MEDINAH — United States captain Brandt Snedeker has been heavily criticised despite delivering a Presidents Cup victory at Medinah Country Club, where the USA beat the International Team 17-13 after a dominant Sunday singles surge. The Americans won 9.5 of the 12 available points on Sunday to secure the trophy, but the final margin has not shielded Snedeker from scrutiny over how the contest reached that point.
The home side lost Friday's foursomes session 5-0, digging a sizeable deficit that forced the late comeback. After the historic rally, Snedeker told reporters his players had proved they could play team golf, a claim golf journalist Dan Rapaport sharply disputed. Singles requires no teamwork, Rapaport argued, and four-ball — where the USA performed fairly well — remains largely an individual contest.
Rapaport explained: "Over the last four team competitions, where the US is 2-2, they have lost two Ryder Cups and won two Presidents Cups. In four-balls they are 20.5-13.5. In singles, they are 31.5-16.5. Amazing. In foursomes, they are 8-26. That is why I took such issue with the post-round interview from Brandt Snedeker. I don't agree with that at all [Snedeker saying the US proved they can play team golf]. I think this week proved exactly what we already thought." He added: "Four-ball is not really team golf. You are playing your own golf ball; you are trying to shoot as low a score as you can. Singles is not team golf. Nobody is doubting these guys care, or that they are incredible players. Foursomes is the one format that is actually team golf and is actually different. You have to worry about pairings; you have to worry about who is teeing off on what hole, who is playing what ball. Foursomes is where we lost the Ryder Cup and where we nearly lost the Presidents Cup. There is much more strategy that comes into foursomes than four-balls. Snedeker himself said that he did not get it right. That is just inexcusable. You have years and years to plan for this."
Only foursomes demands two players work closely together on alternate shots, with tee-order, ball choice and pairing chemistry decisive. Rapaport said Snedeker and his vice-captains had years to prepare and got those pairings wrong, a failure he called inexcusable given the long lead-in to the Presidents Cup.
The Americans' individual quality was never questioned. The USA holds far more depth than the International Team and arguably more talent than Europe ahead of next year's Ryder Cup. The concern, Rapaport noted, is process: Europe leaves no stone unturned to maximize every pairing, while the U.S. continues to struggle with decision-making in foursomes. That pattern nearly cost the trophy at Medinah and follows U.S. Wins 17-13 Presidents Cup But Warning Signs Remain that flagged the same foursomes vulnerability.