Winners, losers from Day 2 of Presidents Cup as U.S. is on upset alert

MEDINAH, IL — The United States entered the 2026 Presidents Cup as heavy favorites to once again win this global team competition, but the Americans are in serious trouble after a disastrous session at Medinah Country Club.

The International team swept the foursomes matches Friday just like it did two years ago and grabbed a 7-3 lead over the U.S. The Americans are facing a deficit heading into the weekend for the first time since 2019. It’s tied for the largest advantage the Internationals have had at the Presidents Cup. The last time the Internatioals led by this much is the only time the Americans haven’t won the event in 15 previous tries (1998).

While the U.S. entered the Presidents Cup with nine of the best golfers in the event based on the current world ranking, it’s the International team that now has 10 of the top 13 golfers on course through two rounds in terms of strokes gained.

Nick Taylor’s gutsy approach shot on the 18th hole to salvage par capped off a remarkable afternoon in which he and fellow Canadian Corey Conners out-dueled Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. After falling behind early, they grabbed the lead with consecutive birdies at No. 5 and No. 6 and then caught some breaks down the stretch to hold off the Americans. No other pairing on the course Friday had both players finish within the top-seven in strokes gained tee-to-green.

The Internationals have found their go-to pairing after Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim had another successful session together. They completely overwhelmed the more-heralded pairing of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay, turning what was one of the more memorable matches of the 2024 Presidents Cup into a rout that further cemented this as a landmark performance for the International team.

After out-playing Scottie Scheffler and nearly pushing the International team to an unexpected point on Day 1, Im was again one of the best golfers on course. He delivered Friday’s first point for the International team playing alongside Hideki Matsuyama, and they put together a convincing 3-and-2 win over Americans Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman. Im has been the best golfer for the Internationals through two days, and he’s been the best golfer in the entire event tee-to-green.

Fox and Lee each secured their first points at the Presidents Cup by authoring a comeback to win an exciting foursomes match against Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa. No golfer at Medinah on Friday gained more strokes compared to the rest of the field than Lee, and he was two strokes better tee-to-green. Fox, meanwhile, was the best putter by quite a bit on Friday. The duo could be capable of becoming a major problem for the Americans this weekend.

Burns’ final putt lipped out on No. 18 to close out the biggest upset of the Presidents Cup. It may be time for the Americans to abandon this team of good friends, although they will be together again for Saturday’s morning four-ball session. Their chemistry off the course hasn’t translated to these international competitions. They’ve now won just once in six tries as a pairing at the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and the Americans need a solution in order to maximize Scheffler. He was the second-best golfer on course for the U.S. on Friday, and a new partner should be in order for Day 3.

For 14 holes on Friday, Morikawa was leading all the golfers at Medinah in strokes gained, and his partnership with Wyndham Clark appeared ready to deliver the U.S. at least one point on an otherwise poor performance. But as Ryan Fox’s putter caught fire late for the Internationals, Morikawa’s went cold. He missed three straight putts on consecutive holes with chances to either tie or win the hole, and the team of Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee wound up with a 1-up victory to complete the International sweep.

The Americans turned back to a familiar pairing of Schauffele and Cantlay after the two good friends lost their respective four-ball matches Thursday playing with different partners. It didn’t work. The two match-play veterans suffered the most lopsided loss of Day 2 to Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim. Through two days, Schauffele and Cantlay rank near the bottom of the U.S. team in strokes gained despite entering the week as two of its most trusted team-competition players. If that continues into the weekend, the Americans will be vulnerable to an upset.

The pressure is suddenly on the U.S. team captain after Friday’s foursomes session went as badly as it could have gone. Several of Snedeker’s biggest decisions backfired, including sticking with the Scheffler-Burns partnership and pairing Presidents Cup rookie Jacob Bridgeman with Russell Henley. A U.S. victory is expected in this event. An American loss would be among the most surprising results in Presidents Cup history, making Saturday’s lineup decisions critical as the Internationals carry momentum into the weekend.

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

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Winners, losers from Day 2 of Presidents Cup as U.S. is on upset alert