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CHICAGO - The Presidents Cup descended upon the Windy City for the first team golf competition at Medinah Country Club's No. 3 course since the 2012 Ryder Cup. Depending on whose colors you sport, you remember that week as the Miracle at Medinah or the Meltdown at Medinah.
It seemed fitting, then, that Medinah was almost unrecognizable this time around.
The course underwent significant renovations in advance of the Presidents Cup, led by International Team Captain Geoff Ogilvy and his OCM Golf Design team. The result had many wondering if Medinah had taken Ozempic — not because its fairways were skinnier, but because it looked like an entirely different golf course.
To be clear: The Presidents Cup is not the Ryder Cup. It never has been and never will be. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
It's understandable to compare the two. Both are biennial team competitions featuring 12 Americans, with the Ryder Cup pitting the U.S. against Europe and the Presidents Cup matching the Americans against an International Team. But the comparisons largely stop there.
Just because The Players Championship isn't considered one of the men's four major championships, that doesn't make it any less compelling, significant or meaningful to the players competing in it. The Presidents Cup has its own identity, its own history and, perhaps most importantly, its own atmosphere.
And Chicago knows how to do sports.
The result was a Presidents Cup that felt less like a golf tournament that happened to be in Chicago and more like a giant Chicago sports party that happened to be on a golf course.
Kim-istry
One of the best things about the Presidents Cup is getting a better glimpse into some of the International players we don't otherwise see in quite the same light.
The Tom Kim-Si Woo Kim pairing is one of my favorite things about this entire competition. They're a spark of joy — emotional, animated, occasionally chaotic and completely themselves. And that's part of what makes team golf so much fun. You get to see players who can seem almost anonymous on a Sunday afternoon leaderboard suddenly become characters.
Tom Kim had one of the best weeks of the competition, including a win over two-time U.S. Open champion Wyndham Clark. He finished with four points, becoming the first International player since 2013 to win four points in a Presidents Cup.
Si Woo Kim finished 3-2-0. But the numbers are almost beside the point. Put these two together and you get something that can't be measured in a stat sheet: charisma, charm and personality enough to win over even the staunchest of U.S. fans.
It's me, not you
For a duo that won two of their three matches together this week, this may not sound like a particularly compelling argument. But I really think Team USA needs to split Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns.
I know they're best friends. I know they're comfortable together. And I know that comfort matters in team golf. But that's exactly why I'd like to see Scottie play with some other teammates.
Brandt Snedeker had an opportunity this week to experiment with pairings in a format that is inherently less consequential than what awaits the Americans at the Ryder Cup next year at Adare Manor. Why not use it?
There are plenty of guys I’d like to see, but a Scheffler-Jackson Koivun Four-Ball or Foursomes pairing would have been electric. Koivun is young, fearless and already looked completely at home in his Presidents Cup debut. Pair him with the best player in the world and see what happens. That's the kind of chemistry I'd want to discover now — not next September.
Overheard at the 2026 Presidents Cup
“He’s gotta get his weedy out there. He’s so deep in the rough.”
“USA! USA! USA! USA!”
“It’s blowing a gale out there.” “Nah, it’s just a snoz.”
“I haven’t seen an outfit that ugly since my granny was blind and dying.”
“I haven’t drank wine out of a cup since I was in the Bible.”
“We got the world at our oyster.”
A deep dive on Deep Dish
Visiting a city and trying its signature food doesn't quite have the same novelty it did 20 years ago. Within five miles of where I live in Scottsdale, there’s a Lou Malnati's franchise. I can order Chicago-style deep dish from just about anywhere. The world has gotten very good at exporting its food. Still, I couldn't come to Chicago and not try the deep dish. So, I went to Lou Malnati's, ate the pizza and have reached a conclusion that may get me banned from the city:
It's not for me.
I'm sure Chicagoans will disagree. And if you grew up eating thick, buttery, cheese-laden pizza, I suspect this is less a food preference than a birthright.
But I tried it. I respect it. I don't need to eat it again.
Gibson's, on the other hand, is an institution. And steakhouses, thankfully, never seem to go out of style.
Fan fair?
Fan behavior has become almost as much a part of the conversation around team golf as the golf itself. After the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black last year - and some of the behavior that surrounded it - there was plenty of curiosity about how Chicago fans would handle the particular combination of patriotism, match play and a home crowd.
The Presidents Cup isn't the Ryder Cup. The emotional temperature isn't quite the same. But it's still team golf, and team golf invites people to pick a side. For the most part, Chicago brought the energy without losing the plot. But there were exceptions.
During Nico Echavarria's Sunday Singles match against Scheffler, a fan yelled "Go Scottie!" as Echavarria began his downswing on the 14th tee. The Colombian's drive sailed right, and he dropped his club in frustration.
Scheffler, who was three up at the time, didn't celebrate the miscue. "There's no place for that," the world #1 told the crowd.
It was a small moment, but an important one. The players understand the distinction between rooting for your team and interfering with the outcome. The previous day, another fan was seen kicking the wayward ball of International player Corey Conners back into play and onto the green at the second hole. The incident was quickly addressed, and the fan's interference was deemed intentional. Thus, Conners’ foursomes partner Nick Taylor had to replay the shot from the fairway. This incident had a more innocent bent, but it will be logged as one of the more bizarre and memorable fan interactions of the week.
We all know that team golf is supposed to feel different. The media knows it. The fans know it. The players know it. Louder, more emotional, more personal. But there's a line.
And maybe the best fans understand that the best version of team golf isn't about bringing the other team down. It's about making your own team feel impossible to beat.
Maybe that's what makes the Presidents Cup work in a place like Chicago. It's not trying to be the Ryder Cup. It doesn't need to be.
It's loud, patriotic and occasionally ridiculous, but it's also an opportunity to see players differently, hear things you could never hear on television and experience a golf tournament as part of a city rather than apart from it.
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