The 2026 Presidents Cup is set to begin at Medinah Country Club near Chicago, marking the first time the event will be held in the Windy City. This venue will host a unique lineup of events including the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, a Ryder Cup, and now the Presidents Cup. The No. 3 course at Medinah has undergone a major redesign by OCM, a firm led by Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking, and Ashley Mead. This renovation transformed the traditional tree-lined parkland into a more modern layout that enhances playability and professional value.
Medinah will become the only club to have hosted a U.S. Open, PGA Championship, Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup. The club previously hosted three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships and the 2012 Ryder Cup.
Twelve players from the United States will compete against twelve players from around the world, excluding Europe, according to golfdigest.com. The competition will feature 30 matches over four days using three different formats: foursomes, fourballs, and singles.
Players are ranked based on their past Presidents Cup performance and current form, with some surprising rankings in the lineup. Despite the U.S. team having a betting edge of -400, the rankings show that experience and match-play potential play major roles in determining player selections. Age is a factor for some captain’s choices in these matches, especially for team captains who must balance performance with endurance. The rankings combine data from the Official World Golf Rankings and Data Golf to reflect performance consistency across global players.
Nico Echavarria, a rookie on the International Team, is the only rookie on the International Team who won on the PGA Tour this season. He has strong putting skills and could be valuable in four-ball play, though his ball-striking may limit his role in match play. Golf Digest ranked Echavarria No. 24 among the 24 players.
Corey Conners, a Canadian player with two previous Presidents Cup appearances, is seen more as a positional player than a top performer. His strength remains his full swing and ball-striking, which Golf Digest said could make him useful in foursomes. Conners enters the event with a 2-7-0 career Presidents Cup record.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout, a South African player, has shown consistent performance in past Presidents Cups with a record of 3-1-1. He excels in par-4 scoring and can play multiple roles, making him a key addition to the International Team. Golf Digest ranked him No. 22.
Jacob Bridgeman, a rookie, leads the PGA Tour in SG/putting and has shown strong performance at several major PGA Tour events. He finished in the top 10 in the FedEx Cup Playoffs and recently won at the Biltmore Championship in Asheville. He also recorded a top-five finish at the Players Championship and finished fourth at the Tour Championship.
Ryo Hisatsune has earned Signature Status for 2027 with eight top-20 finishes in 2026. Hisatsune’s ball-striking is reliable and he performs well on bentgrass surfaces, making him a possible strong fit for foursomes on the International Team.
At the other end of Golf Digest’s power rankings, Xander Schauffele was ranked No. 1. Patrick Cantlay was No. 2, Cameron Young was No. 3, Si Woo Kim was No. 4 and Scottie Scheffler was No. 5. The placement of Scheffler at No. 5 reflects his match-play record rather than his standing as the world’s No. 1 player.
Schauffele and Cantlay each enter Medinah with a 10-4-0 Presidents Cup record. Cameron Young is ranked No. 3 in the world while Si Woo Kim is No. 13. Scheffler remains No. 1 in the world but has a 3-5-1 Presidents Cup record.
The Presidents Cup will be played in a format of nine foursomes, nine fourballs, and twelve singles matches, according to a report from The Associated Press. The course layout at Medinah No. 3 has been renovated by OCM.
Five four-ball matches are scheduled for Thursday. Friday will feature five foursomes matches. Saturday has four four-ball matches in the morning and four foursomes matches in the afternoon. All 12 players from each team will play singles on Sunday.
Three players on this year’s U.S. team are outside the top 25 in the world rankings, the first time since 2017 that the entire American roster has not been ranked inside the top 25. The Internationals have only three players who have won on the PGA Tour this year.
Brandt Snedeker, captain of the U.S. team, noted that past success does not guarantee future results. The event will be held at Medinah Country Club, a course that has hosted several major golf events in the past.
Snedeker’s roster includes Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Collin Morikawa, Chris Gotterup, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Jacob Bridgeman and Jackson Koivun.
International captain Geoff Ogilvy will lead Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, Ryan Fox, Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee, Adam Scott, Sungjae Im, Nico Echavarria, Corey Conners, Nick Taylor, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Ryo Hisatsune.
In the most recent Presidents Cup, the U.S. team won both Saturday sessions and secured a 18½-11½ victory overall. This year’s competition will be held in a format that includes multiple match types to test players across different scenarios. The 2024 victory at Royal Montreal was the 10th consecutive Presidents Cup victory for the Americans.
Putt statistics from the PGA Tour season were used to determine where players should be given gimme putts, golfdigest.com reported. Golf Digest defined each player’s suggested “gimmie line” as the point where his make rate drops below 95 percent. The figures are a statistical guide from the publication rather than an official Presidents Cup rule.
Some players like Corey Conners and Si Woo Kim have gimme lines at three feet or shorter, meaning they miss about one in every 20 putts from those distances. Players with a gimme line of three and a half feet or shorter include Patrick Cantlay and Scottie Scheffler. These players remain above a 95 percent make rate on shorter putts inside their suggested lines.
Players with gimme lines longer than three and a half feet include Jacob Bridgeman and Wyndham Clark. These players are considered good putters, and their short putts are nearly always made. For these players, it’s probably a waste of time to make them putt even shorter distances.
Bridgeman has the longest suggested gimme line in Golf Digest’s analysis at 4 feet, 3 inches. Jackson Koivun and Christiaan Bezuidenhout are both listed at four feet. Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Nick Taylor are at 3 feet, 7 inches.
The matches begin Thursday, September 24 and continue through Sunday, September 27 at Medinah’s Course No. 3
IMAGE: Photo of golfer Ernie Els at the 2009 President’s Cup at Harding Park in San Francisco. Photo: billypoonphotos / Wikimedia, taken 2009-10-07, CC BY-SA 2.0