Presidents Cup winners, losers from Day 3 as U.S. trails heading to Sunday

MEDINAH, IL — The United States kept its comeback hopes alive at the 2026 Presidents Cup, but the Americans had a chance to deliver much more than that on Saturday at Medinah Country Club.

The U.S. will begin the final session of golf’s biennial global team competition in danger of losing the Presidents Cup for the first time in nearly 30 years, and just the second time since the event was created. The International team has a 10½-7½ lead heading into Sunday, when 12 singles matches will determine if one of the biggest upsets in U.S. team golf history is in the cards. One team must earn 15½ points to win the Presidents Cup.

The Americans led at some point in all eight four-ball and foursomes matches that were played over nearly 12 hours on Saturday, but failed to capitalize. They only emerged having narrowed their deficit by just one point, setting the stage for a dramatic final round outside Chicago.

Young and Gotterup were so good together on Saturday morning, Snedeker indicated he scrapped his plans for the afternoon foresomes session to keep the pair together. It was a smart move. After winning the first four holes to storm out to a lead Friday morning in four-ball action, Young and Gotterup won five of the first seven holes in foursomes play for a dominant 6-and-4 victory over Adam Scott and Sungjae Im.

Young delivered one of the most impressive individual performances of the Presidents Cup, gaining more than three strokes on the field in the morning four-ball session and another four-plus strokes in foursomes. Gotterup, making his Presidents Cup debut, drained several long putts in both matches.

After a 2-0 Saturday, Young and Gotterup have firmly established themselves as a partnership worth watching as next year’s Ryder Cup approaches.

Touché.

Chris Gotterup and Nick Taylor go toe-to-toe on the 14th green with two long birdie putts.

📺 NBC pic.twitter.com/d45Z443xx6

— PGA Tour (@PGATour) September 26, 2026

The longtime Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup partners got a measure of revenge during Saturday afternoon’s foursomes session, defeating the International team of Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim one day after losing to them. It was the first loss for the Kim-Kim pairing in this Presidents Cup, and both Schauffele and Cantlay showed considerably sharper form after a slow start this event.

Schauffele and Cantley each excelled around the green, repeatedly saving pars to maintain momentum as the Internationals mounted a late charge. Schauffele then delivered the decisive shot of the match, stuffing his approach on the par-4 17th to inside five feet to effectively seal the victory. These two friends have been a dynamic foursomes pairing in the past and they scored a crucial point for the Americans at a critical moment.

Fox and Lee lost the first two holes in their Saturday afternoon foursomes match against Americans Wyndham Clark and Sam Burns only to seize control in the most important moments to pull off a major upset that helped shift momentum. The International duo won four-straight holes starting at No. 13 to turn a tied match into a 3-and-2 victory.

The pairing had already shown promise during Friday’s foursomes session, and the two looked comfortable again feeding off one another Saturday. Lee has emerged as one of the International team’s most consistent ball strikers this week and improved to 2-1-1 at the 2026 Presidents Cup. Fox, meanwhile, pulled off a couple beautiful approach shots close to the cup to put away Clark and Burns as they faded badly down the stretch.

The U.S. finished Saturday’s two sessions with four of the top six golfers over three days of this event in terms of strokes gained. That it’s still trailing the International team by three points entering Sunday should inevitably lead to scrutiny on Snedeker’s decisions as team captain.

His move to sit Scottie Scheffler on Saturday afternoon backfired when Scheffler’s partner during the first three sessions of the event, Sam Burns, played his worst round of the event in a foursomes loss with Wyndham Clark. Pairing Jacob Bridgeman and Russell Henley together in both foursomes sessions also didn’t work out well as they lost both.

Snedeker seemed to acknowledge the criticism he’s invited upon himself, telling the NBC broadcast on Saturday that he was proud of the team’s ability to hang in there, “despite all my mistakes.” If the U.S. completes a comeback, nobody will remember those errors, but if it loses the Presidents Cup on home turf as a heavy favorite, Snedeker’s choices as captain will be a big part of the story.

It’s strange to have Scheffler among the losers on a day in which he won the only match he played, which featured a clutch birdie at No. 15 to help the U.S. get a crucial point in four-ball action Saturday morning. But he didn’t play particularly well otherwise, to the point that Snedeker chose to sit him for Saturday’s foursomes because he felt Scheffle was playing with “the weight of the world on his shoulders.”

Though the decision sparked criticism in the immediate aftermath, it was also the result of Scheffler not performing to his potential in a team golf format. The U.S. got away with sitting him in foursomes on Saturday, but the Americans will need to find a solution to Scheffler’s issues in the alternate shot format.

Snedeker stuck with this pairing even after struggling during Friday’s foursomes session and they made the U.S. team captain look good for awhile. Henley and Bridgeman had a 3-up lead after three holes on the Canadian pairing of Nick Taylor and Corey Conners as they teed off at No. 11. But that turned out to be more a reflection of how poorly Taylor and Conners began than anything, and the American duo wound up suffering a disheartening 1-up loss.

The Americans proceeded to lose four of the next five holes and let another potential point slip away in the last match to finish on Saturday. Henley, known for his consistency, was particularly shaky down the stretch with several errant shots that opened the door for the Internationals.

Henley and Bridgeman could each be susceptible in singles play on Sunday given how they’ve played through three days at Medinah.

Mark Giannotto is a National Trending Sports Reporter for USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Presidents Cup winners, losers from Day 3 as U.S. trails heading to Sunday