Who is the top International player heading into Medinah? Is Jackson Koivun the Presidents Cup debutant with the highest expectations this week?
Those are the kind of questions oddsmakers are here to help answer before the 16th edition starts up on Thursday.
One thing that is abundantly clear: Team USA and FedExCup champion Scottie Scheffler are the favorites to win and to score the most points, respectively.
Let’s dive in to see just how big of favorites the Americans and their top player are with 48 hours to go before Thursday afternoon’s fourball matches.
2026 Presidents Cup odds (as of September 22, courtesy of DraftKings):
When it comes to odds to win the tournament, oddsmakers are offering two specific markets related to the outcome since a tie would result in the Americans retaining the cup. Given that possibility here are those three-way odds:
- Team USA (-420)
- International (+460)
- Tie (+1425)
It’s worth noting that the price for a tie (bet $10 to win $142.50) indicates the sportsbooks believe this possibility is the proverbial “longshot” outcome. Taking away the business of tying to retain the cup, there’s also the “Team to Lift the Trophy” market available to bettors, although it makes the Americans an even steeper favorite:
- Team USA (-600)
- International (+465)
Who will score most points at 2026 Presidents Cup 2026?
- Scottie Scheffler (+340)
- Xander Schauffele (+830)
- Patrick Cantlay (+1000)
- Sam Burns (+1150)
- Russell Henley (+1225)
- Cameron Young (+1325)
- Chris Gotterup (+1425)
- Si Woo Kim (+1475)
- Adam Scott (+1700)
- Wyndham Clark (+1750)
- Hideki Matsuyama (+1800)
- Jackson Koivun (+2050)
Three important things to discuss off the jump: A) Koivun is the exact mid-point for this prop with a dozen other names listed below him on DraftKings with higher odds; B) The two favorites behind Scheffler are a pair of captain’s picks in Schauffele and Cantlay; C) Kim is the slight International favorite over Adam Scott and Hideki Matsuyama, with the final eight names listed in the market coming from Geoff Ogilvy’s roster.
Perhaps the final point is bulletin material for the Internationals. It also could be an accurate forecast of how this event will shake out. We’ll lean closer to the projections but stay away from all top three favorites and go with the No. 4 name on the board in Sam Burns at +1150.
Really like Burns at this number as his resume is as good as anybody in the field not named Scheffler in 2026. With the fourth best putter on Tour and a top 20 driver in terms of distance, we see a scenario where Burns can lead the red, white and blue both off the tee and on the greens outside of Chicago.
Presidents Cup 2026: Odds for top-scoring captain’s pick
- Xander Schauffele (+345)
- Patrick Cantlay (+415)
- Chris Gotterup (+550)
- Jackson Koivun (+810)
- Justin Thomas (+910)
- Sungjae Im (+940)
- Jacob Bridgeman (+1050)
Cutting ourselves off at Bridgeman but noting that there are five more International captain’s picks going off at +1400 or higher (see: oddsmakers aren’t giving them much of a chance in this market).
This prop market is probably the easiest to handicap, and also the most obvious to see through the direction we’re taking here based on the above cutoff point: The play here is Jacob Bridgeman at the generous price of +1050.
Fresh off a win in Asheville, North Carolina, where he shot a 61 on Sunday, the 26-year-old Clemson product is the best putter on Tour and sits 10th overall in strokes gained: total. It’s sort of a farce that he’s even being listed below Koivun, Thomas and Im based on the current status of his game. Seems like name recognition is the only factor being considered and we’ll mop up around the collective ignorance.
Odds for best Presidents Cup debutant
- Chris Gotterup (+210)
- Jackson Koivun (+305)
- Jacob Bridgeman (+375)
- Ryo Hisatsune (+830)
- Ryan Fox (+870)
- Nick Taylor (+1000)
- Nico Echavarria (+1375)
We could double down on Bridgeman again here but this is an exercise in finding tickets with price tags that feel satisfactory, which +375 does not check off. Instead, we’ll go with Ryan Fox at +870 as the number just seems obscenely high given the fact the 2026 Open champ is coming off a T-6 at the BMW PGA Championship last week.
Gotterup has undoubtedly had the more complete season (events played, wins, etc.) and Koivun has matched the hype around his name with performance on the course. However, those are not good enough reasons to inflate the value of everyone in this field. We’ll take a flier on Fox who seems to have the right mental makeup for an international competition like this one — and the loud crowds he’ll be facing at Medinah.
Before signing off, we felt compelled to mention that it’s Gotterup — not Koivun — with the higher debutant expectations heading into the week according to the sportsbooks. We would have bet on that being inverted this time last week. Not saying it’s necessarily an incorrect price but just some serious respect for the three-time Tour winner in 2026.
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