U.S. erases historic 3-point deficit to move within half a point of retaining the Presidents Cup

The United States erased a historic three-point deficit in Sunday singles at the Presidents Cup, turning a lead the International Team had never before held on American soil into a 14.5-12.5 advantage with three matches still unresolved on the back nine at Medinah Country Club.

The Americans needed only 15 points out of 30 to retain the Cup as defending champions, meaning a single half-point from the three matches still in progress — Jacob Bridgeman against Min Woo Lee, Russell Henley against Nick Taylor, and Xander Schauffele against Ryan Fox — would be enough to keep the trophy. All three were tied or through only the middle holes as the U.S. completed its comeback through the first nine singles points, according to the tournament's full match-by-match results and the official Presidents Cup site, both updating live as play continued Sunday afternoon.

The numbers

The International Team had taken a 10.5-7.5 lead into Sunday — the first time in the history of the event that the visiting side led entering the final session on U.S. soil, according to the PGA Tour's Session 4 recap. That lead had been built session by session: the U.S. won Thursday's four-ball 3-2, the International Team swept Friday's foursomes 5-0, the Americans took Saturday morning's four-ball 2.5-1.5, and Saturday afternoon's foursomes split 2-2. Sunday's singles then turned seven of the first nine points to the Americans, part of a session in which Scottie Scheffler improved to 3-1-0 for the week — his best record in any Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup appearance — while Cameron Young and Chris Gotterup each closed out their third points of the week.

How the U.S. got here

This is the 16th Presidents Cup, a four-day event that ran Sept. 24-27 at Medinah's Course No. 3 outside Chicago, under U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker and International captain Geoff Ogilvy. Entering the week, the Americans had won the previous 10 editions and held a 13-1-1 all-time record against a team that has managed just one outright win, in 1998 at Royal Melbourne, plus a tie in 2003. Sunday marked only the fourth time the International side had led entering the last session — and the first time that lead came on U.S. soil — according to a Golf Channel live account of the tournament's history. Individual breakthroughs powered the reversal: Justin Thomas, who entered Sunday 0-3-0 all-time in Presidents Cup singles, defeated Corey Conners 5&3, at one stretch going 4-up through four holes. Patrick Cantlay holed a 57-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th to seal his match against Adam Scott and sent the Medinah gallery into a "USA! USA! USA!" chant, according to PGA Tour's Sunday singles recap.

Who is affected

Beyond the trophy itself, individual story lines ran through the session. Both rosters were set through season-long qualifying: the U.S. team through FedEx Cup points from January 2025 through last month's BMW Championship, plus six captain's picks, with Scheffler leading all qualifiers at 14,749 points; the International team through its own points list, topped by Si Woo Kim. Scheffler's week ties into that standing as the top American qualifier, while Kim, the leading International qualifier, is part of a roster expected to travel directly from Medinah to the Asian Games, where South Korea's Tom Kim in particular faces added stakes: a strong showing there could exempt him from South Korea's mandatory military service, according to reporting flagged on Golf Channel's live blog. Rookies Jackson Koivun and Jacob Bridgeman anchored some of the tightest matches of the day for the U.S. side, both drawing International opponents who were themselves playing without prior Presidents Cup experience to fall back on.

Reaction

The session's defining moment of sportsmanship came in the Scheffler-Echavarria match, when a fan shouted during Nico Echavarria's backswing on the 14th hole, sending his tee shot off line. Scheffler conceded the hole rather than accept the advantage, a gesture covered independently by ESPN's report on the moment and NBC Sports' account of Scheffler's gesture.

"There's no place for that," Scheffler said of the fan's interference, according to the PGA Tour's official match recap.

Before singles began, U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker had acknowledged his messaging to the team "hasn't been clear enough" over the week, urging his players, in comments carried on Golf Channel's live blog from Medinah, to "do today what they do best: play as individuals." The message translated quickly into results: the Americans took seven of the first nine singles points, including a 2-up win by rookie Jackson Koivun over Si Woo Kim, ceding only the Tom Kim and Sungjae Im matches to the International side along the way.

What happens next

With three matches still to finish, the Americans need just half a point to clinch outright retention of the Cup; the International Team would need to win all three remaining matches to force a tie, which under Presidents Cup rules allows the defending champion to keep the trophy. CBS Sports' live coverage of Sunday's singles and the tournament's own site were both still updating as the final groups played the closing holes Sunday afternoon. Should the U.S. complete the clinch, it would extend the Americans' run to 11 straight Presidents Cups and deepen their all-time edge over an International side that has still managed only that single win in 1998.

The next Presidents Cup is scheduled for 2028, while several players from Sunday's U.S. side — Scheffler, Cantlay and Schauffele among them — are already being mentioned as anchors of next year's Ryder Cup roster, the biennial team event against Europe that follows on the American team-golf calendar.