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MEDINAH, Ill. — Who’s feeling the most pressure this week?
It could be Scottie Scheffler, whose career match-play record is a disappointing 6-11-4 and in stark contrast to his consistent dominance in stroke play over the past half decade.
It might be Jackson Koivun, 21 years old and fresh out of college, billed as the next American star who wants to make a strong debut on the world stage.
It probably should be Brandt Snedeker, the U.S. captain who is trying to avoid becoming the first American skipper to lose since 1998 while boasting a stacked team that — by any available metric — is a prohibitive, colossal favorite.
But the real answer here is International captain Geoff Ogilvy, for he’s in charge of a group that’s competing for more than the necessary 15 ½ points to win or professional pride.
The fate of the Presidents Cup could depend on his team’s performance.
If that sounds dramatic, consider the shifting landscape of the PGA Tour.
Since Brian Rolapp took over as CEO 15 months ago, the Tour has already been reshaped in ways that seemed unimaginable just a decade ago. With an eye on the expiring media rights deal, Rolapp has helped reorganize the Tour schedule by trimming some of the fat and strengthening the biggest events. He has simplified the convoluted points system and reimagined the season-ending Tour Championship with a two-week, match-play-style bracket.
Everything at the Tour has come under scrutiny. No aspect is sacred.
“I come in with a pretty clean piece of paper,” he said last year.
So do you really think that the man who prioritizes the competition over everything else — “Get the product right,” he said, “and fans will reward you” — will look at the Presidents Cup and be satisfied?
Sure, commercially, the Presidents Cup has been a resounding success, with estimates of the Tour clearing about $25 million. But competitively, it’s another story:
An American winning streak that has stretched to 10 in a row.
An edition in 2017 that nearly ended a day early; another in 2024 that was close for two days but a landslide in the end.
A mismatch across the board, from average world ranking (15.1-50.1) to Tour wins (91-49) to majors (12-3).
It’s little wonder that the casual sports fan, now nearly a month into football season, has viewed the Presidents Cup with a collective shrug.
The NFL, under Rolapp’s watch, made tweaks both large and small every year, all to improve the product. It seems unfathomable that the first Presidents Cup under Rolapp’s purview will soon go untouched.
The only question is whether the changes will be subtle or significant. Just like the NFL’s Pro Bowl — which has been eliminated this year after a 75-year run — it’s possible that the Tour will decide that the Presidents Cup has also run its course. A clean piece of paper provides plenty of space for new ideas.
That’s what makes the Internationals’ task this week even weightier. If they can give the Americans a serious scare — something they haven’t done since 2019 — then the cup would become a harder sell to kill off, especially with the prospect of a few LIV defectors (Joaquin Niemann, Lucas Herbert, Cam Smith, Carlos Ortiz) potentially back in the fold by 2028.
And yet even that might not be enough progress.
They can’t excuse away the lopsided results. They can’t point to silver linings and small victories. They can’t offer the promise of better tomorrows.
This is a new era for the Tour, where competition is king — and it won’t sit well with the new leader that his premier team event has been anything but competitive.
