It’s hard to believe the U.S. side would bench the best player on the team. But that’s exactly what happened. After losing Friday’s foursomes, Scottie Scheffler helped secure a point for the U.S. alongside Sam Burns in Saturday morning’s four-ball session, but was benched for Saturday afternoon’s foursomes. However, he returned for Sunday’s singles and helped the US collect one point against Nico Echavarria. When asked about his benching, though, Scheffler shut down a female reporter.
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“I mean, do you want to talk about today’s match?” Scheffler asked when the female reporter pressed him about watching the afternoon foursomes from the sidelines. “I just played some golf out there. Do you want to talk about that?”
It’s worth noting that U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker explained that benching Scottie Scheffler was a difficult but deliberate decision. Snedeker said he felt Scheffler had been carrying the weight of Team USA and needed a chance to rest before Sunday’s singles. He also praised the World No. 1 for taking the decision professionally, noting that Scheffler is committed to doing whatever is best for the team.
Snedeker added that he did not want to “run him into the ground” and instead wanted to put him in the best possible position to perform in Sunday’s singles. Undeterred, the reporter quickly pivoted to the match, asking Scheffler about the sequence of events late in the contest, particularly Echavarria’s chip-in on the 16th hole and whether the unexpected shot caught him by surprise.
“Yeah, he’s really, really good around the greens. I wouldn’t say too surprising. That ball was going to get to the hole for sure. He’s a great competitor, and we had a really solid match today,” Scheffler said. “I played some really good golf, kept the golf course in front of me. I’m not sure if I missed any greens. Gave myself a lot of looks, and it was nice to get a point on the board.”
The match, however, had a little more drama than Scheffler let on. On the 14th hole, just as Nico Echavarria was in the middle of his backswing, a fan shouted in support of the Texas native. The interruption appeared to affect the Colombian, whose tee shot missed the fairway to the right. Scheffler, who was clearly unhappy with the distraction, immediately stepped in and confronted the fan, making his stance clear: “There’s no place for that.”
The match eventually came to an end with Scottie Scheffler securing a 2&1 victory over Echavarria. And when asked about the incident afterward, the World No. 1, who has also dealt with interruptions during play in the past, chose not to dwell on it, dismissing the behavior instead.
“To be honest with you, I don’t even really want to talk about it,” Scheffler said. “I think there’s no real place for that in our game. I think we just leave it at that.”
Scheffler also addressed some comments made by Snedeker, who claimed he had made some mistakes as the US team trailed before Sunday singles. The six-time major winner defended Snedeker’s captaincy, acknowledging that it is easy to “second-guess” decisions when things do not go as planned. However, he praised the U.S. captain for putting the team in a position to succeed and supporting the players.
“I wouldn’t hang my head over some of the decisions. This thing is not over,” Scottie Scheffler added.
Team USA went on to clinch the 2026 Presidents Cup, defeating the International team 17-13. The Americans secured a victory over the International team, just as they did the last time the Presidents Cup was held.