To no one’s surprise, the United States won the Presidents Cup (copy and paste for 2028).
US captain Brandt Snedeker’s team secured an 11th straight victory against the Internationals, who have still won the event just once since 1994.
Even trailing by three points heading into the singles session at Medinah in Chicago, it felt inevitable the tide would turn. The US won by four points in the end.
But even in victory, what did America lose? Captain Snedeker admitted to making mistakes at the weekend, and a significantly weaker Internationals team, led by Geoff Ogilvy, gave them plenty of scares and exposed systemic issues that still remain.
The Stars and Stripes might’ve taken the trophy, but we’ve picked out five reasons why Team Europe and captain Luke Donald can still be cheerful before facing the US in the Ryder Cup next year.
Leadership blunders
The US team setup continues to make misstep after misstep, and with the best will in the world, captain Snedeker just wasn’t up to the task. He admitted it himself.
In an interview before the Saturday afternoon foursomes, Snedeker couldn’t remember with whom he’d paired Chris Gotterup.
Snedeker also came out with a handful of woe-is-me lines after Saturday’s play. Team USA was three points down heading into the Sunday singles and chasing the Internationals’ tail, meanwhile Snedeker’s was firmly between his legs.
“I tried to work my tail off to put these guys in the best situation possible, and I don’t think I’ve done a very good job this week to be where we are right now. They look to me to put them in the best position where they’re comfortable. I hold myself to a high standard. I don’t think I’ve done the best job for them in that room.”
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During the singles draw, in which the captains alternately selected players, the Internationals put up Nico Echavarria against Scottie Scheffler.
Snedeker drew criticism for letting his opponents dictate who the World No. 1 faced. They chose the Colombian, who hadn’t played since session one, instead of one of their more in-form hitters who could then avoid playing Scheffler.
Scheffler won his match, and America won the match, but the US setup keeps making basic errors where hindsight isn’t exactly required to make the right calls. They aren’t errors you’d associate with Donald’s well-oiled European machine.
After the US won, Snedeker remarkably credited the victory to President Donald Trump, who was on-site on the final day.
“And one last shout-out to Donald Trump, President Trump. He told me, ‘I was going to bring some energy today for you guys, you guys need it’, and I told him if we did this, he gets all the credit. So, thank you President Trump.”
Keegan Bradley returned as an assistant captain to the venue where he suffered defeat with Team USA at the Ryder Cup in 2012. His appointment as US captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup, while he was still one of the world’s top-performing players, was arguably the most peculiar move of the US setup in recent times.
There’s a concern that leadership appointments continue to miss the mark. Jim Furyk is next up for the 2027 Ryder Cup, who is an already losing captain and had an extremely disappointing playing record in the event.
US Ryder Cup problems can be explained by foursomes
The US lost the foursomes sessions 7-2 last week. They lost 6-3 in 2024, and in each of the last two Presidents Cups, they have been swept 5-0 in the Friday foursomes.
In the last two Ryder Cups, they have lost the foursomes sessions 6-2 and 7-1. They comfortably won this discipline in 2021, but with a very strong team against a weak European outfit, and no European fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They lost 7-1 and 6-2 in 2014 and 2018, which doesn’t bode well for going away from home again in 2027 to Adare Manor in Ireland.
We should note that Team Europe are not perfect at foursomes either, especially away from home. They were beaten in this format in 2012 and 2016, but Europe are at home next year, and are riding on the crest of a wave having just beaten Team USA at Bethpage, which featured a 6-2 beatdown of America in this format.
If Team USA can find a solution to this, whether it is nailing the right pairings or actually practising foursomes away from the regular PGA Tour schedule, we might see a close game in 12 months.
Is there still a Scottie Scheffler problem?
Does Team USA’s biggest problem lie with the world’s best player?
We live in a bizarre world where Scottie Scheffler has won one of nine foursomes matches at the Presidents Cup and the Ryder Cup.
He had lost five of nine Presidents Cup matches before heading to Medinah last week, including two losses in the singles. He did correct this patch on his record with a convincing win over Nico Echavarria on Sunday.
Scheffler even struggles to find form when paired with good pal Sam Burns, and they have won just 2.5 points in seven matches together against both the Internationals and Europe.
There is a certain pressure applied to how you use your best players at team events. In Team Europe’s case at the Ryder Cup, captain Luke Donald seems to be happy pairing Rory McIlroy with the likes of Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood, established stars and close friends, as opposed to having him hold hands with a rookie.
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There is also the intriguing comparison with Tiger Woods who, at the Ryder Cup, took home just 14.5 points in 37 matches – less than 40%.
He won less than a third of points available in 14 foursomes matches against Team Europe, and exactly a third of the points available in fourballs.
The general nature of team match play is a key factor. Take foursomes – Scheffler and Woods are not playing their own golf ball and are only hitting half the shots. They can only use their ball-striking superpowers, their advantage over their opponents, half the time.
It’s golf’s great neutraliser, and it can explain how, with the greatest respect, a player like Sebastian Munoz can beat Scottie Scheffler in the singles at the 2022 Presidents Cup.
Currently, his Ryder Cup record stands at three wins, six losses and three halves.
When sessions spiral out of control
When things aren’t going America’s way, one session can spiral into oblivion.
As previously mentioned, they have lost both Friday sessions 5-0 at the last two Presidents Cups, and they lost three sessions 3-1 at the 2025 Ryder Cup.
They lost the opening session of the 2023 Ryder Cup 4-0, which made the final result somewhat inevitable. Even in Europe’s darkest hour in 2021, when they lost 19-9, they still salvaged points in each session.
In recent times, the US have shown clear tendencies to capitulate.
Europe got swept 4-0 in the first session in 2016 at Hazeltine, but that was the first time they’d lost one session to nil at the Ryder Cup since 1981. Including their Presidents Cup form, Team USA has shown it can happen far more often once their heads go down and the tide begins to turn.
False sense of security
America deserves credit for overturning a three-point deficit to win the Presidents Cup, following Sunday’s singles session. But only to an extent.
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That is now 11 victories in a row in this event, and the Internationals haven’t won since 1998. It has become an entirely predictable occasion where the Internationals consistently come up short, despite their best efforts.
The average world ranking on the Internationals team was 49.4, and 16.3 for the Americans. Seven of the world’s top 10 were in the US team and they were essentially able to choose Jackson Koivun, a 21-year-old who was playing college earlier this year, and still win.
Given all of this, they were still staring into the abyss after three days of action, and showed they could lose individual sessions very convincingly to lower-ranked opposition.
“I think we’re all tired of this narrative that we don’t care about each other, that we don’t know how to play team golf,” Snedeker said.
“I think this proves it. You don’t come back the way we did if these guys haven’t all bought into each other. This team is going to be a problem in Ireland. It’s going to be a problem.”
Take that how you will.
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