Final lineups announced for the 2026 Presidents Cup: Snedeker and Ogilvy complete teams for Medinah
The lineups for the 2026 Presidents Cup have officially been completed after U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker and International Team captain Geoff Ogilvy announced six captain's picks each on September 1. This means all 24 players who will compete from September 24 to 27 on the renovated Course No. 3 at Medinah Country Club, west of Chicago, are now known. According to the official Presidents Cup announcement, Snedeker selected Jacob Bridgeman, Patrick Cantlay, Chris Gotterup, Jackson Koivun, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas, while Ogilvy chose Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Corey Conners, Nico Echavarria, Ryo Hisatsune, Sungjae Im and Nick Taylor. The six captain's picks on each side joined the six players who qualified automatically. Ahead of the 16th edition of the competition, it is also clear that the home United States team will once again enter as the favorite, but the International Team arrives with a combination of experience, emerging players and a captain who knows Medinah better than almost anyone in the opposing camp.
Americans combined proven names with three debutants
Snedeker's selections brought the expected dose of experience, but also several decisions aimed at the new generation of American golf. Schauffele, Thomas and Cantlay already have extensive histories in team competitions, while Bridgeman, Gotterup and Koivun will make their Presidents Cup debuts. According to the PGA Tour, Gotterup had a season with three Tour victories behind him, while Bridgeman won the Genesis Invitational during 2026 and finished the season with a strong performance at the TOUR Championship. The most attention, however, is being drawn by 21-year-old Koivun, who had left college golf and turned professional only a few months earlier. The PGA Tour points out that in a short period he had already won the 3M Open and qualified for the FedExCup Playoffs, giving Snedeker enough reason to include him on the team despite his very short professional career.
The selections of Koivun and Bridgeman also carry additional symbolism. The official Presidents Cup website states that the two are the first players to reach the senior U.S. team in this competition after previously competing in the Junior Presidents Cup. Bridgeman played in the inaugural edition of the junior event in 2017, while Koivun competed in 2022. Such career development fits into the broader intention of the American team to gradually introduce players alongside already established stars who could become its core in future cycles. At the same time, the selection of Schauffele, Thomas and Cantlay reduces the risk that naturally comes with including three debutants, because all three bring experience from the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup and know the pressure of a multi-day match-play competition.
Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa qualified automatically for the United States. Under the Presidents Cup qualification rules, the U.S. standings were based on weighted FedExCup points earned from the beginning of 2025 through the conclusion of the BMW Championship on August 23, 2026, with greater weight given to results achieved during 2026 and additional value assigned to major championships and THE PLAYERS Championship. Scheffler finished at the top of those standings and secured his third consecutive Presidents Cup appearance. Combined with the captain's picks, the United States gets a team featuring the current elite of world golf, experienced match-play specialists and several players who could bring new energy.
Ogilvy relied on experience but also opened the door to new names
On the International side, captain Ogilvy selected six players with six different stories. Corey Conners, Sungjae Im and Christiaan Bezuidenhout already have Presidents Cup experience, while Nick Taylor, Nico Echavarria and Ryo Hisatsune will make their debuts. Particularly interesting is the selection of Bezuidenhout, who according to the PGA Tour did not have a season comparable to the best years of his career and was only 18th in the International standings, but has a very good overall Presidents Cup record of three wins, one loss and one halved match. Ogilvy explained his selection precisely through his experience and the fact that the South African golfer has already shown that he can win points in this format. In a competition where pairings, rhythm and psychological stability often prove just as important as current position in the world rankings, such a decision has clear logic.
Conners arrives at Medinah for his third Presidents Cup, while Im will make his fourth appearance. Official Presidents Cup data state that Im compiled a 6-7-2 record in his previous three appearances and regularly played a large number of sessions, making him one of the more flexible members of Ogilvy's lineup. Conners' overall record in the competition is more modest, but the Canadian golfer is known for his steady tee-to-green play, and the captain emphasized his calmness and consistency. Nick Taylor, the second Canadian among the captain's picks, will play in the Presidents Cup for the first time. His selection carries additional significance after he did not make the team for the 2024 edition held in Canada, and Ogilvy highlighted his consistency over recent seasons.
