From Four Points Down to Champions: Team USA Storms Back to Win the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah

The 2026 Presidents Cup looked like it might finally be the year the International Team broke through. For most of the week at Medinah Country Club, the Americans looked vulnerable, the International side looked composed, and by Saturday night the United States was staring at a three-point deficit with only Sunday singles remaining. Instead, Team USA produced the best singles session in Presidents Cup history, winning 9.5 of the 12 available points to erase a 10.5-7.5 deficit and win the Cup 17-13. It was the largest final-day comeback the event has ever seen and extended the Americans’ winning streak in the Presidents Cup to 11 straight.

The week started normally enough for the United States. Thursday’s opening fourball session went 3-2 in favor of Team USA, with Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns winning the opening match, Justin Thomas and rookie Jackson Koivun taking another point, and Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa also winning. The International Team kept the day close behind Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune, while Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim continued to show why they are such a dangerous match-play pairing. The Americans had the lead, but there was nothing about Thursday that suggested they were about to run away with the event.

Everything changed Friday.

The format shifted to foursomes, or alternate shot, and the International Team completely destroyed the Americans. Five matches were played and the International Team won all five. Corey Conners and Nick Taylor beat Scheffler and Burns 1-up. Sungjae Im and Matsuyama defeated Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 3-and-2. Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee beat Morikawa and Clark. Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Adam Scott handled Cameron Young and Justin Thomas. Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim finished the sweep by beating Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele 4-and-3. In a matter of hours, a 3-2 American lead had become a 7-3 International advantage. It was only the third session sweep by the International Team in Presidents Cup history, and suddenly this event had a completely different feeling.

That Friday session was where the pressure really started building around U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker. The United States had been the overwhelming power in this event for decades, entering Medinah with a 13-1-1 all-time record and having won every Presidents Cup since 2005. The International Team’s only outright victory came back in 1998. Yet here was the American team, playing on home soil, four points down after two days and looking completely lost in alternate shot. Snedeker even acknowledged during the weekend that he did not think he had done a good enough job with some of his pairings and decisions.

Saturday was supposed to be the American response, and for stretches it looked like it might become one. The United States won the morning fourball session 2.5-1.5, cutting the deficit to 8.5-5.5. Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivun earned a half point against Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im, while the Americans picked up two full victories elsewhere, including another win from Scheffler and Burns. The leaderboard spent much of the morning covered in red, but the International Team did just enough late to prevent the Americans from turning the session into a rout.

The same thing happened Saturday afternoon. Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele finally got some revenge on Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim with a 2-and-1 victory, while Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup rolled Adam Scott and Sungjae Im 6-and-4. For a while, it appeared Team USA might completely erase the Friday disaster before Sunday even arrived. Instead, the International Team fought back again. Corey Conners and Nick Taylor came from three holes down to beat Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 1-up, and Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee also delivered a late victory. The afternoon session finished 2-2, leaving the Internationals ahead 10.5-7.5 heading into singles.

That three-point advantage was historic. It was the first time the International Team had ever carried a lead into Sunday singles on American soil. They needed only five points from the 12 matches to reach the 15.5 points required to win the Cup. The United States needed eight. Considering what had happened Friday, and considering how well the International Team had responded every time the Americans made a charge Saturday, this finally looked like their opportunity to end nearly three decades of Presidents Cup frustration.

Snedeker’s final decision was to load the front of the Sunday lineup with some of his best players and try to turn the scoreboard red immediately. Cameron Young went first, followed by Wyndham Clark, Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler. The plan was obvious. The Americans needed momentum before the later matches even reached the back nine.

Young gave them exactly that. He fell two holes down early against Ryo Hisatsune, but then completely flipped the match after the turn. Young won three consecutive holes from Nos. 11 through 13 and eventually buried a long birdie putt at the 16th to close out a 3-and-2 victory. The United States finally had its first point of the day, and more importantly, the crowd at Medinah finally had something to explode about.

Tom Kim answered for the Internationals. He defeated Wyndham Clark 3-and-2 after making a run of birdies around the turn and finished the week with a 4-1 record. Kim was the best International player of the entire event and once again proved that something about team golf brings out another level in him. He and Si Woo Kim had been the International Team’s most reliable pairing all week, and even on Sunday Tom Kim was not going quietly.

Justin Thomas then delivered one of the biggest blowouts of the afternoon. Thomas won five of the first six holes against Corey Conners and cruised to a 5-and-3 victory. It was Thomas’ first singles win in Presidents Cup competition, and it could not have come at a better time. Scheffler followed by controlling Nico Echavarria from the start, building a four-hole advantage and eventually closing out another American point. Scheffler also produced one of the best sportsmanship moments of the week when he conceded Echavarria’s long par putt after a fan yelled during the Colombian’s backswing.

