10 Big Names Missing The 2026 Presidents Cup
We look through the star power that won't be on show at Medinah this week
While it is a major goal for many players to earn the right to feature in the biennial Presidents Cup, there isn’t space for everybody, meaning some are left on the outside looking in.
This year’s edition is no exception. It promises to be a feast of golf as 24 of the best golfers in the world battle it out at Medinah, a venue which in 2012 hosted one of the most famous Ryder Cups in history.
Brandt Snedeker’s US side will be hoping to banish the demons of that weekend as Team Europe pulled off a Sunday comeback for the ages on foreign soil.
His counterpart, International captain Geoff Ogilvy, is tasked with trying to steer his team to a first win in the event since 1998 and just the second since the inaugural edition in 1994.
But before all that, the captains had to complete their 12-man line-ups. Six players qualified automatically for both teams, leaving Snedeker and Ogilvy six picks apiece.
That left tough decisions and even tougher phone calls to be made.
And now that the teams are set, here are some of the big names who won’t be in action.
United States
JJ Spaun
Starting with the hosts, the omission of JJ Spaun came as a surprise. The 2025 US Open champion certainly seemed to be expecting good news when Snedeker phoned him.
Asked after his BMW PGA Championship win at Wentworth if his prior conversations with the US captain gave him confidence he’d receive a pick, Spaun said: “It led me to believe that I would make the team, yeah.”
Spaun was one of just three Americans to enjoy a winning record at last year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, going 2-1-0 in a devastating home loss, so his matchplay prowess could be a big miss this week.
With LIV players still unable to receive picks, Bryson DeChambeau was always destined to miss out. Whether he would have got one or not is a bit of an unknown, though.
There is no doubting his ability, but it wasn’t a great year for DeChambeau on the course. He finished second to Jon Rahm in the curtailed season-long race for top individual honors on LIV Golf, but he struggled to make much of an impact outside of that.
He missed the cut at the Masters, the PGA Championship and the US Open, before rounding out his Major campaign with a dramatic T14 finish at The Open.
Once nicknamed “Captain America” after his stunning displays at the 2014 and 2016 Ryder Cups in particular, amazingly, Patrick Reed has not represented the US since the 2019 Presidents Cup.
He ditched LIV at the start of 2026 and has shown some great form this year on the DP World Tour. He won in Dubai and Qatar in the early part of the season and finished in a tie for second at the Irish Open.
Reed was, however, forced to withdraw during the second round of the BMW PGA Championship through injury. He won’t be at Medinah this week, but he will surely find himself on another US team soon.
It would have been a major shock had Jordan Spieth been announced as one of Snedeker’s picks. At his best, he is a formidable competitor, but he has not been the Spieth of old in a long time.
There were some signs of life in 2026 but they were few and far between and when all was said and done, Spieth finished the season without a single top-10 finish to his name.
Koepka became eligible for the USA's Presidents Cup team when he rejoined the PGA Tour at the start of the year, but he has not managed to play well enough to qualify or be seriously considered for a pick.
The five-time Major winner and former World No.1 has not played on a US team since the 2023 Ryder Cup. He'll be hoping to return to form to make the team for Adare Manor next year.
International
The visitors are also going to be without some big names in Medinah. Former Open champion Cameron Smith was once ranked as high as second in the world, but he is now well outside the top 100 after struggling with his game over the last few seasons.
A change of coach in 2026 brought an upturn in form, though, so he could be on his way back to the top. As a LIV player, Ogilvy could not pick him and whether he even would have if he could is anyone’s guess.
One player who almost definitely would have merited a pick is Joaquin Niemann. It wasn’t his best year on LIV, but he still finished third in the individual standings behind Rahm and DeChambeau.
With the future of LIV Golf still up in the air, the Chilean could return to the Presidents Cup in the future.
Lucas Herbert
Like Niemann above, Lucas Herbert would likely have been picked by Ogilvy to represent the International team if not for his ties to LIV.
The Australian won two LIV events in 2026 and threatened to claim a first Major at The Open before finishing in a tie for sixth.
Marc Leishman
Another Aussie to miss out on the Presidents Cup is veteran campaigner Marc Leishman. He played in four straight Presidents Cups from 2013 to 2019 but has not featured since.
As a member of LIV he was ineligible and it is highly unlikely his results would have merited a pick.
Jason Day
Jason Day has been on five International teams but will play no part this time around. Amid some injury struggles this year, Day has not enjoyed the best run of results and brought the curtain down on his PGA Tour season with three missed cuts in his final five events.
Hopefully he returns refreshed in 2027 and ready to play some of his best golf again.
Other Notable Absentees
United States
- Ryan Gerard
- Ben Griffin
- Akshay Bhatia
- Gary Woodland
- Harris English
- Rickie Fowler
- Keegan Bradley
- Brian Harman
- Max Homa
- Dustin Johnson
International
- Louis Oosthuizen
- Charl Schwartzel
- Abraham Ancer
- Elvis Smylie
- Branden Grace
- Dean Burmester
- Byeong Hun An
- Carlos Ortiz
- Aldrich Potgieter
