When it comes to coach-speak, Brandt Snedeker has kept the transcriptionists busier than the airspace over Medinah this week.
Like a 737 taking off from nearby O’Hare, the Internationals roared into a 7-3 lead Friday at the Presidents Cup, sweeping a foursomes session for the second time in as many editions of this biennial competition that has been dominated by the Americans (13-1-1).
The Americans are suddenly on their back feet, and naturally, the U.S. skipper was pressed for answers:
“They made a ton of putts.”
“You’re going to have sessions like this.”
“Just didn’t quite get the right momentum we wanted.”
“There’s a lot of golf left to play.”
“We’re going to view it as an opportunity.”
Get the idea? Well, here’s a closer look at what went wrong on Friday at Medinah:
1. The Internationals did, in fact, make more putts
It’s easy to blame the Americans’ continued foursomes skid (6-24 in the format since the start of the 2023 Ryder Cup) on an inability to make more putts than their opponents.
“I feel like we had the right matchups, we felt like,” Snedeker said, “and some days the ball just doesn’t want to go in.”
But Snedeker, one of the best putters of the 21st century, has a valid point.
Min Woo Lee and Ryan Fox basically couldn’t miss, rolling in five birdie putts from outside of 10 feet in a 1-up victory over Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa.
Same for Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim.
Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout dropped some bombs.
Sungjae Im wasn’t even on the green when he hooped a couple putts.
When the dust settled, eight of the nine worst putters in terms of strokes gained were American. The only exception was Corey Conners, who has made a career out of cashing checks without cashing putts.
Overall, the Internationals gained over six strokes on their opponent with the flatstick.
“Seems like everyone had a few things go their way,” Scott said. “This is what can happen.”
MEDINAH, IL – SEPTEMBER 25: Cameron Young of the United States reacts to a missed putt on No. 15 during the Friday Foursomes session of the Presidents Cup, September 25, 2026, at Medinah Country Club in Medinah, Illinois. (Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
2. The Americans got throttled on the non-par-4s
The U.S. combined to win just a dozen holes on Friday, with all but one of those wins coming on par-4s.
Compared to the Internationals, the Americans were abysmal on the par-5s and par-3s.
In terms of holes won, the Internationals boasted a 6-0 advantage on the three-shotters, while outscoring the home side on those two holes, Nos. 3 and 6, 9 under to 3 under.
On the four par-3s, the Internationals outscored their counterparts 5-1 while playing those holes in a collective 4 under, three strokes better than the U.S. players.
“I thought the golf course firmed up a ton today,” Snedeker said. “The ball was bouncing around a lot. The greens were pretty difficult. Chipping is very difficult for these guys around there. Probably a totally different golf course than we saw last week when we got here.”
Added Geoff Ogilvy, the International captain: “It’s pretty satisfying you can have that much rain in the week leading up and we can be playing a pretty firm, fast golf course three days later. Yeah, like Brandt said, it asks a lot of questions. It’s probably tougher than I would have expected.”
The Americans were white-washed by the Internationals, who used their second Friday foursomes sweep in as many Presidents Cups to take a convincing 7-3 lead heading into the weekend at Medinah.
3. Snedeker walks into punch
Not literally, of course.
With his team enjoying the early lead on Thursday night, Snedeker was asked if his game plan would change at all based on what transpired in the first session. The U.S. skipper vowed that the Americans were trusting their process, sharing a boxing analogy in the process.
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,” Snedeker said. “Mike Tyson said that famously. We had a really good plan coming in, and we’re still sticking to it.”
But as it turned out, Snedeker might’ve walked into the punch.
Snedeker’s comments came just minutes after he sent Chris Gotterup to his corner following a poor fourball showing. Gotterup appeared set to pair with Cameron Young in foursomes, but instead, Young was thrown on the board with the hot-handed Justin Thomas in the fourth match opposite Scott and Bezuidenhout.
Thomas was 10-0-2 in team play for his Presidents Cup career entering Friday, but his form coming into these matches didn’t exactly align with his past credentials. Any momentum he acquired alongside rookie Jackson Koivun on Thursday dissipated quickly; Thomas lost almost two-and-a-half shots with the putter and finished the day as the only one of 20 players who lost more than four strokes overall.
Afterward, Snedeker contradicted his statements from the previous night, revealing that he made the decision to ride Thomas and pair him with Young despite Thomas and Young being the only one of Friday’s 10 partnerships who didn’t play a single practice round together this week.
“We felt like Justin and Cam had played so well the first day, it was going to be kind of hard to keep them off the golf course,” Snedeker said. “That’s one of the things as captain you look back on maybe when this thing is all over with, it might not have been the right decision, but it seemed like the right decision at the time.”
Can Coach Sneds make the right adjustments this time? With one fewer fourball match on Saturday morning, three American pairs will stay intact, though Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay will be benched as their fourball partners on Thursday, Young and Gotterup, finally team up.
As he and his players head into the Presidents Cup’s proverbial first intermission (in honor of Conners and Nick Taylor, we’re talking hockey), Snedeker declined to share what motivational tools he may use to, borrowing some words from a reporter’s question, “fire the guys up.”
“That stays in the team room,” Snedeker said.
But Snedeker’s parting message to the media was this: “These guys care so much. These guys love being on these teams. They love playing for their country. They love playing for each other. I love teams like that. I think the American people should be damn proud of those 12 guys. … I’m going to keep saying this until I’m blue in the face: These guys are competitive. They don’t like losing anything. They certainly don’t like where we are right now.
“But we’re one-third of the way through this. There’s a helluva lot of golf in front of us, and I’m telling you, these guys are going to come out firing tomorrow.”
It’s unclear whether Snedeker will continue to wear the Chicago Bears hat he’s been donning for much of the week. (The Bears haven’t won a Super Bowl since 1986, Sneds!)
What is clear: The Americans are no longer the prohibitive favorites; in fact, the U.S. enters Saturday as a slight dog.
Day 3 at Medinah features four fourballs matches in the morning session. Here are the starting times, how to watch and when each team will pick its players for Saturday morning.