Sungjae Im gave the International Team another point by beating Sam Burns 3-and-1, but from there the American wave became overwhelming. Chris Gotterup survived a late rally from Christiaan Bezuidenhout and won on the 18th hole. Patrick Cantlay beat Adam Scott 2-and-1, highlighted by an absurd 57-foot birdie at the 16th. Collin Morikawa then grabbed another point in one of the most important matches of the day, beating Hideki Matsuyama 1-up after Matsuyama made a costly bogey on the 18th. That victory put the United States ahead in the overall competition for the first time since Thursday.

By that point, the International Team could feel the Cup slipping away. Jackson Koivun, the 21-year-old rookie who had only recently left college golf, became one of the biggest stories of the week. Koivun trailed Si Woo Kim on the back nine but made three birdies over his final seven holes to win 2-up. He finished the Presidents Cup undefeated at 2-0-1 and earned 2.5 points for the United States, an incredible debut considering the pressure he was playing under. His victory guaranteed that the United States could no longer lose the Cup.

Then Jacob Bridgeman finished it.

Bridgeman entered Sunday without a point all week and was one hole down to Min Woo Lee with three holes remaining. Somehow, the rookie fought his way back. They reached the 18th tied, with the entire tournament essentially sitting on the final hole. Lee found trouble off the tee, Bridgeman kept himself in position, and eventually the American stood over a short putt to clinch the Presidents Cup. He made it, winning the match 1-up and officially completing the comeback. The guy who had gone winless during the team sessions ended up making the putt that won the entire thing. That is about as perfect as match-play golf gets.

The remaining matches only added to the final margin. Xander Schauffele beat Ryan Fox 2-and-1, while Russell Henley and Nick Taylor finished tied. When everything was finished, Team USA had taken 9.5 points from the 12 Sunday singles matches. The International Team managed only 2.5. A 10.5-7.5 International lead had somehow become a 17-13 American victory. Golf Channel described it as the greatest Sunday singles performance in Presidents Cup history, and the numbers back that up.

The comeback also says a lot about the depth of the American roster. Scheffler, Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup each finished with three points. Koivun and Thomas each earned 2.5. Morikawa, Cantlay and Schauffele each earned two. Team USA did not need one player to carry the entire event Sunday because almost everyone in the lineup contributed. Even Bridgeman, who had lost both of his earlier matches, found his moment when the Cup was actually on the line.

The International Team deserves credit because, for three days, this was arguably the strongest challenge the Americans have faced in years. Tom Kim was outstanding at 4-1. Si Woo Kim earned three points. Sungjae Im, Min Woo Lee and Nick Taylor each finished with 2.5. Friday’s 5-0 foursomes sweep was one of the best sessions the International Team has ever played, and they became the first International side to take a Sunday lead into singles on American soil. For most of the week, they did almost everything required to finally win this event.

But Sunday singles exposed the biggest difference between the two teams. The United States simply had too much individual firepower. Once the format became 12 separate one-on-one matches, there was nowhere to hide and no partner to lean on. Snedeker put his best players near the top, they started winning early, and the red on the leaderboard kept spreading. International captain Geoff Ogilvy admitted afterward that the Americans came out firing and that several close matches could have changed the entire feel of the day, but the United States consistently won the moments that mattered.

There was also something fitting about this comeback happening at Medinah. Fourteen years earlier, the same golf course hosted one of the most famous comebacks in Ryder Cup history when Europe rallied from 10-6 down on Sunday to stun the United States. This time the Americans got their own version. It was not the same event and not quite the same deficit, but the parallels were impossible to ignore. The United States entered Sunday staring at a scoreboard that looked very uncomfortable and left a few hours later celebrating one of the best comeback victories in the history of the Presidents Cup.

The final result moves the United States to 14-1-1 all time in the Presidents Cup and extends its winning streak to 11 consecutive events. The International Team is still searching for its first victory since 1998 and its first ever on American soil. The next Presidents Cup will be played in 2028 at Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne, Australia, where the International Team will once again try to finally end this run.

For three days, the 2026 Presidents Cup looked like it was finally going to be different. The International Team survived every American run, dominated Friday and carried a historic lead into Sunday. Then Team USA reminded everyone why this event has been so one-sided for so long. Young set the tone, Thomas and Scheffler poured gasoline on it, Morikawa and Cantlay flipped crucial matches, Koivun looked completely fearless, and Bridgeman delivered the clinching putt. The United States needed almost a perfect Sunday to save the Cup. They came pretty damn close to producing one.