Team USA entered the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club, Illinois, seeking an 11th consecutive victory over the International Team. Their last victory in 2024 came with a score of 18½-11½. With such a great record, Team USA is already under pressure to maintain that streak. Amid the growing pressure, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has shown his support for the Americans.
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The PGA Tour has shared an Instagram post. It features a video where Kelce is saying, “I am representing the U.S. of A. That is right. The Presidents Cup is this week. It’s going to be a whole lot of fun over there in Chicago.”
He is wearing one of the Team USA jerseys from the Presidents Cup outfit to show his support. Kelce’s golf credentials—a handicap between 7 and 10, appearances at the WM Phoenix Open—make his endorsement credible.
While Team USA has maintained a streak of consistent dominance, several factors could work against them this year. One of the biggest challenges is Medinah’s Course No. 3, which underwent a complete overhaul in 2023–2024. The designers removed trees, widened fairways, narrowed bunkers and roughs, and added three entirely new holes, providing a significantly different challenge for the players.
The redesign is not the problem here; the issue is that Team International’s captain, Geoff Ogilvy, was a co-designer. This means that he knows the course inside and out. However, Ogilvy downplayed the situation, saying his team only had an advantage on Monday. But by Thursday, everyone will have practiced enough to get used to the course and nullify that advantage. Patrick Cantlay shares his views.
Team USA has started its campaign on a steady note. But the International Team has prevented Team USA from taking an early lead—a departure from past Presidents Cups.
Captain Brandt Snedeker decided to go with the following pairings for Thursday four-balls:
- Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns
- Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele
- Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun
- Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa
- Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay
None of the matches have ended as of this writing, but both teams have been going neck and neck so far. In particular, Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im have done an impressive job of keeping the Scheffler-Burns duo from pulling away. Through 16 holes, the match remains finely poised at a tie. The Americans struck first, taking an early lead on the opening hole and holding it through the fourth, before the International pair won the fourth to bring the score level.
On the par-three 13th, Sungjae Im scored a birdie to help the International team take the lead in the match for the first time. But Sam Burns made a birdie on the 14th to get the point back immediately.
As for the other pairs, Thomas and Koivun are 3 up through 14 holes against Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria. Clark and Morikawa also have a 2-up lead through 13 holes against the veteran duo of Ryan Fox and Adam Scott.
However, the other two pairs are currently losing. Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim have a 1-up lead through 12 holes against Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay. And through 14 holes, Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune have overpowered Young and Schauffele for a 2-up lead.
If things continue the same for the rest of the round across all five matches, both teams will end up with 2.5 points on Day 1 of the Presidents Cup.
As the opening-day matches continue, Team USA will look to turn its experience and early leads into points, while the International Team aims to maintain its momentum. Travis Kelce’s support adds to the excitement, but the Americans will need to deliver on the course if they hope to extend their winning streak.