Ryder Cup-winning captain and Golf Channel analyst Paul McGinley believes Team USA may have made a costly mistake before even reaching the first tee at Medinah: not preparing enough for the course and the foursomes format. His concerns now look more serious after the Americans were swept 5-0 on Friday, leaving them 7-3 behind heading into the weekend.
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The result is a major warning for a U.S. team that has dominated the Presidents Cup for years. The Americans now face questions about whether they did enough preparation for a course where different holes can demand different shots and strategies. However, the tournament is far from over, with 20 of the 30 points still available. Team USA also has a strong historical record in Sunday’s singles matches, meaning the Americans still have a real chance to fight their way back.
It marked just the seventh session sweep in Presidents Cup history and tied the largest two-session lead the Internationals have ever built, matching the only edition the U.S. has ever lost, back in 1998.
Breaking down the format on Golf Channel, McGinley didn’t hold back on where he believes the gap is coming from. “Every golf course that you play asks a different exam,” McGinley said. “I’ve got to be careful, don’t give away too much information from a European point of view, but this has been well documented; we reverse engineer, start with the golf course, and come back to where the skill sets compare to sit this exam, because this exam is very different than the exam you might have in the FedEx Cup Finals or a major championship.”
McGinley said good preparation means knowing which holes suit certain types of shots and which players are best suited to those holes. However, he also said he did not want to blame the Americans because he does not know how much time they spent studying and playing the course before the event.
McGinley’s concerns were also raised before the Americans arrived at Medinah. Kevin Kisner questioned the decision to hold the event at a course redesigned by International captain Geoff Ogilvy’s own golf design company, OCM Golf. Kisner felt this could give the International Team an advantage because Ogilvy knows the course well.
This is also not the first time McGinley and other analysts have questioned the U.S. team’s course preparation. During the 2018 Ryder Cup at Le Golf National, Butch Harmon and McGinley pointed out that only one American player had played a competitive event at the course before the Ryder Cup.
The numbers back up the concern about foursomes specifically. According to stats shared by Skratch’s Dan Rapaport, the Americans are now a combined 6-24-0 in foursomes matches across the last two Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups, a staggering imbalance in the format McGinley describes as demanding the most detailed preparation.
Where things stand at Medinah
The International Team has historically struggled against the Americans in alternate shot, entering the week with a 34-point deficit in the format across the Presidents Cup’s history, making Friday’s clean sweep an especially stark reversal. It’s worth noting the tournament is far from over. Friday’s session loss leaves Team USA trailing, but with four fourball and four foursomes matches still to play Saturday, plus all 12 singles matches on Sunday, there are 20 of the 30 total points still up for grabs. A strong weekend, particularly in Sunday singles where the Americans hold a historical 15-point advantage, could still see captain Brandt Snedeker’s side complete the comeback and retain the Cup.
The Americans have never lost the Presidents Cup on home soil and have won 13 of the last 15 editions overall, but Friday’s session marked one of the most lopsided defeats they’ve suffered in the competition’s history.
Foursomes need special preparation, which is why McGinley focuses so much on it. Both players in foursomes share one ball and take turns hitting every shot.
This means one player’s poor shot can make the next shot much harder for their partner. There is also no way to avoid a partner’s mistake. Because of this, captains need to choose players whose games work well together. The pairs also need to practice alternate-shot golf together, especially on the same course where the event is being played. Simply putting two talented players together is not always enough. McGinley believes success in foursomes depends on good teamwork and knowing the course well. It requires detailed preparation and is very different from normal stroke-play golf, where players compete mainly on their own.
Friday’s session sweep marked the first time in the event’s history that the International Team has entered a weekend as anything other than clear underdogs, with betting markets now favoring Geoff Ogilvy’s side to complete the upset. It’s a striking shift for a rivalry the U.S. has dominated 13-1-1 all-time, with the Internationals’ only outright win coming in Australia back in 1998. The specific Friday foursomes results were lopsided across the board: Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama defeated Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 3&2, Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee beat Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark by the same margin, Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout downed Justin Thomas and Cameron Young 3&2, and Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim completed the whitewash with a 4&3 win over Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele.
Looking to arrest the slide, captain Brandt Snedeker is sending out three of his winning pairings from Thursday’s foursome session once again for Saturday morning, along with one new look: Chris Gotterup paired alongside Cameron Young. The full Saturday foursome lineup has Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun facing Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im, Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark taking on Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim, Gotterup and Young against Nick Taylor and Corey Conners, and Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns renewing their partnership against Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune. With four more foursomes matches and four more foursomes matches on tap before Sunday’s 12 singles, the Americans need a strong response just to keep the tournament within reach heading into the final day.