Echavarria and Hisatsune give the International Team a different profile. Colombian Echavarria won the 2026 Cognizant Classic to claim his third PGA Tour victory, and he became the third Colombian to compete in the Presidents Cup after Camilo Villegas and Sebastián Muñoz. Japan's Hisatsune, at 23 years old, qualified for his first FedExCup Playoffs, reached the BMW Championship and recorded five top-10 finishes during the season. According to PGA Tour data, he was also among the season's leading players in number of birdies, making him a particularly interesting candidate for Four-ball, a format in which aggressive play and runs of low scores can quickly change the course of a match.
Six automatic International Team spots spread across multiple continents
The automatic places on Ogilvy's team were earned by Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, Ryan Fox, Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott. Under the official rules, the International qualification list was based on Official World Golf Ranking points, with the final standings confirmed after the TOUR Championship. Unlike the U.S. side, players eligible to represent Europe in the Ryder Cup cannot compete for the International Team, meaning the lineup brings together the best available golfers from the rest of the world. Si Woo Kim finished the qualification cycle in first place and secured his fourth appearance, while Ryan Fox will play in the Presidents Cup for the first time. Matsuyama, Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee and Scott return to the team with previous experience.
The final International Team lineup includes players from Australia, Canada, Colombia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and South Korea. Such geographical breadth is one of the distinctive features of the Presidents Cup, but at the same time a constant challenge for captains because, unlike the Americans, there is no single national team structure that naturally connects the players. Building a shared identity has been one of the International Team's biggest themes in recent years. Ogilvy inherits that process at a time when the lineup has a significant number of players with experience from previous editions, but also enough new faces to allow him to vary pairing combinations. In that context, the match schedule and decisions about who will play in which format will also have an important role.
First day at Medinah brings five Four-ball matches
Along with the lineup announcement, the first important tactical decision was also confirmed. Snedeker, as captain of the home team, announced that the competition on Thursday, September 24 will begin with five Four-ball matches. In that format both members of a pair play their own ball, and the better score is counted for the pair on each hole. The following day traditionally brings five Foursomes matches, in which the two players alternate hitting the same ball, while Saturday's program consists of two pairing sessions. The final Sunday is reserved for 12 singles matches, meaning the full Presidents Cup schedule consists of 30 matches and the same number of available points.
The format further increases the importance of roster depth. Captains do not have to use every player in every team session, which makes pairing choices and assessment of form during the week crucial. Four-ball often favors more aggressive players and those who produce a large number of birdies, while Foursomes requires more precise alignment of styles, discipline and trust between partners. On the American side, Schauffele and Cantlay already have a long history of playing together in team competitions, while the International side has several possible national and regional connections, such as the Japanese combination of Matsuyama and Hisatsune or the Korean group led by Si Woo Kim, Tom Kim and Sungjae Im. Still, captains can adjust their final pairings from session to session, so form in practice and in the opening matches will have a major influence on later decisions.
Medinah is more than a neutral backdrop, especially for Ogilvy
Course No. 3 at Medinah Country Club is one of the best-known American courses with a major tournament history. The official Presidents Cup website states that for the competition it will play as a par 72 at approximately 7,564 yards, or about 6,916 meters. Throughout its history, the course has hosted three U.S. Opens, two PGA Championships, the 2012 Ryder Cup and the 2019 BMW Championship, among other major events. Of particular importance for the current Presidents Cup is the major renovation completed in 2024, led by OCM, the design firm associated with Geoff Ogilvy. The redesign brought larger greens, more pronounced bunkers, wider fairways, more open sightlines and a new configuration of parts of the course.
That connection gives Ogilvy an unusual level of familiarity with the venue where his team will attempt to end one of the longest runs of dominance in elite team golf. The Presidents Cup additionally adjusted the routing of the holes so that the closing portion of the course would more often play a role in deciding matches. Organizers announced that historical data show fewer than 40 percent of matches in this competition reach the 17th hole, so the modified routing was designed to give the attractive closing holes a greater chance of deciding the winner. That does not guarantee an advantage for the International Team, but Ogilvy's detailed understanding of the new angles, fairway widths, bunker positions and potential pin locations could be valuable when selecting pairings and tactics.
