Running with Rick: Which Presidents Cup players are set to make their mark at Medinah?

There’s nothing like a team event, and we are going to enjoy one this week for the Presidents Cup, being held at Medinah Country Club, Course No. 3, in Chicago. This has been a one-sided contest through the years, with the United States Team owning a 13-1-1 record over the International Team. While the overall winner market has been dominated, there are countless other ways to experience and wager on the Presidents Cup. There are literally dozens of matches and props that will be available throughout the week.

Let’s set the stage with the format — 30 total matches played across four days. Thursday’s opening round will feature five Four-ball matches, with Friday switching to five Foursomes (alternate shot) matches. Saturday will be the longest day of play, with four matches in each of the two disciplines. The event will conclude Sunday with 12 singles matches.

The goal, for our purposes, will be to identify the players who are likely to play as many matches as possible and then further handicap those potential matchups without knowing them in advance — easy, right? These will truly be some educated guesses and an attempt to predict the future!

I want to start with Sam Burns, who is quite possibly my favorite player in the competition this week. In his two previous Presidents Cup appearances, he played in nine out of a possible 10 matches. He’s a staple on this squad with a variety of natural partnerships. In the past, he’s played with Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay and Billy Horschel. Three of those men are back on the squad this year, giving Burns some familiar faces to play alongside.

Not only is Burns in the midst of the best year of his career, but he’s one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, making him even more valuable in a match-play setting. He’s going to be able to apply pressure to his opponents while freeing up his playing partner. His experience, demeanor and skill set are perfect for this competition. I would be comfortable deploying Burns in a variety of markets, but my favorite is the Top Scorer market, where he is +1150 to be the top point scorer across both teams.

The International Team is a bit of a question mark. It possesses plenty of talent at the top, but the second half of the squad could shake out in a variety of directions. It would not be unusual for one of those “bottom-six” players to catch fire and become the team’s top point scorer. If that’s the case, the biggest beneficiary may be Ryo Hisatsune.

He’s already a fearless and accomplished tee-to-green player who could benefit from the freedom of having a partner playing alongside him or doing the putting for him. There are a variety of natural partners for Hisatsune, including Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim. There is a decent chance that Hisatsune benefits from one of the team leaders and best Internationals taking him under their wing for tutelage this week. Hisatsune is currently +1600 to finish as the Top International Point Scorer this week.

There are a few Americans who could make the case for Top Rookie, Top Captain’s Pick or both. I think Jacob Bridgeman is worth making the case for as a dark horse in these categories. From a skill perspective, Bridgeman had a fantastic year and is still in good form. He finished ninth at the BMW Championship, T4 at the Tour Championship and won last week in Asheville.

He battles Burns for the title of best putter in the world, which is so important in this format. He will have teammates clamoring to play alongside him, knowing that he can make just about anything he looks at on the greens. That translated to a 24% birdie-or-better rate in 2026, the 10th highest on Tour. He’s currently +950 to be the Top Captain’s Pick and +450 to be Top Rookie — I wouldn’t blame you for any variety of clicks with Bridgeman’s name attached.

While it’s certainly not the most exciting wager in the world, I will make it official with a pick to win. That is, of course, going to be Team USA (-420). I’m a fan of the International Team and what it has built over the past few editions, but it is still light-years behind the Americans in talent and experience. On a per-player basis, the American team has averaged gaining +1.12 strokes per round this season compared with +0.57 for the Internationals.

That skill advantage adds up over the course of four days and 30 matches, especially on home soil at an iconic venue. The International Team has its work cut out for it, and the Americans are the heavy favorites for good reason.

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