Road Map to International Victory at the 2026 Presidents Cup

What would it take — just hypothetically — for the Internationals to win the Presidents Cup this week?

I was trying to conjure that scenario in my mind on Tuesday, playing with possibilities and poring over lineups, and ultimately I kept returning to Miracle Max’s quote from “The Princess Bride:” It would take a miracle.

There has been a Miracle at Medinah once before, and the United States was on the wrong end of it, so I suppose we can’t rule it out. It’s Geoff Ogilvy’s job to be in the miracle business this week, so the captain of the International squad put on his best face for the press when asked, despite a 1-13-1 record in this event, why an upset is within the realm of possibility.

“I think the time is right,” Ogilvy said. “When you look at the scores the last couple times, it probably didn’t look that close. But if you look back and see how they were unfolding, they were pretty level contests really. I mean, we lost 18 a few times in Montreal, but we ended up winning more holes, individual holes, than the U.S. did. That's a sign that you're playing good enough golf. The boys know we're close.”

{{inline-article}}

In the spirit of Ogilvy’s optimism, let’s throw out three scenarios that would need to happen for the Internationals to stun the Americans. ‍

Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim need to go HAM. The Kims might have been the best thing about the 2024 Presidents Cup, the way they fired at flags and talked a little shit. They refused to be pushed around. Both of them are just cocky enough to annoy the hell out of the Americans. Ogilvy ought to send them out in the very first match every day, and encourage them to lean into the role of hell. Two years ago, they thumped Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark in fourball, then almost beat Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in foursomes. Si Woo is the rare player on the International squad with a winning record in this event (6-5-0). He’s one of the world's best players. He needs to set the tone. ‍

Adam Scott somehow has the best putting week of his life. It hasn’t been the best putting year for the 46-year-old Scott. Data Golf has him at +0.04 Strokes Gained on the greens, which is a hair better than last year (-0.07) but worse than his previous five years. So this one doesn’t seem likely. But remember, we’re channeling miracles! Scott putted great in the Tour Championship and the FedEx St. Jude, so we know it’s possible. What a reward it would be for all the misery he’s endured in this event to have one magical week pay off big. ‍

At least two of the four rookies (Ryan Fox, Nico Echavarria, Ryo Hisatsune, Nick Taylor) need to have a big week. Fox seems like the best candidate to lead the way. So let’s pencil him in for two or three wins in this fantasy. But who joins him? Taylor was crushed when he didn’t make the team in 2024, so he has to be motivated this week to prove he belongs. Three of his five PGA Tour wins have come in playoffs, so maybe there is some correlation between that and match play. (A bit of a stretch, but again, we’re trying to conjure miracles.) Hisatsune has been mostly mediocre this year, but he’s only 24. Maybe he has untapped magic in match play he hasn’t displayed yet. Echavarria played awful in last week’s Biltmore Championship (shot 73-75 and lost strokes in every category), which doesn’t exactly suggest he’s trending. So none of these feels likely.

{{inline-course}}

But every upset has a secret sauce that is only evident in retrospect. There are other pathways to a victory, but some combination of the above needs to unfold. And if the Internationals get off to a hot start… who knows?

“I think we're kind of trying to hopefully be able to flip the pressure on the U.S.,” said Ryan Fox. “I feel like they're expected to win, and if we can get on top early and create some pressure, there will be more pressure on them from other places and hopefully we can take advantage of that.”