MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker is blaming himself for the American deficit in the Presidents Cup.
The U.S. outscored the International team 4 1/2 to 3 1/2 on Saturday, but it trails by three points going into the final session of 12 singles matches. The Americans have won the last 10 editions of the Presidents Cup dating to a tie in 2003 in South Africa.
“I hold myself to a high standard,” Snedeker said. “I don’t think I’ve put these
guys in situations where I was trying to, I should say, or wanted to, to give them the comfort level they needed. I mean, there’s several different ways, whether it’s through matchups, whether it’s through whatever. There’s a thousand different ways I can think of right now. I’ve been honestly second-guessing myself a lot to be in this situation.”
Snedeker, 45, did not offer any specifics on where he felt he let his team down. But one of his most questionable decisions was resting world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler for Saturday afternoon's foursomes.
Scheffler and Sam Burns beat Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune, 2 and 1, in their fourballs match in the morning. Scheffler, 30, played in every session in the 2024 Presidents Cup and 2025 Ryder Cup.
“I had some ideas about Scottie puts the world on his shoulders, and he puts his whole team on his shoulders and takes a lot on,” Snedeker said. “I was really trying to get him some energy for tomorrow. I know tomorrow is going to be a big day.”
Scheffler is lined up against Nico Echavarria for Sunday's singles matches. Echavarria hasn't played since Thursday.
Scheffler found out he was being held out of foursomes during his TV interview after his fourballs victory with Burns.
“Scottie took it great,” Snedeker said. “I couldn’t get to him before, so the TV people told him before I could get to him. Scottie is a team guy. He wants whatever is best for this team. He’d run through a wall for all those guys in that room. He took it like a champ.”
Snedeker also waited until Saturday to put Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young together, while acknowledging it was a pairing that they “had circled early on in this process of kind of putting those two guys together in alternate shot.” Gotterup and Young won both their matches Saturday.
In Friday's alternate-shot session, Snedeker put Young with Justin Thomas in a 3-and-2 loss. Gotterup played fourballs with Patrick Cantlay on Thursday (a 3-and-2 loss) and sat out Friday.
“I feel like a team reflects their captain, and to this point, I haven’t held up my end of the bargain,” Snedeker said. “We’ve got to get our heads down tonight and come out and work hard tomorrow. I know what kind of person I am. I know how hard I’ve worked to be in this position. I know what kind of guys we have on that team. ... They’re going to go out there and give it everything they’ve got.”
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