MEDINAH, IL — Actor and longtime Chicago sports fan Bill Murray carried the Presidents Cup out to its pedestal. Jim Cornelison, the legendary singer known to Chicagoans for his thunderous rendition of the “Star-Spangled Banner” at Chicago Blackhawks games, belted out the National Anthem. Military choppers flew overhead as he reached the crescendo. Thousands packed into the stadium-style seating around the first tee at Medinah Country Club roared.
But the rest of Day 1 at the 2026 Presidents Cup proved to be a more restrained experience for the American crowd as the U.S. and International teams went back-and-forth during the first session of matches.
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The U.S. grabbed a 3-2 lead when four-ball action was complete on Thursday, Sept. 24, as stars Scottie Scheffler, Justin Thomas and Wyndham Clark were each part of pairings that secured a point. But the Internationals proved resilient playing in front of a revved-up crowd sporting red, white and blue.
Here are the winners and losers from Day 1 at the 16th Presidents Cup:
2026 Presidents Cup Day 1 winners
Justin Thomas
Thomas has been the most reliable match-play golfer for the U.S. in these team events for a decade now, and Thursday only served as further confirmation of that status. Paired alongside 21-year-old rookie Jackson Koivun, Thomas was the steady veteran as the U.S. secured its first point of the Presidents Cup with a 4-and-3 win over Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria. Thomas was the best on the course off the tee, and nobody gained more strokes on the field. Thomas is now 7-0-0 in four-ball matches at the Presidents Cup.
Sam Burns
The most competitive match during Day 1 was the first one as Burns and Scheffler went all the way to No. 18 for a 1-up win over Sungjae Im and Min Woo Lee. It was Burns, though, who contributed what Scheffler later declared, “the shot of the match.” After the International team took its first lead with a birdie by Im on No. 13, Burns fired his approach shot on the 14th hole to within three feet of the cup to set up a birdie to tie the match once more. This was the first win in five tries for Burns when paired with his good friend and world No. 1 Scheffler, at either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup.
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Wyndham Clark
Clark and Collin Morikawa coasted to a 3&2 win over Ryan Fox and Adam Scott by racing out to an early lead. The Americans had three birdies on the first four holes and a 3-up lead by the end of the sixth hole. Clark’s hot putter proved to be a difference maker as he gained more than two strokes putting when compared to everyone else playing at Medinah during Thursday’s four-ball matches.
Hideki Matsuyama
Matsuyama entered this Presidents Cup as one of the longest-tenured members of the International team, but he hasn’t had much success in team golf over the years. On Thursday, he formed a strong combination with fellow Japanese golfer and Presidents Cup rookie Ryo Hisatsune. They grabbed control of their match against Xander Schauffele and Cameron Young, and Matsuyama’s pure approach shots and timely putts kept his team rolling after the Internationals came back from an early deficit.
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Tom Kim
Tom Kim played well with Si Woo Kim for the International team two years ago at the Presidents Cup, and they picked up where they left off in the final match of Day 1. Tom Kim was the best golfer on the course for the Internationals in terms of strokes gained. He did his best work around the green, finishing with five birdies, but he was also top-five in the field in terms of strokes gained tee-to-green. Thursday further solidified Tom Kim’s spot as one of the most dangerous match-play opponents the Internationals can turn to over the final three days at Medinah.
2026 Presidents Cup Day 1 losers
Xander Schauffele
Schauffele and Young couldn’t muster much as a tandem on Thursday, but it was Schauffele’s poor play that stood out. He was among the worst golfers on the course around the green and tee-to-green. How much U.S. team captain Brandt Snedeker relies on Schauffele the rest of the event bears watching. He’s among the most decorated Americans playing at Medinah this week, but he has just one top-10 finish since June. This performance on Thursday was more reminiscent of that recent form than his past history of success at these international events.
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Min Woo Lee
Lee and Im nearly pulled off a huge upset over Scheffler and Burns to start the Presidents Cup because Sungjae Im was the best player on course tee-to-green by a wide margin. But he missed some key putts, and Lee didn’t hold up his end of the bargain, wasting a performance in which Im out-dueled the world’s best golfer. Lee was the worst putter at Medinah on Thursday and those missed chances wound up costing him and Im by the end of the match.
Ryan Fox
The 2026 British Open champion struggled in his first Presidents Cup appearance partnered with Adam Scott, and the duo got waxed by Clark and Morikawa. Fox lost nearly two strokes on the field with his driver and iron play out of whack. Fox doesn’t have a top-25 finish since winning the Claret Jug in July, and Thursday was not a promising indication that he’s returned to top form.
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Patrick Cantlay
Other than Koivun, Cantlay was the lowest-ranked captain’s pick this year based on Presidents Cup points. His selection was largely because of his track record for the U.S. in international team competition, where he’s 10-4 in Presidents Cup matches and 6-5-2 in the Ryder Cup. But playing with Presidents Cup rookie Chris Gotterup, Cantlay could not replicate his past success on Thursday. Gotterup was the worst American golfer on the course during Day 1 based on strokes gained, and Cantlay was unable to pick him up after failing to hit the timely putts he has connected on in the past. His putting stroke was an issue throughout this season and it could be a problem this weekend.
The Medinah crowd
Wyndham Clark called the crowd “kind of dead out there” and noted he and his teammates “weren’t really feeling the fans as much as normal” on Thursday. Snedeker described the atmosphere as “weird” after the boisterous scene at the first tee to start Day 1. Clark said he brought it up as a way to challenge fans to be louder for the final three days of competition.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winners and losers from 2026 Presidents Cup Day 1: Justin Thomas, Tom Kim shine
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