While the Ryder Cup may be the epitome of team-event drama, the Presidents Cup is no less. The biennial event has produced plenty of great golf. But some of its most unforgettable moments happened far beyond the scorecard. Whether it was a match stretched beyond daylight, a heated argument that spilled into the crowd, or an unusual rules situation, many controversies still linger in the minds of avid golf fans like you.

Some incidents changed the mood of an entire match, while others became talking points long after the final putt had dropped. Here are the five Presidents Cup controversies that we believe deserve a place in the top, as they continue to stand out in the tournament’s history.

1. The darkness tie in 2003

In team events, everyone expects one team to win and the other to lose. But the 2003 Presidents Cup saw a unique ending where both teams ended up winning the event. At Fancourt in South Africa, the International team started with an early lead. Day 1 ended 3.5-2.5 in their favor. But the American team staged a comeback on the second day, clinching seven points in the four-balls and foursomes while giving away only three points to the International Team.

During Day 3 four-balls, the International Team took control once again with 4.5 points. As Team USA managed only 1.5 points on Day 3, the total score was 11-11. Both teams earned six points each on Sunday singles for a 17-17 tie at the end of 34 matches. This forced a sudden-death playoff between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els.

Down three playoff holes, neither golfer was ready to give up. As they couldn’t separate themselves to decide a winner, the darkness started to settle over the course. Since continuing the game became impossible, captains Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player agreed to share the Presidents Cup.

The decision came after some uncertainty over what would happen if the playoff could not produce a winner. According to the rules, the defending champion retains the Presidents Cup.

“The International team must understand as defending champions we retain the Cup,” Nicklaus said around the second green.

But Els was quick to respond, asking to continue play. He wasn’t ready to give away the Cup without a fight, but darkness made that no longer possible. Thus, the teams chose to share the win. It became the only tied Presidents Cup in history and one of the event’s most unusual finishes. Nicklaus later said it could go down “as one of the best decisions in golfing history.”

2. Patrick Reed’s caddie confronts a fan in 2019

The 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne was already tense for Patrick Reed before his caddie, Kessler Karain, became part of the controversy.

Reed arrived in Australia facing heavy criticism following a two-stroke penalty at the 2018 Hero World Challenge. While the American professional denied the accusations, video evidence showed otherwise. The video showed him moving sand during practice swings in a waste area. When officials determined he had improved his lie or line of play, he said it was unintentional.

“I wasn’t trying to improve a lie. If you break the rules unintentionally, it’s not cheating,” Reed said post the tournament.

Although he received the penalty, fans were furious about his actions and denial, and it followed him into the Presidents Cup.

Australian spectators repeatedly heckled Reed during the tournament. After Reed and Webb Simpson lost their Saturday four-ball match to Hideki Matsuyama and C.T. Pan, Karain, who is also Reed’s brother-in-law, confronted a spectator. Karain told ESPN’s Michael Collins that the spectator told Reed, “You f—ing suck.” As a result, Karain admitted to shoving the fan.

“As a caddie, one of your jobs is to protect your player. And unlike several other sports, in golf fans can get pretty close to Athletes,” the caddie said in his statement.

The PGA Tour responded by removing Karain from Reed’s bag for Sunday’s singles session. Reed said he respected the decision, while Tiger Woods, who was the U.S. captain, said the team had rallied around its player.

3. Tom Kim’s heated exchange with Scottie Scheffler in 2024

The 2024 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal was quick to produce a controversy.

During the opening-day four-ball match between the International Team’s Tom Kim and Sungjae Im and Team USA’s Scottie Scheffler and Russell Henley, Kim celebrated a long birdie putt on the seventh hole very loudly. Scheffler, who has admitted that he doesn’t like to lose at all, responded with an emphatic celebration of his own. After his putt, the World No. 1 turned towards the International team pair and shouted, “What was that?” in Kim’s direction.

The tension continued to the next hole. But it wasn’t any confrontation this time. After Kim and Im made their birdie on the eighth, they walked toward the ninth tee while Scheffler still had a putt remaining. NBC analyst Paul McGinley criticized the move as disrespectful, while other commentators also questioned the etiquette involved. As a result, Team USA’s vice captain, Kevin Kisner, had some words with his International counterpart, Camilo Villegas.

Kisner was reportedly heard telling Villegas, “If you’re gonna do that, then it’s game on.”

What began as competitive banter quickly became a debate over where acceptable gamesmanship ends and disrespect begins.

4. Phil Mickelson appears to lose the same hole twice

Few Presidents Cup rules controversies have produced as much confusion as Phil Mickelson’s bizarre experience in 2015.

Mickelson and Zach Johnson were playing Adam Scott and Jason Day in four-ball at Incheon, South Korea. The match was all square when Mickelson teed off on the par-5 seventh with a different golf ball. Because the one-ball condition was in effect, Lefty had breached the competition condition.

The penalty for his actions was a one-hole adjustment to the match. However, a rules official incorrectly told Mickelson that he was disqualified from completing the hole. Johnson then had to play the hole alone. The result was Day and Scott winning that hole. In the end, the International pair led by two holes after the seventh.

The incident became famous because the Americans appeared to have lost the same hole twice. Many fans and even professionals were left amazed after the ruling.

“How can you lose a hole twice???! #ussgarules #wow,” Keegan Bradley wrote in a Tweet.

The rules committee later acknowledged the mistake. Firstly, Phil Mickelson should have been allowed to finish the hole, and secondly, the one-hole adjustment should have been applied afterward.

5. Jordan Spieth’s bizarre rule violation in 2017

At Liberty National in 2017, Jordan Spieth found himself at the center of an unusual Presidents Cup rules dispute.

Spieth and Patrick Reed were tied with Jason Day and Louis Oosthuizen on the 12th hole. Oosthuizen’s eagle attempt rolled past the cup and continued down the green. With the ball still moving, Spieth used his putter to stop it and then tossed it back toward Oosthuizen.

According to Spieth, he was reacting to American fans who were shouting for the ball to keep rolling. But rules official Andy McFee said that Spieth had violated Rule 11.2 by taking action intended to influence the movement of a ball in play. The penalty was loss of the hole.

Even Tiger Woods, who was the team’s assistant captain, argued the decision with the official. But the ruling remained in place. Interestingly, Spieth and Reed recovered and eventually won the match 2&1.

The Presidents Cup has never been short on competitive drama, but these incidents show how a team event can move beyond ordinary golf. Each controversy also raised a different question, whether about sportsmanship, etiquette, officiating, or the pressure of competing for a team rather than as an individual. That is part of what makes these moments so difficult to forget.