The Presidents Cup is back, and this time it’s heading to one of the most recognizable—and recently transformed—pieces of real estate in American golf.
Medinah Country Club will host the 2026 Presidents Cup from September 24–27, bringing together 24 of the best golfers from the United States and around the world (sans Europe and the LIV guys) for four days of four-ball, foursomes and mano a mano competition.
And if history is any indication, the International Team has its work cut out for it.
Team USA has won 13 of the 15 Presidents Cups, including the last 10 in a row. The lone International victory came in 1998 at Royal Melbourne, while the 2003 event ended in a tie. The Americans are also the defending champions after beating the Internationals 18½–11½ at Royal Montreal in 2024.
So, yeah. No pressure, guys.
The historical results do beg the question: Is this really a competition, or just an exhibition?
Either way, there is a legitimate reason to believe this year’s Presidents Cup could be fascinating.
Medinah isn’t the same course it was the last time we saw a major team event here.
And the 24 guys playing it aren’t exactly short on storylines or lack desire to play great individual and team golf on the biggest stage.
Who’s Competing?
Team USA
Captain: Brandt Snedeker
The Americans bring six automatic qualifiers and six captain’s picks to Medinah. The roster includes seven players currently ranked inside the world’s top 11.
Scottie Scheffler
Let’s start with the obvious one.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is once again the headliner for Team USA. He’s making his third Presidents Cup appearance and brings a surprising 3-5-1 record in the event.
He’s coming off another massive, statistically successful season, which is generally a good thing when you’re trying to win golf tournaments.
The oddsmakers agree. Scheffler is the clear favorite in the individual points market – 5/1 to lead the event, 7/2 to top his US squad’s points list.
Cameron Young
Young enters the week ranked No. 3 in the world and gives the Americans another enormous driver who can put serious pressure on a golf course.
And that’s particularly interesting at the new Medinah, which is massively long with wider fairways than the course featured the last time it hosted a high-profile professional event.
Wyndham Clark
Clark is ranked No. 5 in the world and gives Snedeker another player who can overpower a golf course.
He’s making his second Presidents Cup appearance after going 1-2-1 in 2024.
Sam Burns
Burns is ranked No. 9 and has already played in two Presidents Cups.
His 3-3-3 record isn’t spectacular on the surface, but he’s exactly the kind of versatile player who can be paired in several different ways.
Interestingly, the betting market has him at 8/1 to score the most points in the event, second only to Scheffler.
Russell Henley
Henley might be one of the more underrated players on the roster.
He’s ranked No. 6 in the world and went 3-1-0 in his Presidents Cup debut in 2024.
That’s a pretty good start.
Collin Morikawa
Morikawa is already a two-time major champion and has been nearly automatic in Presidents Cup competition.
His career record?
6-2-0.
That’s ridiculous.
If Snedeker needs a guy he can trust, Morikawa is probably pretty high on that list. And he’s very likely the 2nd best iron player in the world, only trailing the big Texan Scheffler.
Xander Schauffele — Captain’s Pick
Schauffele has become one of the best team-event players in the world.
His Presidents Cup record is 10-4-0, and he’s making his fourth appearance.
Patrick Cantlay — Captain’s Pick
Another Presidents Cup machine.
Cantlay is also 10-4-0 in the competition and is making his fourth appearance.
His ability to play multiple formats makes him one of the most valuable pieces on Snedeker’s roster.
Justin Thomas — Captain’s Pick
Thomas is making his fourth Presidents Cup appearance and brings a career record of 10-3-2.
Translation: JT likes team golf.
A lot.
If J.J. Spaun lost his spot on the roster to someone, it was likely Thomas who was extended an invite, even though he sat below Spaun on the Presidents Cup points list.
Chris Gotterup — Captain’s Pick
Gotterup is one of the more intriguing newcomers.
He’s ranked No. 7 in the world and is making his Presidents Cup debut.
This may be the first team competition Chris will play in as a pro. But this won’t be his last.
Jacob Bridgeman — Captain’s Pick
Bridgeman is another rookie, and he’s coming into Medinah with some momentum.
He was ranked No. 29 in the world before he fired a blistering 61 yesterday to win the Biltmore Championship. With that victory, he now sits #20 in the world and riding high with confidence.
Jackson Koivun — Captain’s Pick
At 21, Koivun is the youngest player on the American team, and a purebred golf phenom.
