Brandt Snedeker has had a wonderful 2026.

He won his first tournament in nearly eight years at the Myrtle Beach Classic in May after multiple years of very poor play, and now he’ll get to lead the U.S. team in the Presidents Cup at Medinah later this month.

The U.S. team has won 10 consecutive Presidents Cups, 13 of 15 overall, and has lost outright to the International team just once—nearly three decades ago in Melbourne. 

The International Team doesn’t exactly look like a juggernaut this year, either. A couple of the team’s top prospects are ineligible because they play in LIV Golf, while experienced players like Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott, Corey Conners and Sungjae Im certainly aren’t in top form. 

That bodes well for Snedeker and a successful captaincy as he potentially throws his name in the hat for future Ryder Cups. 

But that doesn’t mean his choices will be without criticism. Snedeker had some tough decisions to make for captain’s picks on Tuesday, as the U.S. team features some great top-end talent and several question marks on the back end of the roster.

Snedeker makes one great call but a couple questionable ones

Snedeker’s picks will likely be remembered mostly for a positive reason.

He selected Jackson Koivun. Though Koivun was well down the points list because he just turned professional this year, it was the right call to include him on the team. The winner of the 3M Open, Koivun is one of the most promising young stars we’ve seen in quite some time. And with the U.S. a strong favorite for the Presidents Cup, this is the perfect time to give him experience in the hopes that he’s a fixture on the team for many cups to come. 

Koivun is also just really good. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s contending in huge tournaments by next year, and his play style fits well for match play. He doesn’t find much trouble and can be a deadly putter when he’s going nicely. This was the pick that everyone was hoping for by Snedeker, and he luckily didn’t overthink it. 

Xander Schauffele, Chris Gotterup and Justin Thomas were fairly obvious picks. 

Schauffele hasn’t had his best since fighting an injury early in 2025, but he still finished 9^th in the standings and was always going to be on the team given his team golf record.

Gotterup was the first man out of the auto qualifiers, and his three wins this year all but ensured he would be on the team. He’s another bright young star and figures to be on Ryder Cup teams moving forward. 

Thomas wasn’t quite as obvious, but he still finished respectably in the standings and is arguably the leader of U.S. teams at this point. He lives for playing in Presidents and Ryder Cups, and his play the last two years has been solid enough. It helped that he had a top-10 finish at the PGA Championship and The Players Championship, which made this less difficult. 

Things got tougher after that. Snedeker’s last two picks were Jacob Bridgeman and Patrick Cantlay. 

Cantlay is another veteran most expected to be on the team. But he had an extremely underwhelming year and already has some controversy around his attitude toward international events. 

This was likely a pick based on recent form. Cantlay finished runner-up at the BMW and played his best golf of the year late in the season. 

But you could also argue that Ryan Gerard brought even better recent form. He was 3rd at the Tour Championship, 16^th at the BMW, and 9^th at The Open. Gerard is ranked higher in the world and could use some experience as a young player with a bright future that may include some Ryder Cups. 

Bridgeman surprised me most. He finished 12th in the standings, but most of that came from a shocking early-season run in which he won at Riviera and led the FedExCup standings going into the Masters. He quieted down for most of the year. That was until he logged a 9^th at the BMW and T4 at the Tour Championship. Perhaps that run to end the season was what gave him the call.

Snedeker should have embraced even more fresh talent

I would have preferred to see Gerard and Akshay Bhatia on the team over Cantlay and Bridgeman. While Bridgeman is technically fresh talent, it feels like his run was more of a hot stretch with the putter and less of him being a mainstay on these teams for years.

Cantlay had a very mediocre year, and it’s unlikely he’ll be a difference-maker on the team either way. 

Gerard has the type of form that is worthy of being selected on international event teams, and he’s shown us repeatedly this year that he has the talent to contend on some big leaderboards. He would have been a great pick. 

Bhatia has been volatile this year, but he has the signature event win like Bridgeman this year. And at just 24 years old, he would have gotten valuable experience.

Since he already picked Koivun, it’s a bit surprising he didn’t commit to younger talent and take a couple of players heading into their prime who could help the team for years to come. 

I don’t think any of Snedeker’s picks were overly poor, and the Koivun selection will be the lasting memory of this Cup either way. 

Top Photo Caption: Brant Snedeker is ready to make his debut as a Presidents Cup captain. (GETTY IMAGES/Caleb Bowlin)