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Adam Scott has been an International stalwart through “lot of disappointment.” (Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MEDINAH, Ill. — Adam Scott is not asking for sympathy and would undoubtedly shutter at the very mention of it. Professional sports — especially golf — come with a good bit of defeat and despair for even the best.
Scott, 46, has seen a bit of everything in his career. He made his professional start 26 years ago after a brief collegiate stay at UNLV. He observed Tiger Woods up close during his most dominating years and Rory McIlroy as he came of age. Scott won a major and lost a few others, reaching as high as No. 1 in the world. Now he’s competing against and getting to see the rise of this generation’s greatness player, Scottie Scheffer.
Scott just contended at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship — tying for second along with McIlroy — and is ranked No. 45 in the world as he prepares to play in the Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club.
It’s his 12th consecutive Presidents Cup.
Think about that. Scott played in his first Presidents Cup in 2003 before U.S. rookie Jackson Koivun was born.
Also in today’s DD …
International team diminished most by LIV Golf ban
Presidents Cup opening session four-ball pairings
He’s played in 54 matches for the International team and had 18 different partners in the four-ball and foursomes portion of the competition, winning a total of 23 points.
But he’s never played on a winning Presidents Cup team.
In that first appearance in 2003 in South Africa, the Internationals tied the Americans in what was an epic competition. It had captains Jack Nickalus and Gary Player. It featured a dramatic playoff involving Woods and Ernie Els that lasted three excruciating holes before finally being declared a draw that is still talked about to this day.
Since then, Scott and the Internationals have suffereed 10 subsequent losses. Most expect that losing streak to go to 11 this week at Medinah against a heavily favored American team.
“Well, I mean, that’s just a lot of disappointment, really,” Scott said. “There have been some close calls in there. Of course, I think a lot gets made of a couple big defeats and that it’s been so dominant. But when I look back on it closely there have been some really close calls that I’ve been involved in and it’s come down to the last hole several times. And they can go anyway and it hasn’t gone our way.
“For me, of course I want to win one desperately and I don’t know how many more I can possibly play in. But it’s a team effort to do it. We’ll all have to want it so badly. And I would just say everyone should want it for themselves as much as anybody else on the team. I think it would be an amazing experience for us all to win this Cup.”
Making the case for competitive balance, of course, remains difficult. Yes, there have been some close calls. Woods’ captaincy in 2019 is remembered much for his 3-0 playing record that week but sometimes it’s forgotten that the International side led 9-5 after the Saturday morning four-ball competition and took a 10-8 lead into singles. The Americans won six matches on the final day but the difference proved to be four ties in a 16-14 win.
That was definitely close, as was the 2015 competition in South Korea, where it came down to the final singles match. Bill Haas, the son of U.S. team captain Jay Haas, clinched the 15½-14½ victory with a bunker-save par on the final hole against Korean Sangmoon Bae.
International captain Geoff Ogilvy points to other close calls. He noted the 5-0 International second-day wipeout of the Americans two years ago and that his team actually won more total holes despite a rather lop-sided 18½-11½ U.S. victory at Royal Montreal.
Given the U.S. team’s ongoing struggles in the Ryder Cup, American players are not likely to find a soft spot in their hearts for Scott, despite their glowing respect for him. There are five players on the current U.S. Presidents Cup team who were on the teams that lost to Europe in 2023 and 2025 at the Ryder Cup.
“I really like Adam Scott,” said Xander Schauffele, who is competing in his seventh straight international team event dating back to the 2019 Presidents Cup. “No secret there. He doesn’t want anyone’s feelings on it. He’s a competitor and he wants to get it done. He’ll tell you that all he needs is one to make it feel really sweet, probably something along the lines of what he’d say.
“So I love competing with him. We share the same physio week to week on a normal tour schedule. So it’s been nice to get to know him a little bit better. He’s definitely inspiring to me — aside from the Presidents Cup. Just being that competitive at his age, at this time where golf is, is really, really impressive. So nothing but respect for Adam.”
Asked about the “old guy” on his squad, fellow Australian Ogilvy was at first taken aback as Scott being referenced that way.
“He’s obviously a big inspiration,” said Ogilvy, who is only three years older than Scott. “He played his first Presidents Cup in 2003. Some of these kids — a lot of these kids — weren’t even playing golf in 2003. He’s a big inspiration.
“It’s a cool journey he’s taken. When he first got into that room, he was playing with Ernie Els and Vijay Singh and Nick Price. He was the young one in the room, and now he’s the guy they all look at.
