Brandt Snedeker named 21-year-old PGA Tour rookie Jackson Koivun as his final captain’s pick for the U.S. Presidents Cup team in a television special on Tuesday.
Koivun, a former amateur and college star who turned pro in June, will get his first taste of professional team golf when the U.S. takes on the International team at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago Sept. 24-27.
“It means the world. This has been a tournament I’ve grown up watching, I love team play and I love playing for the United States of America,” Koivun said on the Golf Channel program. “I’m just happy he took a chance on me and I’m gonna give it my all.”
Koivun won the 3M Open in his third start as a professional, beating Scottie Scheffler by three shots.
Only one player younger than Koivun made a U.S. Presidents Cup team: Jordan Spieth at age 20 in 2013.
“I’m just so impressed by this young man,” Snedeker added. “I think he brings a lot to our team room, I think he brings a lot to us in terms of pairings and I know what this guy’s capable of, I know what he’s gonna bring to us and I’m excited for him to show it to the world.”
Koivun joined Chris Gotterup, Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay and Jacob Bridgeman as Snedeker’s six captain’s picks.
Six players qualified automatically based on a points system: Scheffler, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa.
With the Ryder Cup reserved for the U.S. vs. Europe, the Presidents Cup’s International squad is made up of players from Asia, Africa, Oceania, Canada and Central and South America.
International captain Geoff Ogilvy (Australia) also named his six captain’s picks Tuesday: Corey Conners (Canada), Nico Echavarria (Colombia), Nick Taylor (Canada), Sungjae Im (South Korea), Ryo Hisatsune (Japan) and Christiaan Bezuidenhout (South Africa).
They’ll join the six auto-qualifiers: Open champion Ryan Fox of New Zealand, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, Australians Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott and Koreans Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim.
Due to his later start on tour, Koivun was 48th in the U.S. qualifying standings. Snedeker passed over Ben Griffin (No. 8) and J.J. Spaun (No. 10) to select the rookie.
Like Koivun, Gotterup and Bridgeman are Presidents Cup rookies. Gotterup has risen to No. 7 in the world rankings with five wins in his young career, including three in 2026.
“I have been watching Chris closely all season and it’s an understatement to say he has worked incredibly hard for this opportunity,” Snedeker said in a statement. “His performance on the course speaks for itself in results but further than that, he is fearless. He embraces big stages and has showed he can contend against the best players in the world.”
Notably left off the International Presidents Cup team was Australian Jason Day, the former World No. 1 with five Cup appearances. Day was 11th in the International qualifying standings, ahead of Taylor (No. 13) and Bezuidenhout (No. 18).
The rookies on the International roster are Echavarria, Taylor, Hisatsune, and Fox, while Scott will make his record-tying 12th appearance in the event.
Taylor, a five-time PGA Tour winner, was passed over for the 2024 Presidents Cup in his native Canada despite a strong resume.
“Nick was gutted to miss out on the opportunity to be on the International Team in Canada last time, but he gets his chance this year after some steady, solid play over the last couple of seasons,” Ogilvy said in a statement. “He’s sneaky good and when he gets it going, he’s hard to beat.”
Snedeker said the U.S. team chose to start the event Thursday with four-ball (best-ball), followed by foursomes (alternate shot) on Friday. Four-ball will be played Saturday morning and foursomes on Saturday afternoon before the contest concludes with 12 singles matches Sunday.
The United States has won 10 Presidents Cups in a row and is 13-1-1 in the event all-time.
–Field Level Media
