It was strange to see Scottie Scheffler on the first tee Saturday afternoon at the Presidents Cup – because his shirt was unbuttoned, he had eaten a bag of chips and was laughing on the sidelines with a group of USA family members and support staff.
It must have been strange even for Scheffler. That’s because, for the first time in three years, he was sitting out a session in a US team competition.
With the Internationals they drive Team USA 8.5-5.5 in Saturday afternoon’s quarter session, captain Brandt Snedeker posted a lineup that he said included “a couple of wrinkles.” One of those was sharing the Scheffler-Burns pairing, which went 2-1 on the first three sessions.
“I feel like Scottie has had the weight of the world on his shoulders, carrying Team USA, and it’s time for us to bring him back for a session,” Snedeker told NBC’s Cara Banks.
How difficult was it to decide to place a world No. 1?
“It was tough, that’s probably why my head is still spinning,” Snedeker added. “These matchups came up pretty quickly. We tried our best to put these guys in a good situation and – I love Scottie Scheffler to death, it was a really tough decision to put him this afternoon, but I want him to rest a little bit, I want him to be ready to go tomorrow for these singles matches.”
The timing around the decision added several layers of intrigue. Because Saturday’s two sessions ran back-to-back, Snedeker made his decision with several holes left in the anchor match, where Scheffler and Burns were tied through 14 holes. I could Scheffler’s birdie putt on No. 15 has he changed his mind? Would Snedeker have made the same call if he had seen Burns birdie 16 and 17 to win the match 2 and 1? It’s hard to say.
That timing also meant Scheffler likely didn’t know about his captain’s decision until his post-win interview with Banks. He kept a smile on his face no matter how he felt.
“Our team is a great team, and I’m looking forward to coming out and supporting the guys,” he said. “Yes, it will be fun this afternoon, and encourage them, repost a little.”
The move was shocking only because of Scheffler’s stature in the game; he is the undisputed best player in the event and a more dominant world No. 1 since Tiger Woods. He played all five sessions at both the 2024 Presidents Cup and the 2025 Ryder Cup.
However, Scheffler’s foursomes record has been mystifying. After he and Burns lost a close match on Friday, he improved to 1-8-0 through the Ryder and Presidents Cups in the alternate-stroke format. And the hitting stats have told a mixed story about Scheffler’s contributions so far this week, with Burns’ numbers stronger overall.
Scheffler was positive in additional comments to the assembled media.
“Yeah, we’re always prepared for anything. I’ve played a lot of golf this year. I just sit there and cheer on the guys. Looking forward to watching Sam, he’s one of my favorite people to watch. And rest and get ready for tomorrow,” he said.
“I think one of the great things about our team is that you can pair guys up with anybody. It’s important that the guys off the course and the guys that are playing well, and I’m looking forward to coming out and supporting the guys this afternoon.”
Three American players – Burns, Wyndham Clark and Cameron Young – will go to all five sessions. Scheffler will sit down Saturday afternoon, along with Justin Thomas, Jackson Koivun and Collin Morikawa.
The international side is relying on its top stars; Five players will go all five sessions (Si Woo Kim, Tom Kim, Sungjae Im, Min Woo Lee and Corey Conners) while two players will only play twice (Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Nico Echavarria).
At first, the strategy seemed successful: at the time of writing, the US team leads in all four games in the afternoon.
You can view individual records across three sessions below.
Team USA
Sam Burns 2-1 Scottie Scheffler 2-1 Jackson Koivu 1-0-1 Justin Thomas 1-1-1 Wyndham Clark 1-2 Cameron Young 1-2 Collin Morikawa 1-2 Chris Gotterup 1-1 Russell Henley 0-1 Jacob Bridgeman 0-1 Patrick Cantlay 0-2 Xander Schauffele 0-2
International Team
Tom Kim 3-0 Si Woo Kim 3-0 Hideki Matsuyama 2-1 Sungjae In 1-1-1 Min Woo Lee 1-1-1 Christian Bezuidenhout 1-0 Nick Taylor 1-1 Adam Scott 1-1 Ryan Fox 1-1 Ryo Hisatsune 1-1 Corey Conners 1-2 Nico Echavarria 0-1
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