The first day of the 2026 Presidents Cup at Medinah is in the books, and while Team USA owns a 3-2 lead over the International team after the opening session, it sure feels like the heavily favored Americans could be in for more of a fight this weekend than many expected heading into the event.
Scottie Scheffler, who was paired up with Sam Burns, didn’t have his best stuff for most of the day, but his clutch bunker shot on the 18th hole was enough to secure a 1-up victory over Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im.
NESBITT: Why All the Pressure Is on the Star-Studded U.S. Team at the Presidents Cup
The Justin Thomas-Jackson Koivun pairing was the most intriguing one sent out by captain Brandt Snedeker, They not only rolled to a 4-and-3 win over Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria, but they also looked like a pairing that should be sent out again this week and possibly in future team events, as well.
Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa was the other U.S. pairing that won their match as they were never in much trouble against Ryan Fox and Adam Scott, winning 3-and-2.
Let’s take a look at the winners and losers from Day 1 of the Presidents Cup.
Winner: Jackson Koivun gets a point in his first Presidents Cup match
The 21-year-old PGA Tour rookie was a risky captain’s pick by Snedeker and he got off to a bit of a rough start on Thursday when he hit his tee shot out of bounds on the second hole. But, you know what? The kid was able to bounce back in a big way and showed everyone why he’s expected to be a key figure on U.S. Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams for years to come.
Koivun won two holes with birdies, and his other birdie on the day forced a tie on the short par-4 12th hole.
He looked really comfortable as the round progressed:
WALK IT IN, ROOKIE 😤
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) September 24, 2026
Jackson Koivun saves par to maintain a 2 UP lead over Conners/Echavarria pic.twitter.com/kb5PlMr1vi
Thomas deserves some love, too, because the captain’s pick came up clutch all day long.
Clutch gene.
— Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) September 24, 2026
The team of Thomas & Koivun are currently 3-up with 4 to play.#PresidentsCup | #USTeam pic.twitter.com/Ts748KYMV6
Losers: Cam Young and Xander Schauffele didn’t put up a fight
A lot was expected of this pairing as both Young and Schauffele have experience playing in Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups. But they weren’t able to get much going against Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune and ended up shaking hands on the 17th green after losing 3-and-1.
Winners: Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa rolled
Unlike Young and Schauffele, this experienced pairing had everything clicking in their win over Scott and Fox.
Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark come out on top after a birdie at the par 3 16th 🙌 pic.twitter.com/9yfuc5kaoJ
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) September 24, 2026
Winner: Tom Kim almost had the coolest ace in Presidents Cup history
Tom Kim stepped up to the par-3 16th tee with a 2-up lead in his match and then nearly ended in unbelievable fashion as his ball hit the pin and almost went in. Instead, his short birdie putt was given to him by Patrick Cantlay and Chris Gotterup, which gave Kim and Si Woo Kim a 3-and-2 victory in the final match of the day.
Tom Kim with the near ace on the 16th!#PresidentsCup | #IntlTeam pic.twitter.com/Ln5SN2r3dS
— Presidents Cup (@PresidentsCup) September 24, 2026
Winner: Sungjae Im and his extremely lucky bounce off the fence
One of the unique challenges at Medinah No. 3 is the wooden, split-rail fence fence that runs along the first few holes (under the special routing for the Presidents Cup) and serves as an out of bounds marker. While a few players on Thursday hit their tee shots over it and were penalized for doing so, Im was much more fortunate as his ball hit the fence in the air and then bounced into the fairway.
Check this out:
Sungjae Im’s tee shot on No. 2 was screaming OB…
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) September 24, 2026
UNTIL IT WASN’T 😱 pic.twitter.com/p1arxfttA2
Winner: Jim Cornelison’s awesome national anthem on the first tee
The 2026 Presidents Cup got off to an awesome start thanks to the legendary Jim Cornelison, who has become well known over the years for singing the anthem at Chicago Blackhawks game. He did his thing on the first tee moments before the event officially began and he absolutely nailed it.
Seriously, how good was this?
ABSOLUTELY ELECTRIC!
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) September 24, 2026
Jim Cornelison, the @NHLBlackhawks national anthem singer, belts out The Star-Spangled Banner at the Presidents Cup 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/54kKprWVOd
Loser: Golf Channel’s broadcast for struggling a bit throughout the first day
Golf fans love complaining about golf broadcasts and that continued Thursday as the Golf Channel got off to a rough start thanks to a mix of poorly timed commercials and mind-boggling decisions on how to cover the five groups on the course.
Over the first 60 minutes of competition today at the Presidents Cup, there were 15 minutes, 45 seconds of commercials on Golf Channel.
— Josh Carpenter (@JoshACarpenter) September 24, 2026
Four full commercial breaks (11:15 total)
Two "Playing Through" breaks (4:30 total)
Two groups on the course and Sungjae hitting one off the fence back into play and it’s not live.
— No Laying Up (@NoLayingUp) September 24, 2026
Broadcast misses three of the tee shots on two entirely.
Just very unserious.
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