U.S. Ryder Cup Team Has Major Lessons to Learn From Presidents Cup

Amid the celebratory scenes of the United States team’s press conference Sunday after pulling off a comeback victory at the Presidents Cup, a question was directed to Jim Furyk.

It might have come by surprise at first. Furyk was merely one of Brandt Snedeker’s captain’s assistants this week (reminiscent of Dwight Schrute being called “assistant to the regional manager” rather than assistant manager).

But Furyk might have known a question was coming, as he will take the reins as U.S. captain for next year’s Ryder Cup in Ireland. He was asked, simply, the lesson learned from this week that he’ll take into 2027.

“I’ve been around these teams for a long time,” Furyk began. “I started playing in my first one back in ‘97. So I’ve seen a lot of lineups. I’ve seen a lot of team rooms. I think you’re always learning. I’m always trying to find ways, new ideas. We had some new people in the room this year. Always sharing ideas, always trying to learn, always trying to be a calming influence.”

From there, he pivoted his answer into a statement about how the team should enjoy what it had just accomplished, how special it was, how proud he was.

Sorry, but if that’s all they’ve got after nearly losing the Presidents Cup, that thing they haven’t lost since 1998, I don’t have much confidence in American team golf going forward.

Maybe Furyk wasn’t prepared to answer, or maybe the U.S. brain trust did indeed learn a lot this week (you learn more from your mistakes, after all) and didn’t want to show their cards. Fair! But you trailed an International team with a vast talent deficit by three points after three days. That comeback shouldn’t have been necessary in the first place.

I feel like Taylor Twellman when the U.S. failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup through a pretty benign CONCACAF path, screaming, “You couldn’t get a draw against Trinidad?” My version is, “You couldn’t get a draw against Corey Conners and Nick Taylor?”

The International team went 7-2 in foursomes, including a 5-0 sweep on Friday. Foursomes, of course, has been the thorn in the Americans’ sides whenever they play Europe of late. The trick is your players rarely get to practice the format over the course of the year. But that goes for Americans, Europeans, Australians and Asians alike.

Snedeker, to his credit, placed the blame directly on his shoulders throughout the weekend, saying he was second-guessing his lineups. I’d second-guess the man who benched Scottie Scheffler for a session in favor of Wyndham Clark, too.

If Takeaway 1 is that the U.S. needs to finally make the most of its analytics and come up with a stronger foursomes plan for next year, here are two more quick reactions from the week at Medinah:

--Don’t call off this Cup: The International team can absolutely win one of these soon. However deep the U.S. roster can go, however many consecutive wins they now own (11), they continue to be outfoxed at the leadership level annually. Geoff Ogilvy did a bang-up job as the International captain and nearly pulled off the upset.

The next Presidents Cup, in Australia in 2028, looms large. Not only will the Internationals have home-field advantage, maybe Adam Scott can transition into a captain that year. Or a playing captain? Young star Tom Kim isn’t going anywhere, and fellow Koreans Si Woo Kim and Sungjae Im also thrived this week. Now, what if someone like Cameron Smith leaves LIV (or LIV dissolves) and becomes eligible to play for the shield? If that happened, the Internationals ought to be pre-tournament favorites, no lie.

--Jackson Koivun, Chris Gotterup and Jacob Bridgeman must be a part of the U.S. Ryder Cup team in 2027. For all of Snedeker’s self-flagellation about his mistakes, the younger makeup of this roster was not one of them. As I wrote in the lead-up, these guys are the new generation of American golf stars, and they didn’t disappoint.

Gotterup scored three points, tied for most on the team. Koivun, at 21 years young, notched 2.5 and took down Si Woo Kim in singles. And while Bridgeman finished with only one point, it was a doozy, as his par at the 18th hole to beat Min Woo Lee 1 up pushed the U.S. team over the finish line.

“Someone in the crowd yelled, ‘You’re the best putter in the world,’ and I was like, ‘Yep, I’m going to make this thing,’” said Bridgeman, statistically the top putter on tour in 2026. “It was the coolest moment.”