And the winners of the 2026 Presidents Cup are eh… Team Europe?
US captain Brandt Snedeker, who somehow has a winning captaincy on his CV despite doing all in his power to make a hames of it, bullishly declared that the American team will “be a problem in Ireland.” Did he mean for themselves? Because Luke Donald’s charges will have nothing to fear.
“I think we’re all tired of this narrative that we don’t care about each other, that we don’t know how to play team golf,” said Snedeker who botched numerous tactical decisions in the foursomes and fourball sessions against the Internationals.
“I think this proves it. You don’t come back the way we did if these guys haven’t all bought into each other. This team is going to be a problem in Ireland. It’s going to be a problem.”
Snedeker’s howler in the team aspect of the Presidents Cup, specifically the foursomes sessions, is not a new phenomenon. It’s become systematic of a set up who have failed to prepare year in year out. Even the fact that Snedeker won’t be captain at the Ryder Cup in Adare Manor and doesn’t seem like skipper material going forward shows that there is little to no strategy to the Americans off the course.
Since Marco Simone, where the USA were whitewashed 4-0 in the opening foursomes session at the 2023 Ryder Cup. The Americans have been whitewashed four times in total in the foursomes across the last two Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup contests. They paid for it against Europe but have managed to salvage paper over the cracks victories over the Internationals.
Overall, their foursomes record since 2023 reads a staggering 8-26.
It’s also quite eye opening that Jim Furyk, a losing Ryder Cup captain in Paris in 2018, was a vice captain for Snedeker at the weekend. Yet, he appeared powerless to stop Snedeker from making tactical blunders in the team formats. That doesn’t point to a man who has learned from his own mistakes eight years ago. Not to mention that Furyk was also captain of the US Presidents Cup side in 2024 who were also whitewashed in the foursomes.
“I didn’t do the matchups right this week,” Snedeker said who looks to have the personality of somebody who has failed upwards but can’t quite believe how.
Back in Bethpage Black last year, Keegan Bradley, who should have played in 2023 if not last year as well, named Kevin Kisner and Gary Woodland as part of his vice captains. Neither of whom have made a Ryder Cup appearance. So, you have to wonder where is the contingency plan, where is the sense of building? It all seems a mish mash and hopefully the American individual ability will pull through in the singles.
It has and it must be lauded. A 9.5-2.5 singles session win is some result with backs against the wall. Laudible to a point however, when you remember they won the singles against Europe 8.5-3.5 last year only to lose the Ryder Cup. This isn’t a tactical ploy to hang in until the singles, it is a team consistently left in a position of having to produce a comeback.
It’s like Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. When he was on the verge of getting the sack, someone on the team would produce a moment of magic to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and keep him in the job to the delight of Premier League rivals.
This is how it is with the Americans. Nothing will change as long as their Presidents Cup victories and singles strength give them a false sense of security.
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