U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker credited President Donald Trump after the Americans rallied for a 17-13 victory over the International team at the Presidents Cup on Sunday.
“One last shoutout: Donald Trump. President Trump. He told me, ‘I [am] going to bring energy today for you. You guys need it,'” Snedeker said.
“I told him if we did this, he gets all the credit. So, thank you, President Trump.”
With Trump in attendance, the United States team found itself in uncharted territory heading into Sunday singles at Medinah Country Club. For the first time in the event’s history, Team USA trailed on home soil entering the final session.
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Trump, the event’s honorary chairman, briefly addressed the crowd from the first tee before play began.
“You know, the fake news media will say I get a very bad reception,” Trump said as the crowd laughed. “But we get a good reception.”
“[PGA Tour CEO] Brian [Rolapp] said, ‘Could you make a short speech?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t have the courage to make a speech. These people wanna see golf. They don’t wanna hear speeches.’ I’ll only say this: Our country is doing great, better than ever before.”
The Americans entered the week having won all eight Presidents Cups played on home soil and 10 straight overall. But Team USA was also coming off a 15-13 loss to Europe at last year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black. The last thing American golf needed was another visiting team celebrating a victory on U.S. soil.
Instead, the Americans erased a 10½-7½ deficit by winning nine of the 12 singles matches and outscoring the Internationals 9½-2½. Presidents Cup rookie Jacob Bridgeman delivered the winning point with a par putt on the 18th green.
Snedeker sent out some of his best players in the first few matches, hoping to swing the event and put pressure on the Internationals. Cameron Young led off, with Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler going out third and fourth.
The plan worked.
Young did his job as the leadoff man, despite falling 2 down to Ryo Hisatsune after four holes. He won five of the next 12 holes to close out a 3&2 victory.
Match play specialist Justin Thomas, who entered Sunday with a 20-10-5 career record in Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups, won five of the first six holes against Corey Conners before coasting to a 5&3 win.
Nico Echavarria gave Scheffler a little more trouble than many might have expected, but the world’s No. 1 player ultimately closed out the 32-year-old Colombian, 2&1.
However, the International team wasn’t going down easily. Tom Kim capped an incredible week by beating world No. 5 Wyndham Clark, finishing as the tournament’s leading scorer with four points. Sungjae Im also took down world No. 8 Sam Burns.
Chris Gotterup was a major bright spot for the Americans all tournament. The 27-year-old Presidents Cup rookie defeated Christiaan Bezuidenhout 1 up and finished 3-1 for the week. He made a strong case for a spot on the 2027 Ryder Cup team in the process.
Arguably the best match of the day featured Collin Morikawa and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama. Matsuyama jumped out to a 2-up lead through six holes, but Morikawa battled back and took the lead by winning the 10th.
Matsuyama won two straight holes to move back in front, only for Morikawa to square the match again at 15. The pair tied 16 and 17, sending them to the 18th all square.
On 18, Matsuyama drove into the rough and could only advance his second shot short of the green. His pitch ran 15 feet past the hole, while Morikawa cozied a long birdie putt to within 2½ feet.
Matsuyama missed his par putt, giving Morikawa a 1-up win and the Americans a much-needed full point.
Patrick Cantlay delivered one of the afternoon’s biggest moments in his match against Adam Scott, burying a 57-foot birdie putt from just off the 16th green.
The usually reserved Cantlay pumped his fist hard and yelled, “YES! YES!” to the crowd, which was going wild, sensing the gravity of the moment.
Cantlay closed out Scott on 17, 2&1. His victory and Morikawa’s came moments apart, putting the U.S. ahead 13½-12½ with four matches still on the course.
With Xander Schauffele holding a commanding lead, the Americans looked set for another point. That put the pressure on rookies Jackson Koivun and Bridgeman, along with the steady veteran Russell Henley, to finish the comeback.
Koivun, a 21-year-old Presidents Cup rookie, was 2 down at the turn against Si Woo Kim, who entered Sunday tied for the tournament lead with three points. But Koivun completely flipped the match on the back nine, winning holes 11, 12, 13 and 15.
Koivun took a 1-up lead to 18, where Kim hit his approach to 15 feet. But the rookie wasn’t intimidated. After driving it down the middle of the fairway, the Auburn product stuck his approach to eight feet.
Kim lipped out his birdie putt, and Koivun secured another crucial point to push the U.S. total to 14½.
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Bridgeman delivered another clutch moment from an American rookie, burying an eight-foot par putt on 16. Min Woo Lee missed his four-footer for par, squaring their match with two holes to play.
With Schauffele guaranteed at least a half-point, the Americans could do no worse than a tie and needed just another half-point beyond that to win the Cup outright.
Schauffele had been 4 up with four holes to play, but lost 15 and 16, keeping the Americans waiting a little longer. Apparently, the afternoon hadn’t been dramatic enough.
Schauffele’s delay left the honor to Bridgeman. Fittingly, the rookie delivered, sinking his par putt on 18 to beat Lee 1 up and give the Americans the 15½ points they needed.
A “U-S-A!” chant broke out from the crowd as Bridgeman’s putt dropped, and the Americans celebrated on the 18th green.
Schauffele eventually closed out Ryan Fox, 2&1, while Henley halved his match with Nick Taylor to complete the 17-13 victory.
The win was the Americans’ 11th straight in the Presidents Cup and ninth in nine tries at home, improving their overall record to 14-1-1.
Of course, the Americans never should have put themselves in this position.
Eight U.S. players entered the week ranked higher than Si Woo Kim, the International team’s highest-ranked player at No. 14. Seven Americans were inside the world’s top 10. The visitors didn’t have one.
At home, against that roster, this should have been a blowout. It certainly shouldn’t have required a three-point comeback on Sunday.
Instead, the International team swept Friday’s foursomes 5-0, just as it did at Royal Montreal in 2024. That turned a 3-2 U.S. lead after Thursday into a 7-3 deficit heading into Saturday.
Saturday offered opportunities to regain control. The Americans led all four matches at one point in each of the day’s two sessions, but finished with just a 4½-3½ edge. That still left them down three entering Sunday.
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Clark finished 1-4 for the week, while Henley went winless in three matches, earning just a half-point.
American men won just one major in 2026, courtesy of Clark at the U.S. Open. That followed last year’s embarrassing Ryder Cup loss at Bethpage Black.
And the next Ryder Cup sends Team USA to Adare Manor in Ireland in 2027, tasked with doing something the Americans haven’t done since 1993: winning on European soil.
Sunday singles should give the Americans some confidence heading to Ireland. They won that session 7½-4½ at the 2024 Presidents Cup and 8½-3½ at last year’s Ryder Cup before hammering the Internationals 9½-2½ at Medinah.
But Bethpage already showed that even a great Sunday might not be enough. Team USA needs to clean up its play in the team formats, particularly foursomes, and stop leaving itself so much work to do on the final day.