United States defends a streak of ten consecutive victories
The history of the competition strongly favors the Americans. According to official Presidents Cup data, the United States has won 13 of the previous 15 editions, the International Team has won only once, in 1998 at Royal Melbourne, while the 2003 contest in South Africa ended in a 17-17 tie. The Americans then won all ten editions from 2005 through 2024. The most recent Presidents Cup, played in 2024 at Royal Montreal Golf Club, ended in an 18.5-11.5 victory for the United States. Therefore, the task facing Ogilvy's team is not only to defeat a very strong lineup on an away course, but also to break a pattern that has lasted for more than two decades.
At the same time, the results of recent editions do not mean that every match was one-sided. Match play can quickly change the dynamics of a competition, particularly when one team builds momentum in a pairing session. The International Team has tried in recent years to build a more stable culture and continuity, while the Americans generally have a larger number of highly ranked players and a deeper candidate pool. Snedeker's lineup for Medinah confirms exactly that: players such as Schauffele, Thomas and Cantlay entered through captain's picks even though they have been among the most recognizable names in American golf for years. On the other hand, Ogilvy had to balance current form, experience and potential combinations among players from seven countries.
Captain's picks now turn the discussion from names to pairings
The announcement of the final 12 names ended the months-long race for places on the teams, but for the captains the more important part of the job now begins. Snedeker must decide how to deploy a large number of players accustomed to leading roles, while Ogilvy needs to find pairings capable of neutralizing the Americans' individual strength. One of the key elements will be assessing who is best suited to the Four-ball format on the first day, because an early result can shape the atmosphere of the entire week. Experienced players such as Scott, Matsuyama, Im, Schauffele, Thomas and Cantlay carry much of the responsibility, but it may be the debutants who become the factor that is hardest for the opponent to predict. Koivun, Bridgeman, Gotterup, Taylor, Echavarria, Hisatsune and Fox enter the Presidents Cup atmosphere for the first time without their own history of results to predetermine expectations.
Tournament week at Medinah officially runs from September 22 to 27, while the competitive portion begins on Thursday, September 24 and ends with Sunday's singles matches on September 27. Until then, the focus will shift from qualification standings and captain's decisions to practice, pairing schedules and adaptation to the redesigned Course No. 3. The United States arrives in Chicago as defending champion and winner of the last ten editions, while the International Team arrives with a captain who participated in reshaping the course itself. It is precisely that combination of American depth and the International side's desire to end the historic streak that gives the 2026 Presidents Cup its clear central storyline before the first shot.
Final lineups for the 2026 Presidents Cup
United States - automatic qualifiers:
- Scottie Scheffler
- Cameron Young
- Wyndham Clark
- Sam Burns
- Russell Henley
- Collin Morikawa
United States - Brandt Snedeker's captain's picks:
- Jacob Bridgeman
- Patrick Cantlay
- Chris Gotterup
- Jackson Koivun
- Xander Schauffele
- Justin Thomas
International Team - automatic qualifiers:
- Si Woo Kim
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Ryan Fox
- Tom Kim
- Min Woo Lee
- Adam Scott
International Team - Geoff Ogilvy's captain's picks:
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout
- Corey Conners
- Nico Echavarria
- Ryo Hisatsune
- Sungjae Im
- Nick Taylor
Sources:
- Presidents Cup - official announcement of all captain's picks and lineups for Medinah (link)
- Presidents Cup - official rules and final qualification standings for the U.S. and International teams (link)
- Presidents Cup - official overview of Course No. 3 at Medinah Country Club and information about the course redesign (link)
- Presidents Cup - information about the history of the competition, win-loss record and Medinah's role as host (link)
- PGA Tour - analysis of the U.S. captain's picks, season results and debutant context (link)
- PGA Tour - analysis of the International captain's picks, player experience and season results (link)