On September 27, 2026, the United States began the final day of the Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club near Chicago three points behind. By sunset, the Americans had won the trophy by four. Their 9.5-2.5 victory in Sunday singles overturned a 10.5-7.5 deficit and produced a 17-13 final score.
It was the largest final-day comeback in Presidents Cup history. The PGA TOUR’s official session recap confirms the record 9.5 points from 12 singles matches. The official scoring page records the overall 17-13 result.
A deficit that required almost everything
Because each singles match was worth one point, the United States needed eight of Sunday’s 12 available points merely to reach the 15.5 needed to retain the cup. Winning outright required eight and a half. Instead, captain Brandt Snedeker’s team collected nine and a half, leaving the International Team with only two and a half.
The scale of the turnaround becomes clearer when separated into two scoreboards. Before Sunday, the Internationals had outscored the Americans 10.5-7.5 across the team formats. On Sunday, the United States reversed the entire match with a seven-point advantage in singles. NBC Sports described it as the biggest final-day comeback win in the event’s history.
Early American wins created momentum, but the contest remained alive deep into the back nine. Jacob Bridgeman finally supplied the decisive half-point. His short par putt on the 18th hole secured a tie with Min Woo Lee and carried the United States to the 15.5 points required to retain the cup. The remaining matches pushed the final margin to four.
Medinah’s Sunday history flipped
The setting added an unusual layer to the comeback. Medinah was also the site of the 2012 Ryder Cup’s “Miracle at Medinah,” when Europe recovered from a 10-6 deficit to beat the United States on the final day. Fourteen years later, the Americans authored the record rally on the same course.
The PGA TOUR’s tournament analysis notes that the United States entered Sunday trailing 10.5-7.5 and called the singles performance record-setting. An Associated Press report likewise identified it as the best final day in tournament history.
The win extended American control of the event to 11 consecutive editions. The International Team’s only outright Presidents Cup victory remains the 1998 contest, with the 2003 edition ending in a tie. Yet this one did not resemble a routine continuation of that dominance. For three days, the Internationals built a lead strong enough to put history within reach. The United States answered with the most productive Sunday the competition has ever seen.
That is the strange arithmetic of match play: three days of advantage disappeared inside 12 head-to-head matches. A three-point hole became a four-point victory, and Medinah’s reputation for final-day reversals gained a new chapter from the opposite side.
Sources and further reading
- PGA TOUR official Sunday singles recap
- Official Presidents Cup scoring
- PGA TOUR tournament analysis
- Associated Press report from Medinah
- NBC Sports final-day notes
