The 2026 Presidents Cup gets underway with four-ball matches on Thursday at Medinah No. 3 just outside Chicago, and the course will present some unique challenges to the field. None of the players on either team has played Medinah in competition since it reopened in 2024 following a renovation that dramatically changed how the course looks and plays.
Once a heavily tree-lined course, Medinah No. 3 has shifted to a more open concept with wider fairways, more bunkering, fescue rough and even the reintroduction of an out-of-bounds fence guarding the 6th, 7th and 8th holes. The green complexes were redesigned and feature more dramatic contouring, providing what they hope to be a championship-caliber test again after PGA Tour stars laid siege to it at the 2019 BMW Championship — Justin Thomas won with a score of 25 under.
The renovation was done by OCM Golf, an Australian course architecture firm with International captain Geoff Ogilvy serving as one of the partners and designers. Ogilvy won the 2006 U.S. Open at Medinah and hopes his intimate knowledge of the course, having had his hands in the redesign and renovation, can give the International squad a bit of a leg up.
That’ll be important for a squad that is a huge underdog and has lost 10 straight Presidents Cup competitions, but for all the institutional knowledge Ogilvy has about the course, it seems to be a better fit for Brandt Snedeker’s United States squad, which boasts the bigger hitters.
Medinah is, in Snedeker’s words, “a big ballpark.” It’s set to play at 7,548 yards this week as a par 70, with seven par 4s set to play at over 475 yards. That will present a challenge for some of the shorter hitters in the field, but it will create opportunities for those who can send it.
So, who should thrive on the new-look Medinah No. 3 this week? These five players fit the bill.