And he’s already a PGA Tour winner. Snedaker is taking a flyer with this pick, but the PGA Tour, who owns the Presidents Cup, is surely happy Sneds extended it. Koivun is a future PGA Tour star.
He won in his third career start and now gets thrown into his first Presidents Cup.
No pressure, kid.
Team International
Captain: Geoff Ogilvy
The International team has plenty of team and individual experience and some serious firepower of its own. But do they have enough?
The problem is that they’re facing a U.S. team that, as usual, is stacked, sans maybe Koivun. But he’s a stud, and studs usually show up at the Presidents Cup.
Adam Scott
The veteran.
Scott is making his 12th Presidents Cup appearance, tying the event record.
He’s also one of the favorites among the International players in the points market at 11/2, and coming off of a great showing at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
If experience counts for anything, Scott will be a key piece of Ogilvy’s lineup.
Si Woo Kim
Another experienced team player, and someone who is having a great year and currently ranked #14 in the world. This places him #1 in the ranking on the International roster. He’s been one of the more reliable International performers in recent Presidents Cups and will likely be asked to carry significant responsibility.
Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama is another veteran who knows exactly what this week feels like.
He’s making his seventh Presidents Cup appearance and is ranked 27th in the world after another solid year on tour.
Sungjae Im
Im is one of the International team’s more experienced and likable players.
He’s the type of player Ogilvy can use in a variety of formats.
Tom Kim
Love him or hate him (yes, there are those who don’t like his schtick), Tom Kim understands team golf.
He’s making his third Presidents Cup appearance and has already become one of the recognizable personalities of the competition.
Min Woo Lee
Lee brings length, creativity and plenty of personality. And a thin porny stache.
He is firmly in the group of International players the betting market expects to contribute.
Ryan Fox
Here’s the wild card.
Fox enters the Presidents Cup as the 2026 Open Championship winner. But if you set that victory aside and looked at his remaining season with a discerning eye, it wouldn’t be considered exceptional. However, what he showed us at Royal Birkdale is that when the pressure is at its highest, he can close the deal.
If you’re looking for an International player capable of putting a bunch of points on the board, Fox is a pretty interesting candidate.
Corey Conners
The Canadian is another experienced ball-striker who could be particularly well suited to the strategic demands of the new Medinah layout. But can he step up and deliver a career-defining performance? The jury is still out because he has never done it before.
Nick Taylor
Taylor is another Canadian veteran who gives Ogilvy a steady option, but did her really deserve this pick? Captain Weir should have picked him 2 years ago, when the event was played in his home country. This seems like a gratuity pick, similar to the PGA naming Keegan Bradley Ryder Cup captain after leaving him off the roster in Rome.
Christiaan Bezuidenhout
Why?
Ryo Hisatsune
He had a solid year, but selecting him is a stretch.
Nico Echavarria
Earlier in the year, Echavarria played as well as anyone else on tour and strung together top finishes. But then he and his game dropped out of the public eye. He’s a talented, younger player, but this competition may prove to be a step up from what he’s actually prepared for.
The Odds: Uncle Sam Is a Pretty Big Favorite
If the sportsbooks are right, the International Team is going to have a long weekend in Chicago.
As of Monday, the market had Team USA around -400, with the International team at +350 and a tie at +1400 at one major sportsbook. Prices varied somewhat by book, but the story is pretty clear. The U.S. is a large favorite. And betting the Internationals to win will pay a nice ROI if they can pull off victory Sunday.
Here are the top 5 betting favorites across all three distinct point-scorer markets for the 2026 Presidents Cup.
Because different sportsbooks use different odds formats, the tables below provide the consensus fractional odds from Sky Bet and BetVictor.
1. Top 5 Overall Points Scorer
This market features all 24 players combined. Since Team USA is heavily favored to win, the overall board is completely led by Americans.
| Rank | Player (Team) | Odds | Implied Win Probability |
| 1 | Scottie Scheffler (USA) | 5/1 to 11/2 | 16.7% |
| 2 | Sam Burns (USA) | 8/1 to 9/1 | 11.1% |
| 3 | Xander Schauffele (USA) | 9/1 to 11/1 | 10.0% |
| 4 | Patrick Cantlay (USA) | 11/1 to 12/1 | 8.3% |
| 5 | Russell Henley (USA) | 12/1 to 13/1 | 7.7% |
2. Top 5 US Team Only
This tracks only the 12 players on the American roster, entirely excluding the International squad.
