The world’s top-ranked golfer will find himself in an unusual place Saturday afternoon at Medinah: Watching golf as a spectator and a fan.
Scottie Scheffler has been benched for the final foursomes session at the 2026 Presidents Cup after helping secure a point for the red, white and blue alongside close friend Sam Burns during fourballs earlier in the day.
“Our team is a great team, and I’m looking forward to going out and supporting the guys,” Scheffler said on the 18th green. “It’ll be fun this afternoon — to cheer them on, get a little rest.”
U.S. Brandt Snedeker elected to keep Burns out on the course, pairing him with two-time U.S. Open champ Wyndham Clark. Burns was runner-up to Clark at Shinnecock by a single stroke in June.
Burns and Clark will play all five sessions for Snedeker at this Presidents Cup along with Cameron Young, who teamed up with Chris Gotterup to earn the other full point for the U.S. Saturday morning.
Snedeker admitted that Young and Gotterup’s success “threw a couple of wrinkles” in his planning.
He admitted their momentum left him with the decision to leave Scheffler off his foursomes card — a move that still had his head spinning 30 minutes after making it.
“Scottie Scheffler has the weight of world on his shoulders carrying Team USA and it’s time for us to carry him for a session,” Snedeker said after the conclusion of fourball matches with his team trailing 8 1/2 to 5 1/2 points. “It was a tough call — that’s probably why my heads still spinning. But we’re doing our best to get these guys in a good situation.
“I love Scottie Scheffler to death,” he added. “It was really tough decision to sit him this afternoon but I do want him to get some rest and be at his best for singles tomorrow.”
Scheffler last sat at a Presidents Cup session during the afternoon fourballs in 2022 at Quail Hollow, playing all five sessions in Montreal two years ago.
He and Burns did their part during the third session at Medinah, helping avenge Friday’s foursomes sweep at the hands of a “relentless” International squad.
Burns and Scheffler won, 2 and 1, over Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune on Saturday but it was far from a smooth outing.
Matsuyama and Hisatsune took their first lead of the match behind Matsuyama’s birdie putt at the par-3 13th.
Scheffler answered Matsuyama’s birdie two holes later with a circle of his own and gave an empathetic celebration to crowds outside of Chicago.
“The hole felt small for a while, but it opened up there on 15, and it was an important one there because Ryo was on basically the same line as me,” Scheffler said. “So it was nice to be able to hole that one and put some pressure on them. And then Sam, pretty good iron shots there on the last couple holes.”
Burns did just that with birdies at 16 and 17.
“It just felt like it was the time to pick my guy up and actually contribute to this match,” Burns said about his circle at 16. “Fortunately, I was able to hit a really good shot and hole the putt.”
For his part, Scheffler said he was looking forward to watching Burns play calling him “one of my favorite people to watch.”
Other than that? It’s all about listening to the captain’s orders. And Snedeker was plenty clear in his directive to the world No. 1.
“I’ve played a lot of golf this year,” said Scheffler when talking about getting rest and ready for tomorrow’s singles matches.
“I think one of the great things about our team is you can pair guys with anybody,” he added. “It’s important to get guys out on the course and guys that are playing well, and looking forward to going out and supporting the guys this afternoon.”
Lineup leaders
Burns, Clark and Young are fulfilling their civic duty playing all five sessions. On the International side, captain Geoff Ogilvy is riding a quintet of players: Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim, Sungjae Im, Min Woo Lee and Corey Conners.
Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim are a perfect 3-0 at Medinah making that an easy call for Ogilvy.
Resting Saturday afternoon is Matsuyama, playing in his seventh Presidents Cup.
He’ll play in four sessions like Scheffler and a majority of players in the tournament.
Players only playing in three sessions include Americans Russell Henley, Jacob Bridgeman and Jackson Koivun. Ogilvy will also only have tapped Hisatsune three times by the conclusion of the 2026 Cup.
Further down his lineup card are two-session counts for Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Nico Echavarria
Ogilvy used Echavarria during Thursday’s opening fourball session and Bezuidenhout in Friday’s foursomes. They will play in Sunday’s singles.
No Americans were limited to two sessions.