“Certainly, you would have thought if you were going to play all 12 in a row from 2003, that he would have won one by now. So it would be fantastic for the team, and I know everybody feels that way, that he’s a big part of the inspiration they want to win for.”
Scott’s overall match record is 20-28-6 which is actually quite respectable considering he’s never been on a winning side. For this squad to prevail, he probably needs to be successful along with other veterans such as Hideki Matsuyama (seventh Presidents Cup), Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim. His partner on Thursday will be Presidents Cup newcomer Ryan Fox, a 39-year-old New Zealander coming off a major victory at the Open Championship.
“He’s part of the international furniture now,” said South Africa’s Christiaan Bezuidenhuit of Scott. “He’s played in 12 of them. He plays as good as what he played 25 years ago. So, I mean, all of us would love to win the Cup, but it would be so much more special if we can do it while Adam is still in the team as well.”
It’s a tall task, for sure, but Scott at least provides that aspect of motivation.
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LIV ban inflicts damage to Presidents Cup
There is a fair bit of irony in the fact that LIV Golf’s launch was in many ways based on the belief that fans wanted more team golf and that the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup were prime examples of that appetite.
LIV Golf’s existence, of course, has greatly impacted the Presidents Cup — and where you lay the blame likely depends on your bias. While LIV players have been permitted to play in the Ryder Cup for both sides, they are not permitted to play in the Presidents Cup because the event is owned and operated by the PGA Tour.
When LIV Golf first launched in 2022, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan declared LIV tournaments as “unauthorized events” for its members. And anyone who competed in LIV tournaments has not been allowed to play in PGA Tour events for a period of time afterward. That even includes an exhibition such as the Presidents Cup.
International captain Geoff Ogilvy said that when he first took the job nearly two years ago, he inquired about the possibility of inviting LIV players as captain’s picks. He was told that any chance depended on how things unfolded over the two years between Presidents Cups. At the time, the PGA Tour was still in the throes of trying to work out an agreement with the Public Investment Fund, which backed LIV Golf until announcing earlier this year it would be pulling its funding. Such a deal never materialized and the PGA Tour has stuck to its suspension rules.
“I guess it just hasn’t unfolded to the point where they’re ready to, sort of, let that happen,” Ogilvy said.
While it’s difficult to say how much impact that has had on the competition — LIV players such as Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka were kept off the 2022 and 2024 U.S. teams — it’s certainly fair to wonder if some international players would have helped.
Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, who has the most victories in LIV Golf history, certainly could have been a factor in 2024 and this year. Australian Lucas Herbert could have been nice option for Ogilvy coming off a strong year including contending at the Open Championship. Aussie Cam Smith was denied the year he won the Open and Players in 2022. Others such as South Africa’s Dean Burmester, Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz and Australian Marc Leishman might have been considered as well.
For an international side that lacks experience and depth, there is an argument to be made that the lack of LIV player eligibility hurts, even though it is also fair to add that the International side was losing Presidents Cups before the launch of LIV Golf.
Presidents Cup tees off with four-ball session
Today’s opening day of the Presidents Cup will send out five four-ball matches starting at 12:35 p.m. ET. Golf Channel will provide full coverage of the session.
U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker will send of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler first with close friend Sam Burns. It marks a big opportunity for the International tandem of Sunjae Im (6-7-2 record in three previous Presidents Cup) and Min Woo Lee (0-1-1) to build momentum against the biggest American pairing.
Snedeker split up the long-standing successful partnership of Xander Schauffle and Patrick Cantlay. Schauffele will head out with Cameron Young in the second match against the Japanese duo of Hideki Matsuyama (9-13-5 in six prior Prez Cups) and rookie Ryo Hisatsune.
Cantlay will team up with in the anchor match with rookie Chris Gotterup against the experienced (and emotional) partnership of South Korea’s Kims — Si Woo and Tom — who went 1-1 together on Saturday in 2024 at Royal Montreal including a memorable foursomes showdown that Cantlay and Schauffele won 1-up.
Jackson Koivun, the 21-year-old American rookie, will play as expected with veteran Justin Thomas against Canada’s Corey Connors and Colombia’s Nico Echavarria in what could be a pivotal middle match.
The fourth match is the only one featuring four major winners, with 12-time Presidents Cupper Adam Scott and New Zealand rookie Ryan Fox against the first-time U.S. partnership of Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa.
On Friday, five foursomes matches will begin at 2:05 p.m. ET, also on Golf Channel.
Saturday morning will send out four four-ball matches starting at 8 a.m. ET on Golf Channel followed in the afternoon by four foursomes matches on NBC at 2:15 p.m. ET.
Sunday will have 12 singles matches on NBC starting at noon ET.