Only once in Presidents Cup history has the International Team lifted the trophy, with Royal Melbourne in 1998 remaining the scene of its sole victory.
Twenty-eight years on, Geoff Ogilvy’s 12-strong International Team will arrive at Medinah Country Club with another opportunity to make history, with Australians Adam Scott and Min Woo Lee and New Zealander Ryan Fox among those tasked with ending the United States’ more than two decades of dominance.
The Americans have won the past 10 editions of the biennial contest and 13 of the 15 Presidents Cups since the event was first played in 1994.
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For Ogilvy, who takes the captaincy for the first time, that makes the challenge at Medinah all the more enticing.
The Australian will have plenty of experience at his disposal, none more so than Scott, who is set to make his 12th Presidents Cup appearance, equalling Phil Mickelson for the most in the history of the event.
Yet despite more than two decades of Presidents Cup appearances, the 46-year-old has never been part of a winning International side.
He will get another opportunity at Medinah, arriving in Illinois in strong form after finishing runner-up at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on Sunday, alongside three top-10 finishes on the PGA Tour this year.
For Lee, Medinah represents his second Presidents Cup appearance after making his debut at Royal Montreal two years ago.
The 28-year-old has enjoyed another strong season on the PGA Tour, highlighted by runner-up finishes at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Genesis Scottish Open, alongside top-five finishes at the Texas Children’s Houston Open and Tour Championship.
Ogilvy expects Lee to play a greater role this time around.
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“Certainly he’s going to play a really big part. He’s one of the best players in the world. He’s got all the tools,” Ogilvy said.
“You would think with his flair for big crowds and entertaining, he would thrive in this environment, so we’ll definitely be getting him out there as much as we can.”
There is also a fresh chapter to be written for Fox, who will make his Presidents Cup debut just months after producing the biggest victory of his career.
The New Zealander became the second Kiwi to win The Open when he lifted the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale in July, adding a first major championship to his three PGA Tour victories.
The 39-year-old’s victory propelled him into the world’s top 30 and secured his place in Ogilvy’s International Team.
The three Australasians were among six automatic qualifiers, alongside Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama and Tom Kim.
Ogilvy then added a further six players to complete the International Team – Corey Conners, Nico Echavarria, Sungjae Im, Ryo Hisatsune, Nick Taylor and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
They will face a US team boasting seven of the world’s top 10 players, headlined by world No.1 Scottie Scheffler.
Automatic qualifiers also included Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa, with captain Brandt Snedeker selecting Chris Gotterup, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Jackson Koivun and Jacob Bridgeman to complete the powerhouse US team.
On paper, the world rankings heavily favour the Americans.
But Ogilvy believes the Presidents Cup is a very different proposition to a 72-hole stroke-play tournament, with the unique demands of match play capable of changing the complexion of the contest.
“The nature of golf these days is that it is very analytical and stats-based,” Ogilvy said.
“If you look at it that way, you’re looking at stats that are collected from 72-hole stroke-play tournaments, and clearly if you measure, it’s not apples to apples, they’ve got four or five of the top guys in the world.
“Seventy-two-hole stroke play is a totally different task than getting on a team and playing in match play. And I think where we will excel is that we’re going to love playing with each other.”
There is another distinctly Australian connection to Medinah.
Ogilvy, alongside fellow Australians Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead, was part of the OCM design team responsible for the major transformation of Course No. 3 in 2022-23.
The 7564-yard layout has previously hosted three US Opens, two PGA Championships and the 2012 Ryder Cup, but the course players encounter this week has undergone a significant transformation since the PGA Tour last visited for the 2019 BMW Championship.
Should the International Team finally break through, it would not only end a 10-edition American winning streak but deliver the Presidents Cup’s second International victory – and its first on US soil.
“It’d be pretty high up on the list,” Ogilvy said of what it would mean to win as captain.
“I think Rory (McIlroy) made a quote last year saying, ‘I think the greatest achievement in golf at the moment is beating the US team in the US.’ And I tend to agree; it’s a tall task.”
Photo by Ben Jared/PGA Tour via Getty Images.
2026 Presidents Cup
Medinah Country Club, Illinois, USA
September 24-27
Format and schedule
- The President’s Cup is a four-day, match play event with 30 total matches.
- The team that earns the most points after four days of competition wins the Presidents Cup
- Day 1: Five matches – Four-ball
- Day 2: Five matches – Foursomes
- Day 3: Eight matches – Four-ball (morning) and Foursomes (afternoon)
- Day 4: 12 matches – Singles
TV schedule (Fox Sports 503 and Kayo Sports)
Day 1: From 2:30am AEST, Friday, September 25
Day 2: From 4am AEST, Saturday, September 26
Day 3: From 10pm AEST, Saturday, September 26
Day 4: From 2am AEST, Monday, September 28
Australasian player profiles
Adam Scott
Country: Australia
Age: 46
PGA Tour Wins: 14
Presidents Cup Appearances (Record): 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2024 (20-28-6)
2026 Highlights: Recorded three top-10 finishes, including fourth at The Genesis Invitational, T4 at the Cadillac Championship and T9 at The Open Championship. Enters the week off a runner-up finish at the BMW PGA Championship on the DP World Tour.
Notable: Will make his 12th Presidents Cup appearance, tying the record for most in event history (Phil Mickelson). The 46-year-old secured an automatic qualifier spot 11 times, with the exception of 2009 at TPC Harding Park where he was a captain’s pick.
Min Woo Lee
Country: Australia
Age: 28
PGA Tour Wins: 1
Presidents Cup Appearances (Record): 2024 (0-1-1)
2026 Highlights: The Australia native recorded two runner-up finishes (T2/AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, 2nd/Genesis Scottish Open) in addition to three other top 10s (T6/Arnold Palmer Invitational, T3/Texas Children’s Houston Open, T4/Tour Championship).
Notable: Made his Presidents Cup debut in 2024 as a captain’s pick (0-1-1) and has since become a fan-favorite for the International Team.
Ryan Fox
Country: New Zealand
Age: 39
PGA Tour Wins: 3
Presidents Cup Appearances: First Appearance
2026 Highlights: Fox earned his third PGA Tour title and first major championship at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale at the age of 39, becoming the second player from New Zealand to win The Open. With a win, he moved up 34 spots in the Official World Golf Ranking to No. 22 and propelled himself to No. 2 in the International Team standings at the time.
Notable: Fox is the first player from New Zealand to compete in the Presidents Cup since 2015 (Danny Lee) and fifth overall.
