THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 24, 2026

Scottie Scheffler

Sam Burns

Wyndham Clark

Medinah Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're joined by Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, and Sam Burns from the U.S. Team. We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Sam and Scottie, huge hug at the end there after you got done with some greenside interviews. Can you talk about the happiness of winning a match together?

SAM BURNS: Yeah, I think this is not our first time to play together. We certainly haven't had the results that we've hoped for. I feel like at times in the past we've played pretty well and just gotten beat. So it probably just was a little bit of a sigh of relief to finally get a point and just kind of let that out.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: My partner speaks for me as well (laughter).

SAM BURNS: It's a team statement. I'm the captain.

Q. Sam, can you talk about the shot on 14 right after you guys lose 13, you come back and stick it to tap-in birdie and kind of turn the match. Can you talk about that shot?

SAM BURNS: I think I had maybe 172, kind of held from the right, trying to land it kind of into the upslope and kill it a little bit and try to get it to chase back to the pin. Yeah, it was just one of those shots where you've got a good picture of what you're trying to do, and as soon as I hit it, it came off exactly how I wanted.

Fortunately, it went up there to a couple feet. It was kind of a key moment in our match just to kind of snatch back some of that momentum. The hole before, Scottie and Sungjae had hit some really good iron shots in there, and Sungjae holed the putt and Scottie just missed. It was kind of a good moment for the next hole for us to kind of get that back.

Q. Can you feel that? Do you feel the momentum turning in a match, both of you guys, when something like that happens and the crowd gets going?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: Yeah, on that hole, for instance, I was basically out of the hole after my second shot. Sam was essentially was playing two-on-one there. So for him to step up there and hit a really nice shot, I think you can definitely feel the momentum. He was put in a tough spot there, and he responded the way he knows how.

Yeah, when he hit that iron shot on 14, Teddy and I both like audibly gasped because it was like, when we heard the sound and watched the flight, I was like, yeah, that ball is going to go to a couple feet. It was really nice, really important at that point in the match.

Q. Wyndham, having been part of two teams and then missing last year, first, did you watch the Ryder Cup? Did you find yourself missing it? And did any of your success this year have to do with wanting to get back involved in this?

WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah, I was obviously pissed I didn't make the team. I didn't watch the first couple days because I was a little sour about it, not because I didn't get the pick, it was just more that I had such a bad year.

Then as the guys were making a comeback on Sunday, I watched. Of course I'm friends with all these guys, and I was rooting for them hard. Yeah, it's always a motivation to make the teams. I was really happy I made this team, and I'm hoping this is one of many.

Q. Was this any sort of a confirmation of how much you might have missed it, being back involved?

WYNDHAM CLARK: Yeah. It's so much fun being inside the team room and being up here with these guys, the best American players. It's so much fun. Honestly, it's more of like a reward for us at the end of the year that we get to all come together and play these fun team events and root for each other, rather than trying to beat each other. It's a lot of fun.

Q. Wyndham, kind of a similar question to what we just asked Sam. When you get off to the start that you got off to today, I'm sure there was momentum, you kind of felt it, but do you almost have to calm yourself down in that situation because you have so much golf left to play?

WYNDHAM CLARK: Sometimes it is tough in match play getting up three. We had a couple chances to get up four. You can kind of get into a little bit of a lull. We didn't. Maybe I did for a couple of holes. We just didn't make putts kind of in the middle part of the round.

Yeah, the momentum was on our side early. I do want -- and these guys are going to laugh, but it was kind of dead out there. I felt like the momentum could have been better, to be honest, because we weren't really feeling the fans, I think, as much as normal.

There was a few shots -- I mean, Collin hit a 5-wood on, what was it, 11 to like 10 feet, and we didn't even know if it was on the green because no one clapped. It was a little surprising. We'd make some big putts -- I'm saying this more as a challenge that hopefully tomorrow and the weekend the fans are out there really rooting us on, and regardless of what happens, we have the momentum.

