The Presidents Cup is a biennial event like the Ryder Cup, but it is nowhere near as competitive. And one of the biggest reasons behind it is that winning has almost become inevitable for the US team. The international team enters with the chance to change that narrative.
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But the history at Medinah could add an intriguing layer to an otherwise predictable matchup. The question, however, is whether the international team can pull off that twist now, especially with many potential players, such as Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann, unavailable after switching to LIV Golf.
Speaking on the Trey Wingo Golf podcast, Justin Ray highlighted some numbers that show why this will be challenging for the international team. He revealed that of the 15 Presidents Cup events played so far, the international side won only one. This single victory came way back in 1998.
Additionally, there have been 46 sessions at the Presidents Cup since 2005. The American team trailed only in four of them. Another key stat is that, across the last three editions of this biennial event, Team USA had a world rankings advantage a whopping 89 times.
“Like you said, 89 of 90, that can’t happen if they want this to continue,” Trey Wingo responded after hearing the numbers that prove the lack of competitiveness.
This does not affect only the international team. In fact, Ray feels that it is more of a burden on the American team because they have to see it through. If they lose with such a history, it could impact their confidence. On the other hand, the international team is the underdog here. The members can play as they want, which can be useful for them, because no one expects them to win.
Medinah Country Club’s Course No. 3 has already witnessed one of the most dramatic comebacks in team golf. The 2012 Ryder Cup’s “Miracle at Medinah,” when Europe erased a 10-6 deficit to win 14.5-13.5, is one of the sport’s most famous comebacks. The difference, however, is that the Ryder Cup became very competitive after the mid-1980s. That’s when the opposing team went from only Great Britain and Ireland to include the entire European continent. This added a wave of many elite professionals, such as Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia, and others.
On the contrary, the Presidents Cup has not yet become that competitive. For instance, Team USA won 19-11, 16-14, 17.5-12.5, and 18.5-11.5 in the last four editions. These are all one-sided wins except for 2019, where the international team got off to a great start and took the lead. The American team had to make a comeback in 2019 at Royal Melbourne. In fact, the American team is entering this year’s biennial event with a 10-game winning streak.
The teams are highly one-sided this time, too. The automatic qualifiers on the international team are Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, Ryan Fox, Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee, and Adam Scott. Captain Geoff Ogilvy then picked Corey Conners, Nico Echavarria, Sungjae Im, Ryo Hisatsune, Nick Taylor, and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
On the other hand, automatic qualifiers on Team USA include Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, and Collin Morikawa. Brandt Snedeker’s picks are Chris Gotterup, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Jacob Bridgeman, and Jackson Koivun.
Now, for a simple comparison, only three members of the international team have won a PGA Tour event in 2026. Ryan Fox won The Open, Tom Kim excelled at the Genesis Scottish Open, and Nico Echavarria clinched the Cognizant Classic. On the other hand, Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, and Chris Gotterup have all won three titles each this year. Then there are others, including Cameron Young, Russell Henley, and Collin Morikawa, who have won too. Put simply, it is a competition between golfers in excellent form against those who are barely keeping up.
The world rankings also paint the same picture. Si Woo Kim, at No. 13, has the best rank in the international team. In the American team, Scottie Scheffler (No. 1), Cameron Young (No. 3), Wyndham Clark (No. 5), Russell Henley (No. 6), Chris Gotterup (No. 7), Sam Burns (No. 9), Xander Schauffele (No. 10), and Collin Morikawa (No. 11) are all ranked above Kim.
The numbers make the challenge clear for the International team. Medinah may offer a stage for another upset, but the gap in recent results, player depth, and world rankings leaves little room for error. As Justin Ray pointed out, the Presidents Cup has almost everything needed to be a great competition. What it lacks is a consistently competitive contest.