Tranlate this title Paul McGinley questions whether Team USA prepared enough for Presidents Cup in spanish

Paul McGinley has questioned whether the United States did enough preparation before the Presidents Cup after a very difficult Friday at Medinah.

Brandt Snedeker’s team started the competition well and led 3-2 after Thursday’s fourballs, but everything changed one day later. The International Team won all five foursomes matches and moved into a 7-3 lead before Saturday.

McGinley, who captained Europe at the 2014 Ryder Cup, believes preparation for team golf has to be different from preparation for a normal PGA Tour event.

Speaking on Golf Channel, the Irishman explained that the course should be studied first before deciding which skills are most important for the week.

«The golf course that you play asks a different exam,» McGinley said.

He then pointed out that teams should look carefully at things such as par fives, par threes and how often players may need to hit driver.

For McGinley, a course like Medinah creates questions which players may not face during the FedEx Cup playoffs or at a Grand Slam tournament.

«So I think that is the backbone of it,» he added.

The former Ryder Cup captain also stressed that foursomes is a difficult format and needs a lot of work before the competition starts.

«Have they put enough prep into this? Not just in terms of statistics but have they played enough?» McGinley asked.

McGinley questions the American preparation

The United States has dominated the Presidents Cup for many years, but Friday was one of its most difficult sessions in the event.

Sungjae Im and Hideki Matsuyama opened the day by beating Russell Henley and Jacob Bridgeman 3&2.

Corey Conners and Nick Taylor then defeated Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns by one hole, before Adam Scott and Christiaan Bezuidenhout beat Justin Thomas and Cameron Young 3&2.

Ryan Fox and Min Woo Lee also won a close match against Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark.

Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim finished the sweep by beating Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele 4&3.

It was only the third time in Presidents Cup history that the International Team swept an entire session. The same team also swept Friday foursomes at Royal Montreal in 2024, although the Americans later recovered and won the competition.

International captain Geoff Ogilvy was delighted with what he saw but did not want his players to start thinking that the job was already finished.

«It’s hard to imagine,» Ogilvy said after the session.

Adam Scott also pointed out that a lot of golf was still left to play.

The Australian knows that better than most after being part of many Presidents Cup teams and seeing several different situations over the years.

The International Team has only won this event once, in 1998, while there was also a tie in 2003. The Americans have won every edition since then.

That history means Snedeker’s players still have a chance, but the four-point gap has made Saturday important.

Medinah gives Team USA another difficult test

Medinah is not a new place for big team golf.

The Chicago course hosted the 2012 Ryder Cup, where Europe produced one of the most famous comebacks in the event’s history.

The Americans led 10-6 before the Sunday singles, but Jose Maria Olazabal’s team recovered to win 14.5-13.5.

Course No. 3 has since been changed, and McGinley believes understanding those demands is one of the important parts of preparing a team.

The Presidents Cup format also gives captains many decisions to make. Thursday had five fourball matches, Friday had five foursomes, while Saturday includes four matches in each format.

Twelve singles matches will then decide the competition on Sunday.

Snedeker had already faced questions about his team before arriving at Medinah. One of the biggest talking points was his decision not to select J.J. Spaun as a captain’s pick.

Spaun responded by winning the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth one week before the Presidents Cup. He said the omission had given him extra motivation.

The U.S. captain instead selected players including Thomas, Schauffele, Cantlay, Gotterup, Bridgeman and Jackson Koivun.

Friday’s result has now brought another question around the American team, this time about how much work was done before the first shot was played.

McGinley stopped short of directly blaming Snedeker and admitted that he did not know exactly how much preparation the Americans had done.

Still, after a 5-0 foursomes defeat, he believes it is fair to ask whether the team had played enough before facing a format where small mistakes can quickly decide a match.

The Americans have plenty of Presidents Cup experience in their group, but they now need a response at Medinah. Saturday offers eight points before Sunday’s singles, giving Snedeker’s team a chance to reduce the 7-3 deficit.