Meticulous at Medinah: How Presidents Cup will be won

It has been really wet in Chicago leading into the 16th Presidents Cup, leaving the Medinah No.3 layout still long, but a touch soft, and not even close to what Geoff Ogilvy intended.

The International team captain was key in the three-year redesign of the course, which now becomes the first to host a US Open, a US PGA Championship, a Ryder Cup, in 2012, and now a Presidents Cup.

It is also in different shape to when Ogilvy took his players around Medinah, which his US counterpart, Brandt Snedeker, called a “big ballpark” which could take some getting used to.

However, what Ogilvy saw in those early rounds was just how the best would take on a course he was briefed to make easier for members, but harder for the pros. He was left “amazed” then, as he was again during some early week practice this week.

“It got a little bit softer, I guess, over the weekend than when we were here, but it wasn't crazy-firm. It's been a very hot summer here in Chicago,” he said, as he mulled his playing pairings for Thursday’s opening day.  

“I'm just amazed at how good these guys play. Their long game is just incredible.

Medinah is softer than everyone hoped after recent rain. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

“It's interesting from the architecture standpoint. We always had guesses about how they were going to play the golf course. To see some things playing out exactly as we thought, and then other things, it's like, well, they can actually get it over that bunker, that's incredible.   

“I would love to see it play firm. We built it to play firm, and golf courses play their best when the ball rolls a little bit when it lands. It's a bit more interesting.

“Look, I think it's going to firm up. There's a fair bit of drainage out there.  

“The greens are very quick, and I think where you miss, it's going to still be very important. Some of the stuff we built out there is still going to have some interest, I think, when it's soft.”

At 6901m, the par-70 course would present a stern challenge, and Snedeker believed the team that adapted quickest to its demands, particularly those seeing it for the first time, would hold a clear advantage.

“It's obviously a big ballpark, right? We're talking a very long, difficult golf course,” he said.

“Obviously the hardest thing for us, I think for both teams, is getting used to it. This is a completely new ballpark for us. The green complexes are super-difficult. You have lots of slopes on them.

“This is a championship-style golf course. It's meant to play tough. It's meant to play long. I can't wait for our guys to step up and rise to the challenge this golf course is going to create.”

Snedeker said the big wet had denied the players, and Ogilvy, the chance to play it as intended - the firm layout which was behind it being picked as the Presidents Cup venue.  

“It would take a drastic dry-out to see this place get to the intention of the design,” he said.

“The intention of this design was to have a ball run in the fairways, into the greens, bouncing around and kind of letting these slopes do their thing.

Scottie Scheffler feeling the cold in Chacago. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

“This will be a great kind of opening session to see how this golf course is going to play going forward.”

The strategy of selection, picking the right pairings, can be course defined too, which Ogilvy called “course-fit”.  

Data and analytics play a part, but are hard because of the lack of available information about rounds on the new course.   

“We look at overall strokes gained, I guess, when we're picking teams,” he said.

“There's also some course-fit stuff, like what strengths are going to be good here at Medinah, strategy around the golf course, best way to play around the holes.

“It's a little different here. When we went to Quail Hollow [in 2022], we had historical data, and you could take a deeper dive on that sort of stuff, but we're making some guesses.

“It's like, yeah, how to play the golf course, pairings, how we pick the team. Analytics are a big part of golf everywhere now. So, if they're available, you've got to look into them.”

Snedeker is a data guy, but also conceded it was harder to apply to team golf; increasing the need to rely on a bit of instinct to get the best results.  

“I think the best way I can sum up stats is stats are great in 10,000-round models. We're playing an 18-hole match. Use them to help you make informed decisions, but you can't just be stuck to them. You have to see what your eyes see,” he said.

“A lot of these matches will be over in 12, 13, 14 holes for the most part. Stats necessarily aren't going to bear that out over three days of golf, four days of golf.

International team captain and course re-designer Geoff Ogilvy. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images)

“You can use them to help you make decisions, to help you kind of understand what strengths and weaknesses you have and those kinds of things, matchups potentially, but you have to trust your eyes, trust your gut.”

The pairings for the opening day four-ball will be revealed the day before the event begins, with neither captain giving much away.

“We have an idea,” Snedeker said of his pairings.

Ogilvy said even less, keen to focus on the big energy in his group, the good vibes, the enthusiasm, the want to win, which has been on clear display since they came together in Chicago.

“I think we're more together than we've ever been,” he said.   

“They just seem to be in really good spirits. They've been very excited to get here for quite a long time. I don't know, it's just a good-feeling group. I think the time is right.”