Internationals on Verge of Historic Upset at 2026 Presidents Cup

Sunday's outcome will shape the way future Presidents Cups — and even Ryder Cups — are discussed. Here’s what’s at stake for each side.

If the Internationals Win

The Internationals will have pulled off one of the greatest upsets in team golf history, winning the Presidents Cup for just the second time and the first on American soil. It would also go a long way toward injecting tension into future Presidents Cups, a much-needed development given the uncertainty coloring its future.

The American side would hang their heads in defeat, an embarrassing one at that. The Americans have every advantage at their disposal, from top-end talent to roster depth to hometown fans. Every decision made both in the lead-up to and during the event would come under the microscope, as it so frequently does, while Team USA analyzes the anatomy of yet another inexplicable defeat.

If the Americans Win

A victory would allow the Americans to put much of this week behind them, though another lackluster performance in both fourball and foursomes will leave some scarring and unanswered questions.

The Internationals, meanwhile, would leave on a high note, though they’ll know they missed a massive chance to make history. Few expected the Internationals to be in a position to win with 12 matches remaining. The team should be proud of its effort independent of the result, but near-victories sting as much or more than never having stood a chance.

Sunday Singles

12:02 p.m. ET: Cameron Young vs. Ryo Hisatsune
12:14 p.m. ET: Wyndham Clark vs. Tom Kim
12:26 p.m. ET: Justin Thomas vs. Corey Conners
12:38 p.m. ET: Scottie Scheffler vs. Nico Echavarria
12:50 p.m. ET: Sam Burns vs. Sungjae Im
1:02 p.m. ET: Chris Gotterup vs. Christiaan Bezuidenhout
1:14 p.m. ET: Collin Morikawa vs. Hideki Matsuyama
1:26 p.m. ET: Patrick Cantlay vs. Adam Scott
1:38 p.m. ET: Jackson Koivun vs. Si Woo Kim
1:50 p.m. ET: Jacob Bridgeman vs. Min Woo Lee
2:02 p.m. ET: Russell Henley vs. Nick Taylor
2:14 p.m. ET: Xander Schauffele vs. Ryan Fox

MORE: Friday Presidents Cup Live Blog

Saturday Notebook

The Hims

One of the biggest matches in the morning fourball session was the International duo of Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim taking on red-hot Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa. Despite falling behind early, the Kims were able to plug away and take control of the match on the back nine thanks to three Si Woo Kim birdies, including a pair on Nos. 16 and 17, to close out the match. Over the past three Presidents Cups, the Kims have become a formidable pairing for the Internationals. This Presidents Cup, they have taken it to another level with a 3-1-0 record.

Looking beyond the record, the Kims represent the future for the International team. The pair have complementary games, but more importantly, they seem to enjoy each other's company and share a nationality. One of the long-term challenges the International team has faced is finding a way for their team, which comes from all over the world, to unify for one week every two years. Finding duos from the same country is an easy way to produce natural chemistry. Or as Brandel Chamblee called it on Live From, "Kim-istry." –Andy Johnson

Woke Up This Morning

Fear not, tri-state area: your hometown heroes are in control. The long-awaited Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young pairing finally made its debut on Saturday, winning both sessions with minimal stress. The two began their day 4-up through four against Nick Taylor and Corey Conners and held on to that initial lead despite a back-nine charge from the Canadians. An opening out-of-bounds tee shot aside, Young was in prime form on the front, making the first eagle of the event on the drivable par-4 fourth. Gotterup wouldn’t give an inch to the Internationals late, making putts from 50, 34, and 33 feet on holes 14, 15, and 17. The two Americans jumped out to an early lead, never made a bogey, and holed crucial putts down the stretch when they had to. Does that sound like a good game plan to anyone else?

