Six players who could swing the Presidents Cup

The score is 0-0. 

Shield your eyes from past results — like, 28 years’ worth of them — and have some imagination.

The International Team can beat the U.S. at the Presidents Cup.

It’s only happened once before, in 1998. Five years later, the teams shared the Cup in South Africa, with darkness ending an epic sudden-death playoff between Tiger Woods and Ernie Els in a tie.

The U.S. hasn’t lost since. No matter, the sides keep going to battle every two years — and will do so once again beginning Thursday at Medinah Country Club near Chicago.

Nobody believes in the International Team this time around, again, on the road against a U.S. team that’s typically tough at the top, and having had its own roster looted by LIV Golf over the past five years for the likes of Cameron Smith and Joaquin Niemann.

Yet maybe, just maybe, this is the year.

International Team captain Geoff Ogilvy helped design the renovation of the Medinah No. 3 course just a few years ago, an unusual advantage in what will be an unfriendly environment. And, yes, the U.S. is strong in name brand, but not as deep as usual, while the International players are trending up.

It’s in that murkiness where surprises can await — and where the performance of a few key players can shift the whole thing entirely.

Here are six who could swing this year’s Presidents Cup:

Tom Kim, International

It’s been a wild ride since the last Presidents Cup for the young Korean, who saw his game crater from relevance before a mid-season return to form this year, highlighted by a Scottish Open victory.

When Kim’s game is on, he tends to bring energy and enthusiasm — the type of momentum player who could go out first on Thursday, win a point for the Internationals and set the tone down the board. Two years ago, he paired with Si Woo Kim in Montreal for a 4&3 fourball (best ball) rout of Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark before dropping a narrow 1-up decision to Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele in a foursomes (alternate shot) match that featured the moment of the tournament.

Si Woo’s game has only risen from where it was in 2024, now 14th in the world rankings and one off his career high, while Tom launched from 107th to start the year into 31st.

If the Kims (no relation) can find magic once again, the Internationals have a pairing they could put up against anyone.

Chris Gotterup, U.S.

Set to play his first team event for the U.S., Gotterup has been among the PGA Tour’s rising stars over the past two years, winning five times since May 2024. Much like Tom Kim, the 27-year-old exudes personality — if his shot-shaping and on-course swagger don’t hook you, maybe his low-budget Instagram edits will.

But match play is a different beast than stroke play, and we haven’t seen Gotterup compete in that environment. He seems well-suited to thrive, but the U.S. is counting on him more than most rookies. If he’s unreliable early, it’ll complicate the American puzzle that much more.

Nick Taylor, International

A Cup rookie at 38, it’s a wonder the Canadian has never played for the Internationals previously, one that can be chalked up mostly to bad timing. Taylor had a chip on his shoulder after missing Montreal two years ago, and hasn’t exactly lit up leaderboards ever since, but he showed enough flashes — including Sunday contention at the PGA Championship — to warrant a captain’s pick.

Of course, Taylor has proven himself a big-game hunter, and Ogilvy is betting on Taylor to come through on his match-play promise. His playoff wins at the RBC Canadian Open, Sony Open and WM Phoenix Open — the closest you can get to PGA Tour match play — were eye-opening, and his emotion could even charge up a normally subdued fellow Canadian Corey Conners.

Jackson Koivun, U.S.

Koivun made for one of the most exciting captain’s picks in years at either Cup event after joining the Tour out of Auburn as the top NCAA prospect and immediately delivering on his promise. The 21-year-old won the 3M Open in his fourth start in July and just placed fifth at the Biltmore Championship.

The San Jose native has missed only one cut in eight starts and looks the part of future superstar. Still, that’s not typically enough to earn one of the 12 coveted U.S. Presidents Cup spots — but perhaps captain Brandt Snedeker is looking a bit ahead, seeing Koivun as a leader down the line and getting him on the team now for some experience.

For Medinah, the question is whether this is too much, too soon for Koivun. He’s unlikely to play every session and will surely be protected in his pairings and matchups, but if he, say, goes 0-for-3 in a U.S. loss, the criticism will come hard — especially after the snubbed J.J. Spaun just won the European tour's flagship event in London.

Ryan Fox, International

Blink and you might miss Ryan Fox’s next shot. The notoriously fast-playing Kiwi broke through to win The Open Championship this summer at 39 — and with a remarkable birdie on the 72nd hole, no less.

Like Taylor, Fox is making his Presidents Cup debut, and whether his game rises or falters in a match-play setting is up in the air. Still, you’ve gotta think he’s built for this after capturing that first major.

In the Presidents Cup format, where matchups are picked in a snake draft, putting Fox up against, say, the molasses-like Patrick Cantlay could be an ace up Ogilvy’s sleeve.

Scottie Scheffler, U.S.

One of these players is not like the other. 

The first five have one major combined, and none before July. This player? He’s the No. 1 player in the world, without doubt, and owns four majors himself.

Yet Scheffler has curiously struggled in team events — not unlike Tiger Woods, might we add. Scheffler holds a career 6-11-4 record between the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, not exactly befitting his stature. Uncoincidentally, the U.S. has dropped each of the past two Ryder Cups — and, incidentally, the U.S. also just lost the Walker Cup and Solheim Cup, meaning it could be without all four major international golf titles if it loses against the Internationals this weekend in Chicago.

Of course, few are predicting that will happen. But if it does, here’s betting these six players had their say in the outcome.