Team USA kept its unbroken run in the Presidents Cup, beating the International side once again and sparking fresh debate about whether the biennial event needs a makeover. Brandt Snedeker’s squad produced the biggest comeback ever seen on the final day at Medinah, hauling in 9.5 of the 12 points available in the Sunday singles and sealing a record‑extending 11th straight victory. While the headline score of 17‑13 suggests a comfortable win, the match was far tighter than many fans expected.
The International squad swept the Friday foursomes, and they actually led heading into the final day – a rare occurrence that has happened only four times in the tournament's history. Despite the surge, the International team ultimately fell short, extending the drought that began after their 1998 triumph.
Geoff Ogilvy’s side matched the Americans well over the first three days, but the Sunday showdown proved decisive, leaving Team USA with 14 wins out of the 16 Presidents Cups ever contested. "It was sort of on a knife's edge all day," Ogilvy reflected.
"Some of those one‑down holes, if they had turned into one‑up, the numbers look really good and who knows what momentum can give." The Presidents Cup is a four‑day competition featuring 30 matches – a full day longer and two matches more than the Ryder Cup or Solheim Cup. Because the talent gap between the United States and the rest of the world tends to be larger than the gap between the United States and Europe, many observers wonder if a tighter schedule with fewer points would produce a more competitive event. Reducing the number of sessions – for example, playing foursomes and four‑balls only on Friday and Saturday – would cut the total matches, give captains more flexibility to sit weaker players, and lessen the pressure on marquee names to appear in every session.
Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee has been vocal about this idea. He argues that the Presidents Cup should start on Friday and be trimmed to 24 points rather than 30, mirroring the Ryder Cup format. "If they're playing for 28 in the Ryder Cup, why in the heck are they playing for 30 in the Presidents Cup when there's a bigger separation between the talent?" Chamblee asks.
He points out that the first three Presidents Cups were launched on a Friday and that the cumulative scores from 1994, 1996 and 1998 were dead‑even after the opening three days. "The longer you go out, the more the better players and the better team are going to come to the fore," he adds, noting that the extended schedule tends to favor the deeper American roster.
One structural factor that heavily influences the competitive balance is the PGA Tour’s ownership of the event, which automatically disqualifies LIV Golf players. This rule hits the International side harder, because many of the world’s top non‑American talent has migrated to LIV. In the early era of the Presidents Cup, the International squad could call upon former world No. 1s such as Greg Norman, Nick Price, Ernie Els and Vijay Singh.
Even before LIV’s rise, the team’s depth was already waning, but the loss of players like Chile’s Joaquín Niemann, 2022 Open champion Cameron Smith, and South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen has further eroded its options. Chamblee suggests giving the International team autonomy to select any eligible player, including those who have joined LIV. He draws a parallel with the Ryder Cup, where the PGA of America on the U.S.
side and the DP World Tour on the European side each set their own eligibility rules, allowing selections such as Jon Rahm for Europe or Bryson DeChambeau for the United States. The exclusion of six key players from the 2019 International roster, who later defected to LIV, dramatically reduced the competitiveness of that edition. Another proposal that has floated in recent years is to create a mixed‑gender Presidents Cup.
Under the current eligibility criteria, five of the world’s top six women golfers could qualify for an International side, which would instantly boost the talent pool. Former Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley has hinted that a partnership between the PGA Tour and the LPGA could produce a combined event, though the PGA has so far resisted the idea. If executed, a mixed format could feature women’s and men’s best‑ball or foursomes, offering a fresh spectacle and potentially leveling the playing field against a dominant U.S.
team. Logistical hurdles would need to be addressed – tee‑box heights, format tweaks, scheduling agreements and tour partnerships – but players such as Min Woo Lee have expressed enthusiasm. "It would be nice to have my sister Minjee on the team and me on the team – it would be very fun," Lee said, imagining mixed best‑ball or mixed foursomes as a thrilling addition. Beyond format changes, some commentators argue that the Presidents Cup should be taken out of the United States altogether.
To date, only four nations outside the U.S. have hosted the event, despite 18 different nationalities having represented the International side. South Africa, a country with a rich golf heritage and recent strong LIV crowds, last hosted the Cup in 2003 when the match ended in a historic 15‑15 tie.
Australia, Canada and South Korea have also been venues, and markets such as the Middle East, India, Japan and New Zealand remain untapped. Rotating the tournament globally could broaden its appeal, inspire new talent, and give Team USA a chance to improve its Ryder Cup road record. Europe’s own team‑match experiments – the now‑defunct Seve Trophy, the current Hero Cup, and the former EurAsia Cup – have shown how additional events can provide players with valuable team‑play experience.
A dedicated International‑versus‑Europe competition could serve a similar purpose, offering a preparatory week for both sides before the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. Scheduling would be the main obstacle, as the two premier events alternate years, but a spring slot akin to the Hero Cup or a post‑season event in Ryder Cup years could be viable. In summary, the United States will head back to team competition next September at the Ryder Cup in Ireland, while the next Presidents Cup is slated for 2028 at Kingston Heath Golf Club in Melbourne. Whether the format will be trimmed, opened to mixed‑gender teams, or moved to new continents remains to be seen, but the growing disparity between the squads suggests that some evolution is inevitable if the Presidents Cup hopes to maintain relevance and excitement for global audiences.