U Presidents Cup descends on Chicago this week when the very favored Americans hosts the Internationals at Medinah Country Club.
It’s been almost 30 years since Americans lost their only Presidents’ Cup and 23 years since the last time the Internationals did not take an L (2003 ended in a tie). There were a few close games, but for the most part, the Americans meet the Internationals every two years with its depth. U The Americans are expected to win and won big in Medinah, but the Internationals, led by captain Geoff Ogilvy, believe they have the ingredients to keep close and give the opportunity to make a historic encounter come Sunday.
Team competitions always bring drama, second-guessing and pressure, the latter of which will be everywhere this week at Medinah, as the Americans try to extend their winning streak and the Internationals try to understand the script of a one-sided event.
Here are the five players putting the most pressure on Medinah this week.
Justin Thomas and Patrick Cantlay
Yes, Justin Thomas is seen as the emotional heart of the American team room. But he still hasn’t played at an elite level in 2026. Thomas posted just two top-10s during the season, the last of which came at the PGA Championship in May. Since the beginning of June, here are Thomas’ finishes: T19, T17, T14, T50, T65, T14, T47, T16. He is also ranked 107th in Strokes Gained: Approach this year and 87th in putting.
JT is on the team because he is JT and he is not as in the wilderness as he was in 2024, when he was left off the team. Ma with JJ Spaun winning the BMW PGA Championship after being left out of this team – and many young players looking for their first team start to sit at home – Thomas will be under the microscope at Medina.
Like Thomas, Cantlay is part of the American core, has a 10-4-0 record in the Presidents Cup and matches well with Xander Schauffele. And like Thomas, Cantlay was highly unlikely to be left at home in favor of new blood, despite another winless season in which he wasn’t a factor in the big leagues.
However, unlike Thomas, Cantlay has shown better form of late. He finished the PGA Tour season T28-T8-T12-2-T21. Cantlay finished the season ranked third in approach and fourth in SG: Tee to Green.
He’s not under as much pressure as Thomas, but if Cantlay isn’t his normal match-play threat and the Americans struggle, his selection over Spaun and others will come under scrutiny. If he is again one of the best American players in a route, it does not matter.
Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott
How much pressure can a massive underdog handle? The answer is probably very little. For 90 percent of the International list, the Presidents’ Cup should be an opportunity for them to play freely and freely and try to do something that has been done only once since the beginning of the event.
But for the best players of the International team, the pressure to play well and be the reason that the Internationals have the chance to make a big upset is great.
Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott are the brand names and best players on an International team that lacks the depth of their American counterparts. Where the Americans can recover from losses from Scottie Scheffler or Schauffele, it is extremely difficult for the Internationals to stay afloat if Matsuyama and Scott struggle, which is what they have done in their careers in the Presidents’ Cup.
This will be Scott’s 12th Presidents Cup appearance, and his only winning week came in 2005. He is 20-28-6 overall and has been beaten in fourballs (5-12-4). The Internationals have asked a lot of Scott since he became a global star. They asked him to be a calming presence in the team room and paired him with almost everyone under the sun. In 11 previous Presidents Cups, Scott has had 18 different partners. He paired with Matsuyama seven times for a 2-4-1 record. He has a winning record with only three players: Retief Goosen (3-1-2), Taylor Pendrith (2-1-0) and Byeong Hun An (1-0-1).
Matsuyama also struggled. He is 9-13-5 overall and is 6-12-3 in foursomes and fourballs.
If Scott and Matsuyama pile up the Ls at Medinah, that will put a lot of pressure on Si Woo Kim, Ryan Fox, Tom Kim and Min Woo Lee to keep it close and give the Internationals a chance come Sunday.
Scottie Scheffler
Scheffler was the best player in the world for four years. He was absolutely dominant in stroke-play events, but looked deadly in team competitions.
Scheffler made his Presidents Cup debut in 2022, so the sample size is small. However, a 3-5-1 record in team competition that the United States dominates is no match for Scheffler’s world-class talent. Among players who have made multiple Presidents Cups and won multiple majors since 2000, Scheffler is the only one with a record below .500. Tiger Woods went 27-15-1 in the Presidents Cup. Phil Mickelson went 26-16-13. Jordan Spieth is 13-5-1. It’s time for Scheffler to get his Presidents Cup boat going in that direction.
But their struggles in the Presidents Cup speak to a more pressing problem for American team golf than the team competition they do not dominate: the Ryder Cup.
Where Woods, Mickelson and other American stars have prospered at the Presidents Cup, that has not been the case against the Europeans. Woods went 13-21-3, Mickelson 18-22-7 and Spieth 8-9-5. Scheffler, too, is not at his best against Europeans, going 3-6-3 in three Ryder Cups.
Scheffler’s greatness in 72-hole play events is unquestionable, but it’s time for him to be that kind of force in team competitions. With the 2027 Ryder Cup at Adare Manor, it’s a good time to see Scheffler play as the best player of his generation and show that his team competition struggles are a fading mirage.
