Presidents Cup 2026: Breaking down Thursday's opening fourball matches at Medinah

MEDINAH, Ill. — Captains Brandt Snedeker and Geoff Ogilvy announced their starting pairings for Thursday’s session of the Presidents Cup.

On Wednesday the leaders of the American and International squads rolled out the 10 players from their sides that will be competing on the opening day at Medinah. The first format is fourball (best ball). Among the notable American pairings are Justin Thomas taking breakout performer Jackson Koivun under his wing, friends Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns teaming up, and Cam Young and Xander Schauffele joining forces.

"Jackson being a young kid, I feel like he's really kind of found his way on our team really quickly. I feel like he's handled the adjustment really well. Justin is just a natural pairing for him," Snedeker said. "He's somebody he's comfortable with. I think he'll do a great job putting his arm around him and show him how USA golf is meant to be played. I know he's excited to see him, but think we're really excited about all these matchups and put this lineup out."

The Internationals will lean on Adam Scott and Ryan Fox, with the duo of Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim hoping to provide a spark.

"I think everyone comes into these tournaments with optimism. They're very momentum-based tournaments," Ogilvy said. "Montreal was an amazing first two days. 0-5 was a disaster for us, and then 5-0 was a big success. You could never have predicted that, where it takes a long time to get to this stage. We've been thinking about this for a long time. So we're just excited to get going."

Jacob Bridgeman and Russell Henley will be the two players sidelined for the United States, while Nick Taylor and Christiaan Bezuidenhout are on the bench for the Internationals.

The United States has lost just once in the 32-year history of the Presidents Cup, falling in 1998 in Australia. The Internationals were competitive at the 2015 and 2019 matches, yet the last two have been blowouts, with the Americans winning by five points in 2022 and seven points in 2024. The Yankees are again heavy favorites this week in Chicago thanks to the frontline power of World No. 1 Scheffler, Young and reigning U.S. Open champ Wyndham Clark, with Russell Henley, Chris Gotterup, Burns and Schauffele also ranked inside the top 10 in the World Ranking. The Internationals do have veterans in Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama and Si Woo Kim, with the man who captured the claret jug in Fox also in the mix, yet the team’s depth will be tested over the four-day competition.

Match 1: Min Woo Lee-Sungjae Im (I) vs. Scottie Scheffler-Sam Burns (US)
What to Watch: One International pairing had to serve as sacrificial lambs for the opening of this competition, and that task seemingly falls to Sungjae Im and Min Woo Lee. Two years ago in Montreal, the duo combined for all of 1½ points. Burns (3½) and Scheffler (3) each doubled that. Scheffler and Burns (No. 8) have been thought of as a “buddy” team, but they didn’t play one time together at Royal Montreal. And maybe that’s because they’re 0-3-1 in team international play. Crazy to think Snedeker is taking a chance here, but maybe? (Tod Leonard)

Match 2: Hideki Matsuyama-Ryo Hisatsune (I) vs. Cameron Young-Xander Schauffele (US)
What to Watch: This is arguably the best Thursday pairing for the Americans. In 14 career Presidents Cup matches Schauffele has scored a whopping 10 points, while Young is coming off a career year that has him No. 3 in the OWGR, and the Medinah set-up should be tailored to his skills. Matsuyama is a workhorse for the Internationals, but getting paired with a rookie in Hisatsune—who is good, yet doesn’t do anything particularly great—against this U.S. firepower might be too much to overcome. Managing a tie would be considered a monumental upset for the Internationals. (Joel Beall)

Match 3: Corey Conners-Nico Echevarria (I) vs. Justin Thomas-Jackson Koivun (US)
What to Watch: Conners is one of the best ball-strikers in the world, but it hasn’t translated to the Presidents Cup, where he’s recorded just two points in nine matches. Echevarria has shown the ability to go low, however, so this might be a more formidable pairing than it looks on paper. This will definitely be the pairing to watch on the U.S. front with the spotlight on Koivun. The fledging star was the talk of the sport over the summer, although he didn’t appear to have his best during Wednesday’s practice round, spraying some shots and struggling around the green. Which makes it all the more imperative that he’s with Thomas, who (along with Schauffele) has been as dependable as it gets for the U.S. Expect this match to be closely contested. (Joel Beall)

Match 4: Ryan Fox-Adam Scott (I) vs. Wyndham Clark-Collin Morikawa (US)
What to Watch: Fox pulled off one of the gutsiest performances of the year at Royal Birkdale and is coming off an impressive T-6 at the BMW PGA Championship. He's exactly the type of player Scott has desperately needed in his years in this event, where he’s still searching for his first victory. But Thursday will be a challenge; Clark’s been one of the best players in golf over the last six months and despite managing a back issue for most of the year, Morikawa was still ninth on tour in strokes gained. For the Internationals to have any hope this week, they have to win. (Joel Beall)

Match 5: Tom Kim-Si Woo Kim (I) vs. Patrick Cantlay-Chris Gotterup (US)
What to Watch: Not surprising that the Korean pair, who have teamed well in past Presidents Cups, are in the anchor spot. Ogilvy is looking to score the last point of the day to perhaps build some momentum. Cantlay and Gotterup played together on Wednesday, and the stoic Cantlay will undoubtedly be a calming influence for the rookie. (Dave Shedloski)

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