After that blistering start, captain Brandt Snedeker had no choice but to roll the two back out in alternate shot, even letting Young hit the first tee shot again. This time, the ball landed in bounds and it was off to the races from there: the two quickly had a 5-up lead with four birdies and an eagle on the front nine. They closed out Adam Scott and Sungjae Im on 14, shot an alt-shot 30 on the front, and put up a much-needed second full point in red on the board. Another plus? The two actually seem to like each other! Gotterup was emotive throughout the day, even bringing out some reactions from his usually stoic teammate late in the afternoon session after big tee shots on the final two holes. They played so well, in fact, that you may question why they didn’t play together on Friday in this same format! I’ll go back even further: don’t you think these two guys would’ve been quite the asset at Bethpage, too? Nevertheless, in a week where not a ton has gone right for the red, white, and blue, these two chain-wearing bombers look ready to lead the charge next September at Adare Manor. –PJ Clark

The Five Tool Player?

Just got to say, at the start of the week, I did not expect Corey Conners to be an International team player going all five sessions. But there we were after they caught some lightning on Friday night. He’s 2-2-0 entering singles. –Brendan Porath

Mentee Carries Mentor

Jackson Koivun carried Justin Thomas to a halve in the first fourball match out on Saturday morning. Thomas may have carried the young Auburn product on Thursday morning, but Koivun picked up the slack when Thomas struggled mightily on Saturday, birdieing four of his first 11 holes. Good on Koivun for stepping up in his second-ever match in a Presidents Cup. His composure bodes well for future team performance. –Joseph LaMagna

Scottie Breaks

If the U.S. wins this Presidents Cup, it can look back on a stroke from its No.1 player delivering a salvaging moment. This is not to suggest Scottie Scheffler would be most responsible for a win or have done all the heavy lifting, but he did show up in a critical moment as the team seemed on the precipice Saturday morning.

Scheffler spent most of his first three days at Medinah stuck in neutral, struggling again to separate in this team match play format like he often does on the PGA Tour. He was clearly frustrated, feeling the weight of the USA falling behind and an inability to close out holes with his good friend Sam Burns. The Japanese duo of Ryo Hisatsune and Hideki Matsuyama were opening doors, but the Americans could not walk through. One down with four to play, he’d just missed a hole-winning putt on the 14th after an amazing Scottie-esque approach shot.

The entire match had been maddening and Scheffler was wearing it on his face on the heels of a 5-0 Friday night sweep by the Internationals. He was pissed. But the time finally came for him at the 15th green, where Scheffler buried a 22-footer for birdie to win the hole and even up the match. He erupted. He stalked around the green, yelling repeatedly, clenching his fist. We’ve seen him emotional before, but it’s typically in a contemplative way after a win. It’s hard to recall seeing him this instantaneously emotive even through all the big moments he’s had in his career. The frustration of all that came before, which included just one birdie in almost 30 holes, certainly fed into the reaction. And Scottie showing that then fed into others that would follow, with Burns just as fired up and delivering back-to-back darts for three quick wins on Nos. 15-17 and an overall match point that clinched the session. Seeing Scottie let loose in the moment was a rare break in character, and one that was well earned given the stressors of these team competitions. –Brendan Porath

Scottie Rides the Pine

The biggest, boldest decision of Brandt Snedeker’s captaincy came on Saturday afternoon when he elected to bench world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler for the foursomes session, a day after Scheffler dropped to 1-8-0 in his foursomes career. Shortly thereafter, Snedeker forgot who his pairings were, but that’s neither here nor there.

Benching Scheffler was a curious decision, especially with the Americans trailing by three points heading into the afternoon. Sure, Scottie has been mediocre so far this week, and many are quick to cite his poor track record in foursomes. Still, he is the best player in the world. Was he really not one of the best eight options on the American team?

In Snedeker’s view, no, he wasn’t.

