Presidents Cup teams to make overlapping Medinah scouting trips in September

ATLANTA – Medinah No. 3 should be selling tickets to watch the golfers playing the course, Sept. 9-11.

Golfweek has learned that both the U.S. and International Teams for the 2026 Presidents Cup will be making two-day scouting trips to the host venue in Chicago.

The International Team is expected to show up first (Sept. 9-10), followed by the U.S. team (Sept. 10-11), with both sharing the property for one day.

"The team felt it would be beneficial to experience Medinah's updated layout firsthand," said U.S. Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker. "Any opportunity to gain familiarity with the course and better understand how it may play in a team competition setting is valuable as we continue preparing for Presidents Cup week."

The final rosters will not be solidified until Snedeker and Geoff Ogilvy, the International Team captain, both make their captain's picks on Tuesday. Adam Scott, who is expected to be on the International Team for a record 12 th time, said that in the past a team trip beforehand had been optional but that this one is mandatory. A source close to the International Team confirmed that players have given assurances they will attend. Min Woo Lee mentioned on Thursday in his post-round press conference that he planned to attend.

Ogilvy, who played in three Presidents Cups and was a vice captain in the past, said that one of the challenges in the past was unifying a team made up of players from various countries and who spoke different languages in such a short window of time once they gathered the week of the Presidents Cup. "We always felt like we became a team by Saturday," he once said.

The scouting trips are as much about team bonding and camaraderie as figuring out if certain pairings might work.

"The golf isn't what's important, honestly," Scott said. "The investment is in the guys getting together and feeling comfortable and taking away any trepidation of playing with a partner and not feeling comfortable saying something. It's a chance to set some barriers and lay down the ground rules for everyone."

Until the U.S. side officially is selected, a source familiar with the U.S. plans said it is premature to say that the entire team will participate in its reconnaissance mission but the U.S. side is hopeful that will be the case.

An advanced practice session to learn the layout, test potential team pairings and team building has started to become standard operating procedure for the teams competing in international competition. Two-time winning European Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald called a similar trip ahead of the Ryder Cup a pivotal part of the Euros meshing as a team.

After finishing up the BMW PGA Championship in England last year, 11 members of the European Ryder Cup, caddies and captain Luke Donald boarded a flight for New York, where they met up with teammate Sepp Straka for a two-day reconnaissance trip to Bethpage Black ahead of the 45 th Ryder Cup. The U.S. side was criticized in defeat of not showing up to play Bethpage until the week of the biennial competition.

Two years ago, Jim Furyk, the U.S. Presidents Cup captain at the time, brought 11 members of the team to the Tour's now-defunct Napa, California, FedEx Cup Fall event for a bonding trip. As U.S. Ryder Cup captain, Keegan Bradley repeated the Napa trip.

The International side also has taken trips to Quail Hollow in 2022 and Royal Montreal in 2024 in recent years ahead of the Presidents Cup.

Medinah No. 3 underwent a dramatic renovation since the last time the PGA Tour has held an event there. Justin Thomas torched the course to a tune of a 72-hole total of 25 under at the 2019 BMW Championship. The reimagining of Medinah was orchestrated by Ogilvy and his design team at OCM and opened in late 2024. Could that provide an edge to the International Team, which has never won the Presidents Cup in the U.S. and last won the biennial competition in 1998?

Time will tell but suffice it to say, Ogilvy will be doling out plenty of local knowledge to his 12-man team on how he envisions the course he co-designed should be played.