Well, how fast does time fly? Team USA Vice Captain, aka Gary Woodland, has known Scottie Scheffler since he was seven years old. Over the years, he has watched him grow into the undisputed World No. 1 that he is now. And now, as Team USA prepares for the Presidents Cup, Woodland is watching him handle the pressure that comes with being as good as Tiger Woods.
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Indeed, one could say Scheffler’s performance in the match play isn’t as stellar as, let’s say, Sergio Garcia. That’s one thing Woods and he share. But given Scottie’s major wins, his PGA Tour victories, plus the unbeatable stats, one would be foolish not to learn from him. The Team USA members, if you ask Woodland, understand that.
“Scottie is the leader of our team. At the end of the day, he’s the best player in the world. The guys look to him. His voice carries more weight.” Woodland said in a clip shared by 5 Clubs Golf on X on September 22, 2026. Of course, that doesn’t mean the American needs to make changes to his personality. Woodland is very clear on that, too.
“We just want Scottie to be Scottie. We don’t want Scottie to go do anything more than be himself. And I think he’s coming into that role of, ‘hey, I’m a leader, my voice does carry weight’. He’s being more vocal.” Woodland went ahead to compare Scheffler with Woods, even.
“When Tiger speaks, everyone listens. When Scottie speaks in that room, the guys listen. And it’s important for him to do that… I look forward to Scottie being Scottie.”
Woodland was careful not to say that Scheffler was the next Tiger Woods. His comparison was more specific. He was talking about the weight Scheffler’s voice carries inside the team room, not about their careers. No, it has nothing to do with his Presidents Cup record.
That makes sense, in all honesty. In the 9 matches he has played, he has won only three. In fact, as per HITC, he is the American player with the most losses at the biennial tournament. So, if not that, then what’s driving his teammates towards him? Woodland has an answer for that, too.
“I think nobody is more competitive than Scottie… I’m around Scottie on a daily basis, practicing with him, playing with him. Scottie is the leader of our team at the end of the day, he’s the best player in the world,” Woodland revealed. And he is speaking up more than ever now, including defending his teammates from “stupid rumors.”
He is the world No. 1, the No. 1 player in U.S. Presidents Cup standings, the reigning FedExCup champion and the statistical leader of this American roster by a significant margin. The pressure of that status is real. The team’s instruction to him is essentially: don’t add to it.
Meanwhile, Scheffler has often pushed back on comparisons with Woods, saying Tiger stands alone in golf. Back at the 2025 Tour Championship, he stated, “It’s very silly to be compared to Tiger Woods. I think Tiger is a guy that stands alone in the game of golf, and I think he always will.” But every on-course comparison with Woods is a good comparison, if it were up to the golf media.
And Woodland, who shares swing coach Randy Smith with Scheffler and practices with him regularly, has noticed a change. Woodland said Scheffler is embracing his role as a leader. The change comes during another big season.
He has won three times in 2026, taking titles at The American Express, the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the TOUR Championship. He has finished in the top 10 thirteen times in 20 starts and made 19 cuts. He now has 22 career PGA Tour wins.
But his Presidents Cup record is more mixed. Scheffler is 3-5-1 overall (1-3-0 in foursomes, 2-0-1 in fourball, and 0-2-0 in singles). He went 0-3-1 at the 2022 Presidents Cup before going 3-2-0 at Royal Montreal in 2024, according to the Presidents Cup website. So while he has been dominant in individual golf, that success has not always turned into points in team play. But there’s hope.
Scheffler (Automatic Qualifier) will have plenty of experience around him in Medinah. The U.S. team includes Xander Schauffele (Captain’s Pick), Justin Thomas (Captain’s Pick), Collin Morikawa (Automatic Qualifier), Patrick Cantlay (Captain’s Pick), Sam Burns (Automatic Qualifier), Wyndham Clark (Automatic Qualifier), and Russell Henley (Automatic Qualifier).
The team also has three rookies: Chris Gotterup (Captain’s Pick), Jacob Bridgeman (Captain’s Pick), and Jackson Koivun (Captain’s Pick).
Scheffler and Henley already have a strong history as Presidents Cup partners. They went 2-1 together at Royal Montreal in 2024. They won against Sungjae Im and Tom Kim 3&2 in session 1’s fourballs, lost to Tom Kim and Byeong Hun An 1 down in session 2’s foursomes, and won against Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im 3&2 in session 4’s foursomes.
Henley (Automatic Qualifier) is back on the 2026 team, giving captain Brandt Snedeker another familiar option if he decides to pair them again.
The U.S. team won the 2024 Presidents Cup 18.5-11.5, giving it its 10th straight victory in the event. Now, it will try to make it 11 in a row when the Presidents Cup begins in Medinah on September 24. Woodland added that Scheffler seems to be enjoying this new leadership role and is excited about it. For Woodland, the best thing the team can ask of him is simply to be himself.