The merits of Snedeker’s rationale will be debated, particularly with the American side splitting the afternoon foursomes session. A 2-2 afternoon isn’t a disaster, but with a three-point deficit, failing to make up ground is effectively losing ground. We’ll never know how the chips would have fallen had Scheffler teed it up, but Snedeker may toss and turn a little bit as he tries to sleep tonight, pondering if he made the right call. In any event, a well-rested Scheffler will head to the first tee Sunday with a chance to redeem his early-week struggles, perhaps with a chip on his shoulder after a Saturday afternoon spent on the sidelines. –Joseph LaMagna

One Last Scottie Pondering

This may be better suited for the Monday postmortems, but I think there is something to all the hoopla and unorthodox nature of these team competitions throwing Scheffler out of whack. That’s not to excuse a poor match here and there. I’d assume he really likes being a part of these teams, and we know representing the USA is deeply meaningful to him, but being a part of the teams and loving the team golf setup are two different things. There’s just so much … extra nonsense both inside and outside the ropes that have to be so far from what he’s used to and has made his process so successful. –Brendan Porath

Wyndham Stakes His Claim

We’ve seen Wyndham Clark go hot and cold before, but his performance this week will certainly go a long way if there’s any toss-up next year for the Ryder Cup. You could start calling him a lock for Adare Manor. He’s been fantastic and precisely what the USA needed. It’s often been in front of Jim Furyk as well, captain next year and an assistant this year who has been assigned some Clark matches. It may not be a good process to weigh four days of match play from a year ago when picking a team, but if tiebreakers are needed, what Clark has done at Mdinah has solidified his candidacy for future team events, barring a freefall in form. –Brendan Porath

Saturday Fourball

Koivun/Thomas tie Im/Lee

In a role reversal from Thursday’s fourball pairing, rookie Jackson Koivun had Justin Thomas in his backpack in the lead match. While the Americans never trailed, they did blow a 2-up lead with four to play. JT was bad. Again.

S.W. Kim/T. Kim def. Clark/Morikawa, 2 and 1

The lone Internationals to win on Saturday morning held the lead for just two holes. The final two. Si Woo Kim birdied Nos. 16 and 17 to steal a crucial point from the morning session and improve to 3-0-0 on the week (at the time) alongside fellow Korean and good friend Tom Kim.

Gotterup/Young def. Conners/Taylor, 2 and 1

The Americans ham-and-egged it well against their Canadian counterparts. Cameron Young played Nos. 2-6 at 5 under to push the U.S. to a 4-up lead, and Chris Gotterup slammed the door late with three clutch putts down the stretch. It was Captain America-level stuff (but we aren’t there…yet).

Burns/Scheffler def. Hisatsune/Matsuyama, 2 and 1

Sam Burns played his ass off. He led the session in Strokes Gained: Total (+3.65) and made four birdies, including two crucial circles late on the scorecard to deliver the final point of the session and bring the U.S. within three, 8.5-5.5, entering foursomes.

Saturday Foursomes

Cantlay/Schauffele def. S.W. Kim/T. Kim, 2 and 1

After a 4-and-3 shellacking Friday afternoon, Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele got off the bus and got to work early with three birdies over the first five holes. The Kims took their first loss of the week, but still had fun in the process. The Koreans have made this week delightful.

Conners/Taylor def. Bridgeman/Henley, 1 up

Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman reached the 18th green today but took another L in foursomes, this time after leading 3-up through 10 holes. Bad stuff. This was the fourth back-nine lead the U.S. has blown the last two days, three of those matches became International wins.

Gotterup/Young def. Im/Scott, 6 and 4

This match in one word: Belt. The Americans were 8 under in 14 holes. I don’t care who’s playing on the other team, that’s nearly impossible to compete with in alternate shot.

Fox/Lee def. Burns/Clark, 3 and 2

There are good matches and there are close matches. This was a close match. The Americans only made one birdie and were lucky to stay in the fight as long as they did. Fox and Lee are 2-0-0 in foursomes this week, beating Wyndham Clark in both sessions.