2026 Presidents Cup Thursday Fourball Results

The Fried Egg Golf staff recaps a busy opening day of play at the 2026 Presidents Cup, where the Americans hold a slim 3-2 lead after claiming the first session at Medinah Country Club's Course 3.

Burns/Scheffler def. Im/Lee, 1 up

Is it possible that the Internationals already missed their chance for a big body blow? This match started as hot as possible — Scottie Scheffler walking in a birdie to win the first, a Min Woo Lee make from off the green to secure a tie on the second, and birdies were made on the first five holes. From there? A bevy of missed opportunities for Lee and Sungjae Im. The two both missed 10-footers for the win on No. 10, Lee failed to convert on a brilliant approach into the 11th, and Im couldn’t get up and down for birdie on the drivable 12th. Sungjae did give his duo a 1-up lead on 13, but the minuscule lead after outplaying the Americans across a four-hole stretch wasn’t enough. Bogeys from both players allowed Scottie to win the 17th hole with a par, and a Hail Mary 41-footer from Im on 18 rattled around the cup and out. Overall, the 3-2 session isn’t a bad result for the Shield, but it’s hard not to capitalize when the world No. 1 is on the ropes. –PJ Clark

Hisatsune/Matsuyama def. Schauffele/Young, 3 and 1

It’s possible that no one on the International side needed a win Thursday more than Hideki Matsuyama. There are a lot of reasons the Americans have dominated this event, so there is plenty of blame to go around, but one of the reasons the International side hasn’t broken through in 20 years? Its superstars of this era keep coming up small.

Matsuyama had lost four straight fourball matches to the Americans prior to Thursday, bringing his overall record to 3-6-1 in that format. His foursomes record has been a little better in recent years (he went 1-1-0 in each of the last two Presidents Cups) but even that only brought his foursomes record to 3-6-2.

If the Internationals have any chance this week, Matsuyama has to play better. For the moment, Geoff Ogilvy may have found him the perfect partner.

He and countryman Ryo Hisatsune — just the second Japanese pairing in the history of the Presidents Cup — made seven birdies between them to make quick work of one of America’s best pairings.

“I've been waiting for another guy from Japan to come play with me, and I was really happy today,” said Matsuyama.

Hisatsune, a 24-year-old rookie, was clearly nervous on the first hole. He said as much after the match. Hideki nearly losing his first tee shot OB probably didn’t help. And when Cameron Young poured in a birdie on the second hole to give the U.S. a 1-up lead, it looked bleak early for the Internationals. But Hisatsune birdied the next two holes, and that helped his partner settle in. Matsuyama made four birdies, including a 10-foot putt on the 17th to slam the door on the match.

“We obviously know each other,” Hisatsune said. “To know that Hideki knows golf and both know each other, I just feel free playing the golf. So I'm happy to play and be here.” –Kevin Van Valkenburg

Koivun/Thomas def. Echavarria/Conners, 4 and 3

The beat on Jackson Koivun as he begins what will presumably be a long and successful pro golf career is that he can be a little robotic. The Auburn phenom is often deadpan and can come off as media trained even if it just comes naturally.

But team match play can make even the automatons feel the pressure and the weight of the moment. That weight doesn’t have to be a bad thing, and Koivun started his first professional team match play event by taking it all in on the first tee. As he made his final stride to address his ball, he broke focus and looked up at the enveloping and blaring grandstands and grinned. It was quick and spontaneous, but signaled volumes. I’ll curse for him — Holy shit, I can’t believe I’m here doing this. It was endearing. His partner, Justin Thomas, saw it and bobbed his head in approval — LFG. Captain Brandt Snedeker and assistant Keegan Bradley, who would be assigned to walk the whole way with the Koivun-Thomas match, looked at each other and both started grinning.

The rookie quickly locked back in on his ball on the tee and the weight showed itself again. It was a struggle through his first hour, which included a poor bunker shot at the first hole and an out-of-bounds ball at the second. But he settled in eventually, letting the veteran Thomas, who improved to 7-0-0 in fourball at this event, bring him along for the win against a scuffling Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria, 4 and 3.

Koivun, despite his impassive nature and total inexperience, has been the biggest draw of this cup. Immense talent and the allure of a new exhibit can do that. A preponderance of questions for Snedeker ahead of the matches focused on the rookie, and the media gaggle that followed the day’s third match reaffirmed the fascination. He contributed throughout the match, but it was Thomas — who extolled his driving on the day, a weak point in his game recently — who stepped up and took on the role of delivering the first point and breaking in the rookie.

When they closed it out on the 15th green, Koivun’s mom hugged other wives, girlfriends, and dignitaries with the U.S. team and excitedly said, “First point!” It was likely a reference to the immediate 2026 Presidents Cup, but it could also be the starting marker for many more in the coming decade. –Brendan Porath

Clark/Morikawa def. Fox/Scott, 3 and 2

There was a lot of buzz about the International pairing of Ryan Fox and Adam Scott after both contended at last week’s BMW PGA Championship, but they ran into the hottest golfer in 2026. Wyndham Clark’s stellar start on Thursday put the Internationals on the back foot for the entirety of the match. The 2026 U.S. Open champion birdied four of the opening eight holes and his partner, Collin Morikawa, added another on the sixth to build a commanding 3-up lead around the turn. Not helping themselves, the International duo did not muster much of a charge. You can chalk up this match to one team having it and the other not. Clark’s standout play is a good sign for the U.S. because when he is on, he has proven to be as good as anyone in golf. For the Internationals, they will need better play from two of their best players if they want a chance to lift the cup for just the second time in history. –Andy Johnson

S.W. Kim/T. Kim def. Cantlay/Gotterup, 3 and 2

The Si Woo Kim-Tom Kim Korean pairing is a force to be reckoned with. They’re calm, collected, and deliver big-time shots. The chemistry between the two is strong and visible in plain sight. The duo joked around with each other from the opening tee shot until Patrick Cantlay and Chris Gotterup conceded the match on the 16th green.

Tom carried most of the load, birdieing the second to take a 2-up lead and punctuating the match with a near-ace on No. 16. But Si Woo made contributions of his own, ramming a 30-footer for birdie into the back of the hole on No. 14 to take a 3-up lead, chuckling as he walked off the green.

Fortunately for the Kims, they didn’t face much resistance from the American side of the ball. Both Cantlay and Gotterup were somewhere between bad and terrible. In his team competition debut, Gotterup left a 12-foot par putt short on the first hole and looked out of sorts with his swing all day.

Looking ahead to the rest of the weekend, the Internationals face an uphill battle and may have already squandered their opportunity to seize control of this event, as PJ outlined above. But if they are to mount a comeback and pull off one of the most unlikely victories in team event history, they’ll likely need a heavy dose of Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim, who have now moved to 3-1-0 as Presidents Cup partners. –Joseph LaMagna