Presidents Cup 2026: Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns to partner for first Thursday fourballs match for Team USA

24.09.2026, 02:26 skysports.com

Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns will take on Min Woo Lee and Sungjae Im in the first match of Thursday's fourballs at the Presidents Cup, as captains Brandt Snedeker and Geoff Ogilvy revealed their pairings for the opening session.

Snedeker's Team USA are looking to extend their winning streak to 11 consecutive victories over the International team at Medinah Country Club this week, with International Team skipper Ogilvy admitting he was "optimistic" of his team's chances on Wednesday.

Cameron Young and Xander Schauffele were picked to go out in match two and will take on Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune.

Snedeker has chosen to pair experienced Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup player Justin Thomas alongside 21-year-old rookie Jackson Koivun for match three.

They'll take on Canadian Corey Conners and Nico Echavarria of Colombia.

A blockbuster group will go out in the fourth group of the day, with two-time major champions Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa taking on the reigning Open champion Ryan Fox and 2013 Masters winner Adam Scott.

Chris Gotterup will pair with Patrick Cantlay in the final game of the fourballs session against Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim.

Match one will get under way at 5.35pm (UK and Ireland time) with the International team set to take the honours off the tee.

Match 1 (1735): Scheffler/Burns vs Lee/Im

Match 2 (1753): Young/Schauffele vs Matsuyama/Hisatsune

Match 3 (1811): Thomas/Koivun vs Conners/Echavarria

Match 4 (1829): Clark/Morikawa vs Fox/Scott

Match 5 (1847): Gotterup/Cantlay vs T. Kim/S.W. Kim

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Despite being good friends, Scheffler and Burns have struggled together in past team events, with the duo having fallen to an underwhelming record of 0-3-1 in four matches at the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup.

"Do I think we have unfinished business? I don't know if I would call it that," Burns said.

"It's been frustrating the times we have played together, and we feel like we've played really well and ultimately not won," Burns said. "It's been more frustrating than anything.

"Yeah, this week we're going to go out and compete as hard as we can and try to get as many points for the US team as possible."

Team USA captain Snedeker also surprised fans by choosing to separate friends Cantlay and Schauffele, who have regularly paired together in team events over the years. Jim Furyk similarly opted to part the duo for the opening fourballs of the 2024 Presidents Cup.

Snedeker, meanwhile, delved into his decision to pair up Koivun and Thomas, explaining it was an easy pick given how well the two pair together.

"Jackson being a young kid, I feel like he's really kind of found his way on our team really quickly," Snedeker said on Wednesday. "I feel like he's handled the adjustment really well. Justin is just a natural pairing for him.

"He's somebody he's comfortable with. He'll do a great job putting his arm around him and show him how USA golf is meant to be played."

Koivun explained earlier on Wednesday that Thomas had been a mentor for him over the past few years.

"He and Russell Henley have been really good to me over the past couple years," Koivun said. "Just really being able to spend some time in a team environment with them has been awesome.

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Fox is hoping the International Team can channel the energy of Team Europe at the 2025 Ryder Cup and are motivated to win for Scott, who is playing in his 12th Presidents Cup.

"For us, we've always been the underdogs in this," Fox said.

"But I feel like on paper the European Ryder Cup team is always the underdogs a little bit, and that hasn't seemed to affect their results at all over the last few years.

"We're trying to channel a little bit of that and come together.

"We do have a chance to do something incredible when we've got a couple of guys on the team who have played a lot of these that we really want to get a win for. That's our motivation. I mean, Adam [Scott] especially over there.

"We're trying to flip the pressure on the US. I feel like they're expected to win, and if we can get on top early and create some pressure, there will be more pressure come on them from other places and hopefully we can take advantage of that."

Who will win the Presidents Cup? Watch the United States take on the International Team exclusively live on Sky Sports, with all four days live from Thursday on Sky Sports Golf. Get Sky Sports or stream golf and more with no contract.

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