Upset brewing at Presidents Cup?

Golf Digest

Reporters have opinions. Lots of them. And in golf, they seem to flow more frequently and loudly at international team competitions. It must be that we golf writers cover so few events like the Presidents Cup that we’ve got pent-up needs to criticize and analyze captain’s picks and certain pairings, and question which team has more desire. Others love making predictions, as in one well-respected scribe, who shall remain nameless, standing on the first tee on Friday morning and swearing that the U.S. would sweep the foursomes session.

Oops. The said scribe later joked that he got the prediction right, just didn’t have the right team. His call made sense, of course, because alternate shot has been such an American stronghold, but that’s the beauty of golf and these matches, right? You never know what’s going to happen.

Like … the Internationals sweeping foursomes and then holding their own on Saturday morning in fourball. In a show of their will to not fold, they saw a lot of red on the board early, only to turn a couple of games and hold a three-point advantage after three sessions—only the third time they’ve been in the lead this late in the Presidents Cup.

No matter all of the past successes, the U.S. had to be nervous about some spotty play, and in that there is much-welcomed drama. Is there a Miracle at Medinah II in the making? We’ll leave it to someone else to make that prediction.

Upset brewing at Medinah? Internationals still hold surprising lead after Saturday morning fourballs

For only the third time in Presidents Cup history, the International team leads after three sessions.

By Dave Shedloski

What You Need to Know

Tod Leonard

U.S. President Donald Trump asked if he could speak for 15 minutes ahead of the Presidents Cup singles matches on Sunday, according to a report.

A Golfweek story, citing multiple sources, said Trump made the request of the PGA Tour, which manages the event. On Saturday, a tour spokesperson told Golf Digest that the tour is anticipating Trump’s presence at Medinah but had no further information.

Trump is serving as honorary chairman of the Presidents Cup for the second time, having also held the position in 2017 at Liberty National in New Jersey during his first term in office. In serving twice, he joins President Barack Obama, who was honorary chairman for 2009 and 2013.

Last fall, Trump attended the first day of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black on Long Island with his granddaughter Kai Trump, got a mixed welcome, and did not speak publicly, other than leading the crowd in chants of “U-S-A! U-S-A!”

Ryan Herrington

If the U.S. team is going to turn things around and rally to win the Presidents Cup, it would be best to improve in one area in particular: play on the par 3s.

After the first three sessions at Medinah No. 3, the American team has won on the par 3s just four times. Conversely, the International side has won the one-shot holes 20 times. In particular, the play on the par-3 16th has been a big deal. The International team won that hole three times on Saturday morning; the Americans just once (a big one, though, as Sam Burns' birdie helped he and Scottie Scheffler claim a critical win in their fourball match.) In the last eight matches that reach the hole, the Internationals have won it five times, a trend the Americans are going to need to buck if they’re to win.

Ryan Herrington

Scottie Scheffler is cheering on the U.S. Presidents Cup team from outside the ropes on Saturday afternoon. While winning two of his three matches at Medinah, Scheffler’s play has been up and down this week, leading U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker to make the tough decision of sitting out the World No. 1 and likely PGA Tour player of the year.

“I feel like Scottie’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders carrying Team USA. It’s time for us to carry him for a session,” Snedeker told NBC’s Cara Banks as afternoon play began. “It was tough. … We were trying to do our best to get these guys in a good situation. I love Scottie Scheffler to death; that was a really tough decision to sit him this afternoon. But I wanted to get him some rest and wanted him to get ready to go tomorrow in singles.”

In Scheffler’s previous five combined Cup appearances, he’s only played all five matches twice. Snedeker’s decision will be weighed against whether the Americans can rally or not come Sunday, but the logic in real time makes sense.