Can Internationals stay close at President's Cup?

September 21, 2026

Key points from this story:

• U.S. dominated President's Cup since 1994
• U.S. won 13 events
• Internationals exclude U.S. and Europe
• Scottie Scheffler ranked No. 1
• Si Woo Kim top International at No. 13
• Corey Conners and Nick Taylor selected

David vs. Goliath. The lions against the Christians. Shooting fish in a barrel. Bringing a knife to a gunfight. Pick your metaphor and it will apply to this week's President's Cup golf competition, held every two years and often begging the question: Why?

Since its inception in 1994, the United States' 12-man team has had its way with the Internationals, a team of 12 golfers from outside the U.S. or Europe. That means eligible players could come from Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, South America, etc. Overall, the U.S. has been formidable, winning 13 events, tying one and losing one. This year's clash at Medinah Country Club in Chicago is expected to almost certainly extend the Americans' winning streak. The only hope for the Internationals would be if Donald Trump elbowed his way onto the U.S. team and had to play without cheating.

How powerful are the Americans? The U.S. team will send out players ranked 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 in the Official World Golf Ranking. That No. 1, of course, is Scottie Scheffler, who recently won two of the three PGA Tour playoff events, including the Tour Championship. The Internationals' highest-ranked player is No. 13 Si Woo Kim of South Korea, a fine player but hardly someone to be feared by the Americans.

Ryan Fox, the Champion Golfer of the Year, the honorary title given to the golfer who wins the British Open, is from New Zealand and is the second-highest-ranked International, at No 25. Internationals' captain Geoff Ogilvy, an Aussie who won the 2006 U.S. Open, has his work cut out for him as he leads his lambs into battle.

Two Canadians -- Corey Conners (No. 54 in the world) and Nick Taylor (No. 80) -- were chosen for the International team and it's assumed they will be sent into battle with classy team uniforms, a number of sleeves of new golf balls and a jar of salve to dab on the inflicted bruises. The team slogan could be 'No Hope, But No Surrender, Until Sunday.'

The Americans, not surprisingly, are a little cocky on the eve of the President's Cup. A headline on a story on the U.S.-based Yahoo!Sports wrote in black ink what would normally be only whispered, in the spirit of good sportsmanship: 'The President's Cup lacks juice because American team is just too good'.

The President's Cup was hatched to give golfers outside of Europe a chance to take part in a Ryder-Cup-like competition against the best from the U.S. The host site for the event is rotated between a U.S. city and an 'International' location. Australia's Royal Melbourne has been the host course three times; Royal Montreal has twice played host. But they could play on an iceberg north of Churchill and the Americans would probably still come out of top, unless golf shoes were mandated to be replaced by skates. So sit back and enjoy the President's Cup. But be prepared to hide your eyes.

Sports Comments

• From the late college basketball coach Jim Valvano, snipped from Jack Finarelli’s sportscurmudgeon.com site: “I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, ‘of course not.’ I said,’ well, I think you stink.’ And he gave me a technical. You can’t trust ’em.”
• Headline at theonion.com: “Crowd Boos After Little Boy Steals Foul Ball From Adorable 42-Year-Old Man”
• Conor Orr of SI.com, after the Rams brought legend Aaron Donald out of retirement to join another legend, Myles Garrett, on the team’s defensive line: “Teams will have to decide whether it’s better to run into the teeth of one of the five best rushing defences in the NFL or send their quarterback to pass 25-plus times in a game, every down increasing his likelihood of falling into the human equivalent of the wood chipper from Fargo.”
• Super 70s Sports: “When Boog Powell signed with the Dodgers, he'd eat nachos all game and then pinch-hit in the helmet they came in.”
• From the late comedian Phyllis Diller: “The reason women don’t play football is because 11 of them would never wear the same outfit in public.”
• Headline at the onion.com: “Kiss Cam Operator Not Going To Stop Until All 32,000 Fans Have Kissed”
• fark.com headline: “It’s Day 2 of the NFL regular season and Tua is already injured. At least it’s not his brain this time.”
• Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “Breaking news: Gators press box runs out of food an hour-and-a-half before kickoff. Media members threaten to get a preliminary injunction with county judge.”
• Super 70s Sports again: “Remember when Cal Ripken inspired the hell out of a nation just by showing up for work every day?”
• Cathal Kelly of the Globe and Mail, on ‘Uncle Dennis,’ the agent for basketball star Kawhi Leonard: “It’s not his fault that the Clippers are even worse at money laundering than they are at basketball.”