Presidents Cup 2026 at Medinah: September 24-27 Schedule, Teams and Format

The 2026 Presidents Cup is staged at Medinah Country Club, west of Chicago in Illinois, with competition running from Thursday, September 24 through Sunday, September 27. It is a biennial team match play event between a United States side and an International side drawn from countries outside Europe, which distinguishes it from the Ryder Cup rather than duplicating it.^[2][3]

Brandt Snedeker leads the United States Team and Geoff Ogilvy the International Team. Each side carries 12 players, assembled the same way on both sides: six players qualify automatically and six are selected by the captain. The United States automatic places were determined by FedExCup standings, while the International automatics came off world ranking position.^[2][3]

Both captains revealed their six selections during a Presidents Cup Selection Special broadcast on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern from PGA Tour Studios in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The show was carried on Golf Channel alongside PGA Tour digital platforms, and completed both 12-player rosters three weeks ahead of the matches.^[2][6]

Thirty matches are played across the four competition days, each worth a single point. The official schedule sets five matches on Thursday and five on Friday, expands to eight on Saturday, and closes with 12 singles matches on Sunday so that every player on both teams competes on the final day. A match level after 18 holes is halved, with each side taking half a point; there are no extra-hole playoffs.^[1][5]

Format explainers put the threshold for winning the Cup outright at 15.5 points. The tie provision is where the Presidents Cup diverges from its better-known counterpart: at 15-15 the trophy is shared between the two teams, whereas the Ryder Cup awards retention to the previous holder on a level score. That distinction has mattered once, in 2003, when the competition finished tied.^[4][5]

Historically the event has been lopsided. The United States has won the substantial majority of editions since the competition began in 1994, with the International Team's only outright win coming at Royal Melbourne in 1998 and the 2003 edition ending level. That record is the backdrop against which each International side is assessed.^[4][5]

The official FAQ describes the Presidents Cup week as running Tuesday, September 22 through Sunday, September 27, while competition itself does not begin until Thursday, September 24. Both date ranges are accurate and they describe different things, which is why listings disagree. Tuesday and Wednesday cover practice rounds and ceremonial elements including the opening ceremony, and no points are contested on those days.^[1][2]

The practical consequence falls on anyone matching a ticket or a broadcast window to a date. A pass covering the early part of the week is a practice-day pass, not access to matches that count, and coverage scheduled against the September 22 start is not showing competitive golf. Sources that quote September 22-27 and sources that quote September 24-27 are not contradicting each other.^[1][2]

A second point that separates this event from most professional golf: there is no purse. The official FAQ states plainly that players are not paid for participating and that each competitor directs an equal share of the money the event generates to charities of his choice, with the cumulative total described as more than $56.4 million to roughly 475 charities across 18 countries since 1994. Prize-money tables built by analogy with regular tour events do not apply here.^[1][4]