MONTREAL, QUEBEC – SEPTEMBER 26: A view of the Presidents Cup trophy on the first tee during Four-Ball on day one of the 2024 Presidents Cup at The Royal Montreal Golf Club on September 26, 2024 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Chris Condon/PGA TOUR via Getty Images)
PGA Tour
The 2026 Presidents Cup is slated to begin on Thursday, September 24th at the Medinah Country Club on the outskirts of Chicago. The American team has been dominant in this event having won 10 in a row coming into this year and 13 of the last 15 Presidents Cups. They will again be heavy favorites to retain the cup when they tee it up Thursday morning.
On paper, the International team looks like a heavy underdog as they are attempting to win on American soil for the first time in the event. After being defeated by large margins in back-to-back Presidents Cups, captain Geoff Ogilvy looks for his underdog squad to rebound on a golf course that he himself helped to renovate.
The American team, while heavy favorites to win, does have some pressure on them as they come into another team event with high expectations, but some question marks. Captain Brandt Snedeker used a captain’s pick on the talented, young Jackson Koivun who just turned professional this summer and went on to win the 3M Open. Snedeker is hoping he made the right decision, especially after JJ Spaun, winner of last week’s BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour was not chosen for the team.
Another potential story heading into the Presidents Cup is that of world number one player Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler has distanced himself from all other players in the world since 2021 and will be the number one ranked player in the world for the foreseeable future, but his play at the Presidents Cup tells a different story. Scheffler has a 3-5-1 record in President Cup play, including an 0-2 record in singles. He will look to change the narrative around him when it comes to team golf.
2026 Presidents Cup Formats
Over four days, competitors in the President Cup will play five different sessions against each other. The first two sessions will each have four matches, with American captain Snedeker electing to play four-ball on Thursday and foursomes on Friday. Saturday’s play is broken into two sessions,morning and afternoon. The morning session will feature four-ball, while the afternoon session will be foursomes. Sunday will see 12 singles matches, with all competitors playing. An explanation of the formats is below.
Four-ball: Two-man teams will square off against each, with each player playing their own ball in this format. The best score on a hole from each team will be the score used to determine who wins the hole. If there is a tie on a hole, there is no carryover.
Foursomes: More commonly known as alternate shot, two-man teams again square off head-to-head, only this time players will need to alternate each shot hit. If one player hits the tee shot, the partner hits the next shot, and so on all the way to the final putt of the hole. The player who hits the opening tee shot will hit tee shots on all of the odd holes, while their partner will hit all the tee shots on even holes. This format requires more strategy than the other formats in play.
Singles: On Sunday’s final round, all players will take part in a singles competition. This format is just what it sounds like, one versus one. There will be 12 matches in which one player from the United States plays against one player from the International team.
2026 Presidents Cup Scoring
Each match of the Presidents Cup is worth one point. If you or your pairing win the match, they receive a point for their team. If the match ends up in a tie, there are no extra holes and each team receives half a point for the match. The first team to reach 15.5 points wins the Presidents Cup. There are 30 points total. If the matches end in a 15-15 tie, the Presidents Cup will be deemed a tie.
2026 President Cup Rosters
U.S. team roster
- Scottie Scheffler
- Cameron Young
- Wyndham Clark
- Sam Burns
- Russell Henley
- Collin Morikawa
- Chris Gotterup (captain’s pick)
- Xander Schauffele (captain’s pick)
- Justin Thomas (captain’s pick)
- Jacob Bridgeman (captain’s pick)
- Patrick Cantlay (captain’s pick)
- Jackson Koivun (captain’s pick)
International team roster
- Si Woo Kim
- Ryan Fox
- Hideki Matsuyama
- Min Woo Lee
- Tom Kim
- Adam Scott
- Corey Conners (captain’s pick)
- Nico Echavarría (captain’s pick)
- Sungjae Im (captain’s pick)
- Ryo Hisatsune (captain’s pick)
- Nick Taylor (captain’s pick)
- Christiaan Bezuidenhout (captain’s pick)
2026 Presidents Cup Television Schedule
All times Eastern
Thursday, Sept. 24
Round 1 (four-ball): 12:35 p.m.
Live TV coverage: 12:30-7 p.m. on Golf Channel
Streaming: 12:30-7 p.m. on GolfChannel.com
Friday, Sept. 25
Round 2 (foursomes): 2:05 p.m.
Live TV coverage: 2-7 p.m. on Golf Channel
Streaming: 2-7 p.m. on GolfChannel.com
Saturday, Sept. 26
Round 3 (four-ball): 8:02 a.m.
Round 4 (foursomes): 2:15 p.m.
Live TV coverage: 8-9 a.m. on Golf Channel | 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on NBC
Streaming: 8 a.m. 9 a.m. on GolfChannel.com | 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Peacock
Sunday, Sept. 27
Round 5 (singles): 12:02 p.m.
Live TV coverage: 12-6 p.m. on NBC
Streaming: 12-6 p.m. on Peacock
Mike is a founding member of Break80 Golf and a contributing golf and sports writer for Forbes with PGA Tour and LIV Golf media credentials. Mike can be reached at break80podcast@gmail.com for inquiries or story leads.
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