Q. Sam and Wyndham, you made great strides this season with your approach play. I'm curious when you come into these team events, do you feel like you have more tools at your disposal than maybe you did in prior years?

SAM BURNS: I think fortunately I've gotten to play a lot of golf with this guy to my left, and watching kind of how he prepares and the shots that he hits on the golf course, I feel like I've learned a lot without even asking questions. Fortunately, he's very good about sharing things, but also just watching him prepare and how he kind of attacks golf courses, I think that's helped me a ton.

Also, a lot of work with my coach at home. I think at times I've gotten too nitpicky on my golf swing and want it to look a certain way and really just try to dumb it down and figure out what works for me and then just kind of stick with that.

WYNDHAM CLARK: I've honestly got to give a lot of credit to my swing coach Pat. He really brought me from a terrible spot last year in my golf swing to a pretty stable spot where I think each week I can be consistent both off the tee, but especially into the greens. And if it is off, I'm able to fix it quickly.

So I give a lot of thanks and shout-out to him.

Q. Scottie, could you walk us through how you approached the bunker shot on the 18th hole and walking through the match going to the final hole and balancing the moment?

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: I was probably a bit frustrated to be in there, being in the fairway there on 18. I got a little ahead of my 7-iron there, maybe was getting a little greedy with my line. But that side of the green for me felt like it could have been a miss. It was a pin we could be aggressive with.

Yeah, just tried to reset and hit a good bunker shot. Sungjae had kind of a longer putt for birdie, and it was unlikely that he was going to make it, but you never know. I felt like, if I could make a nice bunker shot in there, it would really put a lot of pressure on him in order to have to make his putt in order to tie the match. I was able to hit a nice bunker shot in there to tap-in range, so yeah.

Q. Scottie, can I ask you about the 12th, the drivable 4 over water. Just kind of the strategy of that hole, particularly with where the pin was today. It looked like a hard shot from where you were.

SAM BURNS: When your partner hits it 30 yards right of the green, it's a difficult shot. Yeah, you're right.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: It was a hard wind on that hole, in off the right to that pin. It was one where, as a righty, it's like, with that wind, if I pull it a little bit, typically it goes further. If you miss it a little right, it typically goes shorter. I felt like I needed to get a touch extra out of that drive, and I just busted it just barely left of my line and got into a bad spot in the bunker.

If it was in the flat, it would have been a good miss. But it so happened it had the perfect amount of momentum to where it was on the very bottom of a slope like that. A little shorter, a little further, it would kind of come back down. I was able to hit a decent bunker shot from there to give myself a look. We kind of snuck out of that hole with a half. At that point in the day, the winds were blowing pretty hard on that hole.

I just felt like where it was it was challenging. Especially we talked about laying up off the tee as well. It was a pretty hard wedge shot to that pin. We had 85, 90 yards into the wind. It was a pretty challenging shot. The hole was right on top of that false front. There's a lot of slope there.

Yeah, good little drivable hole. There's a lot to think about, and the strategy will change definitely depending on where they decide to put the pins.

Q. The pin location on 2, how close that is, is that just one where you're looking right edge of the green? When it's four-ball, are you more aggressive? Any pull, you could kick that into the OB.

SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER: You have to take it on; that's really all it is. You can take a slightly more conservative target, but at the end of the day, you have to hit a really good shot. Hitting it over there right of the green is maybe not the best strategy. I think today we had 8-iron in or something like that. Like you said, it is really close, but at the end of the day, you've got to hit the shot. You can't just play it safe all the time.

Q. Sam, I just want to know what club you hit on 14. Sorry to dumb this down but --

SAM BURNS: 8-iron.

Q. Did either of you think Sungjae made it?

SAM BURNS: I couldn't really see. I was kind of long of the green, so I didn't really have a great angle. I don't even know what side of the hole he missed on. So I'm not really sure.