One for the Nerds and Little Brothers: 2026 Presidents Cup Preview

The 2026 Presidents Cup is shaping up to be a surprisingly relevant point in a volatile year in competitive golf. The United States is coming off a nasty string of losses in team events, from a Solheim Cup team that got ahead of its skis early to a gut-wrenching loss to GB&I in the Walker Cup. In the shadow of an embarrassing home-game loss at the 2025 Ryder Cup, the little brother of men's international team events has suddenly been thrust into the spotlight, a must-win for the U.S., and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the International team.

Medinah and Chicagoland have a rich and colorful history in competitive golf, especially for a market that only golfs about half the year. Chicago needs the Presidents Cup like the Bears need a healthy quarterback. This is a city that loves golf but has always kept it at arm's length for a number of logistical reasons. Fans will come out in droves this week — a region starved of legitimate competition, hopefully composing itself with more grace than its Big Apple big brothers managed last time around.

The Course

Through the 1980s, few courses were a better example of a "championship course" than Medinah's No. 3. In an era when a course's ability to punish players was synonymous with its caliber as a legitimate test, Medinah stood among the upper echelon of major tournament venues. But with the passage of time and the development of technology, No. 3 lost a lot of the teeth Tom Bendelow had given it in 1928 (see Justin Thomas's -25 at the 2019 BMW Championship).

In 2020, desperate not to be embarrassed on the world's stage, the club hired Australian architecture firm OCM Golf (Geoff Ogilvy, Mike Cocking, Ashley Mead) to head an overhaul of the course. Changes included a general clearing of trees from the property, greens that were enlarged and given additional contours, and, most notably, routing changes that significantly affected the final six-hole stretch, including a drivable par-4 16th playing diagonally across the lake and a new par-3 17th.

We have yet to see how Medinah plays at the professional level with these new routings and changes, but they were made with the modern game in mind, and I'm genuinely excited to see their debut in a match-play environment.

The Teams

Both teams have a lot to prove. The U.S. needs a win badly; in an age of mediocrity in team events, this should be the layup Brandt Snedeker and company need. That said, the fact that a win is expected only adds to the mental tension so pivotal in team events. If the U.S. were to lose, it would be the single most embarrassing year in American golf history. The average world ranking for the U.S. team is 16.3, topped by the world's best player, Scottie Scheffler. Compare that to the International team's 49.4 average world ranking, and the statistical disparity between the two sides is clear.

However, this theoretical chasm in skill is exactly why the U.S. must tread carefully. The most American thing to do in this situation is to underestimate the opponent. This International team may lack the day-to-day dominance the Americans have, but it makes up for it in pride, experience, and a cohesion the U.S. often lacks. With the Presidents Cup, you can't judge the International team's ability by its prior record, since it has only one win (and one bizarre tie) in the tournament's history. Adam Scott, Sungjae Im, and Hideki Matsuyama are steady faces for Team World who provide stability and consistent shot-making that, in the right sequence, could be pretty scary for the U.S. to face.

Conclusion

The United States should win this Cup by a wide margin. The course favors the team's strengths — distance, conservative shot-making, and avoiding a "putting contest." All the U.S. can do now is learn from past mistakes and remember that, while they're the on-paper favorites, this is match play, it's a team event, and anything can happen.

This article has been framed from the perspective of a US loss being a catastrophe, and it would be for a lot of people, but from the other perpective, this reign of international wins has been something else. GB&I’s comeback win at Lahinch was one of magical finishes of recent history. The Solheim cup win for the Euro’s was a huge indication of the passion those players conduct themselves with. If the International team were to beat the odds and pull out a win, it would be the underdog of underdog stories, and glory for the ages.

Yellow Hammer will be on the grounds at Medinah, and we hope to see you there.

{Play Boldly}