The rosters for the 2026 Presidents Cup, which will take place later this month at Medinah Country Club in Illinois, are now set after U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker and International skipper Geoff Ogilvy each made their six captain’s picks on Tuesday.
Snedeker chose Chris Gotterup (7th in the U.S. points standings), Xander Schauffele (9th), Justin Thomas (11th), Jacob Bridgeman (12th), Patrick Cantlay (13th) and Jackson Koivun (not in the top 25). They will join automatic qualifiers Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa.
Ogilvy selected Corey Conners (7th in International points standings), Nico Echavarria (8th), Sungjae Im (9th), Ryo Hisatsune (10th), Nick Taylor (13th) and Christiaan Bezuidenhout (18th). They will join automatic qualifiers Si Woo Kim, Min Woo Lee, Tom Kim, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama and Ryan Fox.
Although the selection of Koivun, who turned pro after the U.S. Open and won the 3M Open in his third professional start, was a notable move by Snedeker, one that mirrored Luke Donald’s selection of Ludvig Aberg for the 2023 Ryder Cup team before he had even made a major championship start. While the selection of Koivun was made for the Presidents Cup, it’s not hard to see Snedeker, who is likely to be in the running to be a future Ryder Cup captain, wanting to get the player seen as golf’s next big thing some early team reps in his room.
The 21-year-old Koivun put together a historic amateur career at Auburn and then turned pro and forced his way onto Snedeker’s team past the likes of Ben Griffin, Ryan Gerard, J.J. Spaun and Akhsay Bhatia.
“We took a long, hard look at all these guys that were close,” Snedeker said. “But Jackson, what he did at 3M, what he has proven in his amateur career, what he brings to the table is something that we wanted to take a hard look at. I’m so impressed by this young man. I think he brings a lot to the team room; he brings a lot in terms of pairings. I know what this guy is capable of. I’m excited for him to show it to the world.”
Koivun went 3-1 as a member of the victorious U.S. Walker Cup team last September and will be the youngest member of Team USA since Jordan Spieth made his team debut as a 20-year-old in 2013.
“I’m definitely going to feel some nerves, but I’ve always told myself that nerves are a good thing because that means I care,” Koivun said after the selection. “I’m just really excited to step up at Medinah and go play some golf.
“It still feels like a pinch-me moment,” Koivun continued. “When he called me and told me I was headed to Medinah, I was shell-shocked for about four hours, and then it started to settle in. It was truly exciting and it was just a very big moment to me.”
As for the rest of the American roster, Snedeker went chalk with Gotterup, who narrowly missed automatic qualification, and three veterans: Schauffele, Thomas and Cantlay.
Snedeker called Schauffele, who will be playing in his fourth Presidents Cup, “a pillar” of Team USA. After selecting Schauffele, Snedeker then went with Thomas. “He’s the epitome of what you want as a team captain,” Snedeker said of JT. “He brings everything to the team that you could ask for — through his energy, through his preparation, through what this means to him, and he’s the all-time winning point leader on our team, so it’s pretty hard not to think this guy’s going to have a big role for us. He has the ability to play his best golf when stuff’s on the line, especially in team events. That’s what you want. You want guys that show up when all the chips are on the table. He’s going to hit the shot that needs to be hit. He’s going to hit the putt that needs to be hit and he’s the guy everyone else wants hitting it. Those are the guys you can’t have too much of.”
The selection of Bridgeman came as a bit of a surprise. The 26-year-old won the Genesis Invitational in February and finished T5 at the Players but did not have another top-10 finish until the BMW Championship two weeks ago. The Clemson product led the PGA Tour in putting and will be making his team competition debut as a professional.
“What he did earlier this year, winning the Genesis Invitational and staring down Rory McIlroy and coming out on top, was pretty impressive,” Snedeker said. “To follow that up with the way he played late in the season — he’s very consistent and the best putter we have on the PGA Tour. … Jacob is a really good competitor. I think most people don’t understand that about him because he is so even-keeled and quiet, but he is a very competitive guy, and those guys seem to rise to the occasion when things come around.”
But the headline of Snedeker’s selection process is Koivun, who is expected to be a staple of American teams for the foreseeable future, getting his first taste of a professional team competition before all eyes turn to the next one — the 2027 Ryder Cup.
This article originated on Golf.com
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