| Rank | Player | Odds | Implied Win Probability |
| 1 | Scottie Scheffler | 7/2 | 22.2% |
| 2 | Sam Burns | 6/1 | 14.3% |
| 3 | Xander Schauffele | 8/1 | 11.1% |
| 4 | Russell Henley | 8/1 to 9/1 | 11.1% |
| 5 | Patrick Cantlay | 9/1 | 10.0% |
3. Top 5 International Team Only
This tracks only the 12 players on Geoff Ogilvy’s International roster, entirely excluding Team USA.
| Rank | Player | Odds | Implied Win Probability |
| 1 | Si Woo Kim | 11/2 to 6/1 | 15.4% |
| 2 | Hideki Matsuyama | 11/2 to 6/1 | 15.4% |
| 3 | Adam Scott | 11/2 to 6/1 | 15.4% |
| 4 | Tom Kim | 15/2 to 8/1 | 11.8% |
| 5 | Sungjae Im | 15/2 to 8/1 | 11.8% |
Medinah Country Club: Forget Everything You Remember
If you watched the 2012 Ryder Cup at Medinah, forget what you remember.
Seriously.
When the Presidents Cup arrives at Medinah Country Club this week, the players won’t be competing on the same No. 3 course that hosted Tiger Woods’ PGA Championship victories in 1999 and 2006 or the unforgettable 2012 Ryder Cup.
The course underwent a massive transformation in 2023 and 2024, with Australian design firm OCM—Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead—essentially reimagining the property. Trees were removed, fairways and greens were shifted and expanded, the routing was changed and several holes were completely replaced. Almost nothing about the course is exactly as it was before. (NOTE: Did you see the first partner listed from the design group? Ummmmm.)
And there was a reason for the dramatic makeover.
For decades, Medinah No. 3 was the definition of a difficult U.S. Open-style course: narrow, tree-lined fairways, small and sloping greens, plenty of rough and several holes that forced players into very specific shots.
But golf-course architecture evolved.
Medinah’s old-school design had begun to look increasingly one-dimensional, and the warning sign came at the 2019 BMW Championship, when soft conditions produced a leaderboard that went completely nuclear. Justin Thomas won at 25 under par.
By 2023, Medinah had fallen to No. 93 in Golf Digest’s rankings.
OCM’s answer wasn’t to simply tweak the old course.
They went back to the beginning.
The goal was to recreate the character of Medinah as it looked and behaved when Tom Bendelow’s original design opened in 1928. That meant opening up the landscape, restoring the property’s natural character, creating larger and more varied greens, and adding bunkers that reward strategic thinking rather than simply punishing a bad shot.
The result is a course that still measures more than 7,500 yards, but now offers players more options—and more ways to get themselves into trouble.
And the changes around Lake Kadijah are especially interesting.
OCM replaced some of the old straight-across-the-water par 3s with holes that give players actual decisions to make.
The new 16th, for example, is a risk-reward par 4 that asks players just how much of the lake they’re willing to bite off from the tee. Brave souls who pull off a big boy shot will be rewarded. Fail, and your opponent will likely win that hole without breaking a sweat.
The new 17th crosses the water again, while the 18th has been stretched to 487 yards, nearly 50 yards longer than the previous finishing hole.
And here’s the really cool part:
The Presidents Cup won’t even start on No. 1.
Matches will begin on the fifth hole, meaning the dramatic closing holes become part of the middle of the matches. Holes 16, 17 and 18 will play as 12, 13 and 14, while the difficult second hole moves all the way to No. 16.
That could be huge.
Imagine being one hole away from winning a Presidents Cup match and suddenly staring down a difficult par 3 over water.
That’s match-play golf.
And that’s why this new Medinah could be so much fun.
So… Who Wins?
We’re going to make this one pretty simple.
Team USA wins the 2026 Presidents Cup by 4½ points.
We’re calling it:
USA 17½ — International 12½
The Internationals have enough firepower to make things interesting. Fox is coming off a major championship. Matsuyama is a proven veteran. Tom Kim lives for this kind of competition. Si Woo Kim has Presidents Cup experience. Adam Scott has basically seen everything.
But do they have a chance? A very, very slim one. And to pull off victory, someone like Scott or Hideki will need to win a bag full of points and lead by example. The bottom of the roster can’t just hide either. They are going to need to secure a couple of points apiece of this event will conclude midway through the broadcast window on Sunday.
If we’re wrong, which candidly, we hope we are, we’ll happily eat the crow.
But we’re not betting on it.