[Photo: Ben Jared]
It was psychoanalyst Theodor Reik who said, “history rarely repeats itself, but it often rhymes,” meaning that while exact events do not reoccur, similar patterns emerge over time. When it comes to golf, there is no better example of this than the Presidents Cup, and against this tide stand Geoff Ogilvy and Brandt Snedeker, respective captains of the International and United States teams for the 16th edition of the biennial competition between American golfers and those from non-European countries.
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America has won this event 10 times in a row and has not suffered a defeat since 1998 in Melbourne, its only loss. Talk about a pattern. Snedeker is charged with keeping the streak going at Medinah Country Club, near Chicago. But coupled with his desire to lead another US triumph is perhaps a stronger sense of aspiration to exorcise a gnawing disappointment from 14 years earlier when he and his American compatriots failed to hold off a European rally in the 2012 Ryder Cup on Medinah’s No.3 Course.
Europe’s comeback from a 10-6 deficit is known as the “Miracle at Medinah”. Naturally, that’s the continental take on things. But one team’s miracle is another’s misery.
“I remember Sunday night quite well. It was one of probably the lowest points of my career,” said Snedeker, who went 1-2-0 in his only Ryder Cup appearance and lost to Paul Lawrie, 5&3, in final-day singles when Europe captured 8½ of a possible 12 points.
Ogilvy, by contrast, has to pull the right levers to end a mystifying run of setbacks. He might possess a few crucial insights that provide an advantage. Then again, he’ll tell you they’re negligible. For the first time in Presidents Cup history, the matches will be contested on a layout designed by one of the presiding captains. The No.3 Course looks nothing like the layout on which Europe orchestrated its stunning victory after Ogilvy and his design partners at OCM Golf undertook an ambitious $US26 million redesign of the famed course.
Could that circumstance work in favour of the International team? Well, a similar situation figured to boost American prospects when the 1987 Ryder Cup was held at Muirfield Village Golf Club, designed by US captain Jack Nicklaus. But Europe’s superior talent nullified the supposed home advantage to produce its first victory on American soil.
Obviously, the Internationals are the visitors, but the Medinah membership, while undoubtedly partial to their fellow Americans, nonetheless hold Ogilvy in high esteem after the official unveiling of the No.3 course in July 2024.
“I’ve come to love Medinah Country Club and the membership. It’s just been an incredible experience, how they’ve welcomed us in,” Ogilvy, 49, said last October during a reception for the captains in Medinah’s majestic clubhouse. “They gave us the keys to their pride and joy, and they let us retouch and rebuild their historic No.3 golf course and they’ve been with us the whole way. They’ve been a fantastic club to work with and I’m very excited not just with the President’s Cup, but I think I’ll be coming back to this Medinah forever to come play golf because I already feel at home. An Australian feeling at home in Chicago is pretty nice.”
Seated next to Ogilvy, Snedeker responded in jest, “That’s hard to follow. I feel like I’m the away captain.”
Just say that both men have a home at Medinah after each was presented with a courtesy membership. The only other man on either team who owns a courtesy membership is Justin Thomas, who during the 2019 BMW Championship decimated Medinah’s previous iteration of the No.3 Course to the tune of 25-under 263 that included a course-record 61 in the third round. That performance prompted deep discussions among the Medinah membership that resulted in the decision to tear up a layout on which Hale Irwin won the 1990 US Open and Tiger Woods twice won the PGA Championship, in 1999 and 2006.
Speaking of Woods, he happens to be the only person granted an honorary membership to Medinah. But mention of the club elicits a surprising response from the 15-time major winner. “Oh, yeah, Medinah is a great place. It was obviously very good to me,” he said. “But it’s a shame about that team event.”
Brandt Snedeker reacts to a shot during the 2012 Ryder Cup. [Photo: Andrew Redington]
He said this just last year. Two major victories at Medinah can’t assuage the disappointment of the 2012 Ryder Cup. So, Snedeker is in good company.
The Tennesseean remembers how qualifying for the 2013 US Presidents Cup team at Muirfield Village represented an opportunity to at least partially atone for the meltdown the previous September. “A win wasn’t going to make everything right, but we definitely needed a win,” Snedeker said. “We didn’t want to lose again. We were pretty determined.”
A 10-time winner on the PGA Tour, Snedeker served as an assistant captain in the 2024 Presidents Cup and ’25 Ryder Cup. There are pressures to taking over the lead role, but one gets the impression that he internalizes it based on that Ryder Cup loss at Medinah. He wants to win for more than just himself and his players.
“I have to say that a huge part of my history of a golfer has been [at Medinah],” Snedeker told a roomful of members. “I think about 2012 Ryder Cup, and the member support was fantastic. You guys were unbelievable. But we failed you then. It was a tough Sunday for us, and it still stings, especially thinking about how you guys did your part. So it’s an honor to come back here and try to win this time for you.”
Not if Ogilvy and his crew can help it.
“Geoff is obviously an unbelievable course designer and a great player,” Snedeker said. “He’s going to be an unbelievable captain, and I think his knowledge of what was done here is going to help his team.”
An assistant the previous three Presidents Cup editions, Ogivly is dubious of that assertion. He demurred when one member of the club wondered if his knowledge of where OCM “hid the skeletons” might yield an extra point or two for a team that habitually finds ways to squander them, as it did two years ago at Royal Montreal in a seven-point setback that was much closer than the final score.
“There might be a few tricks out there,” he said. “But you know what? Clearly, if we play right now with no practice rounds, we would have an advantage. I think we have a pretty deep understanding of the intent of we want it to play. That being said, Brandt’s a professional. His team is going to have 12 great professionals, 12 caddies and a lot of wisdom and a lot of knowledge. Any built-in advantage is going to disappear by the time we get to the first tee.”
We shall see. Both teams recently made scouting trips to Medinah. It marked the second time that the International contingent ventured to the century-old facility. An initial two-day visit occurred last September while American players were taking it on the chin against Europe at Bethpage Black.
History rarely repeats but it often rhymes.
No one can say there is no rhyme or reason why the International team will end its losing streak at Medinah or the US team will extend its dominance. Except that the 16th edition of the Presidents Cup is taking place at Medinah, which has a certain mystique after that surreal Ryder Cup Sunday in 2012. And while the No.3 Course has been wiped clean and remade, the man leading the visiting team was one of the masterminds of a redesign he hopes asks “interesting questions.” He is no foreigner in a strange land but a welcome guest who owns a set of keys to one of America’s foremost golf cathedrals.
Ogilvy is not certain which team will have the answers. But answers surely will be forthcoming.
“We’re going to know after this tournament [when] there’s a couple of guys that stand out, and we’ll know maybe it’s because they’re great at a certain aspect,” he said. “We all have learned from a golf side of view that also the architecture side of things that maybe an OCM redesigned golf course suits a certain set of golfers. I don’t know. We’ll find out.
“I’m a little nervous,” he added. “We’re very happy with the way the course turned out. Look, the client is Medinah Country Club, and they love it. Ultimately, we’re happy because they’re happy with the results. That always is a success. When professionals get on your golf course, you’re a little bit nervous because we have varying opinions on the places we play, and hopefully they’re all positive reviews.”
That’s the course designer in Ogilvy talking. The captain in him, the competitor, wants positive reviews, too. Moreso, in fact.
