this country, fought for this team.”

The International view

International captain Geoff Ogilvy said it was on a knife edge all day. “If some of those one downs we had out there had flipped to one up, the numbers looked really good and who knows what momentum that could give,” he told BBC Sport. BBC lists wins for Young, Thomas, Scheffler, Gotterup, Morikawa, Cantlay, Schauffele, Koivun and Bridgeman in the singles.

What recreational golfers can take from it

This is our take rather than a reported fact: match play is a different game from the stroke play most of us log every weekend. A bad hole costs you one hole, not the whole round, and that is exactly why a 1-down player on the 15th green can still win. If your regular group plays skins or head-to-head matches, the Presidents Cup is a good reminder to keep playing every hole.

It also shows how much the story of a round lives beyond the final score. A 30-foot putt on 15 will be remembered longer than the 17–13 tally. That is why PingAces is built around sharing rounds with friends, not just storing numbers. You can see what the app offers on our member features page, browse frequently asked questions, or join free and log your own round after the next time you play.

What’s next

PGA Tour quotes Captain’s Assistant Jim Furyk, who it says will likely lean on several of this week’s players when he captains the U.S. Ryder Cup team next year in Ireland, We will cover that build-up in the PingAces Guide as it develops.

Sources

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