Brandt Snedeker admitted to making “mistakes” as Team USA fell behind at the Presidents Cup at Medinah. With the Internationals taking a three-point lead into Sunday, there was no denying Snedeker’s claim that he had erred several times, including benching Scottie Scheffler in foursomes and a questionable pairing. The Americans’ leader had put them in a tough spot.
But when the dust settled on Sunday night after the Americans stormed back to win the Presidents Cup with a singles barrage, one thing was clear: Snedeker’s biggest decision likely won the Americans the Presidents Cup. It was a choice he made a month ago, but the payoff came at a critical juncture in Team USA’s historic comeback.
With the Americans having tied the Internationals as the late-afternoon sun dried out Medinah, a match that Snedeker said he viewed as most critical to their comeback chances reached the 18th hole. There was 21-year-old Presidents Cup rookie Jackson Koivun holding a 1-up lead over the Internationals’ best player, Si Woo Kim. Snedeker front-loaded his singles lineup with his veteran horses — Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler — but saved Koivun, who turned pro in June, to serve as the foil to the Internationals’ star. Snedeker knew that if the Americans were going to come back, beating the Internationals’ top players was key.
“I put him in a big spot today, a really big spot,” Snedeker said of putting Koivun against Si Woo Kim after the Americans won. “That was a massive match. If we were going to have any chance today, he had to win that match. The guys were cheering in the room last night when we made that decision to put him in that spot. The whole team went crazy because they knew they wanted the kid to go up against Si Woo.”
Kim jumped on Koivun early and led 2-up through 10. But Koivun never flinched and then he flipped the switch. He won 11, 12, 13 and 15 to grab a 2-up lead with three to play. Kim won the 16th, and they halved the 17th to head to the 18th with the Internationals desperately needing Kim to win the hole and secure a half. Facing a massive tee shot, Koivun calmly stepped onto the tee box and striped his shot down the middle of the fairway.
Then Koivun delivered the first defining shot of his pro match-play career. In the middle of the fairway, Koivun pulled 8-iron, delivered a pure strike and twirled his club as the ball sailed toward the green.
“Right at it, by the way. Right at it,” Snedeker said of Koivun’s approach into 18. “The shot of the day.”
The ball landed eight feet away, and minutes later Koivun had won the match 2&1 after Kim’s birdie putt missed, giving the U.S. a full point that got them to 14.5 and plunging a dagger into the Internationals’ heart.
“I cannot get over what Jackson Koivun did today,” Snedeker said after the U.S. secured the win. “I put him in a really tough spot out there. We thought he could handle it. Sure enough, he did. He went out there and looked like the stud we know he’s going to be.”
Of course, it wasn’t a given that Koivun would be in the spot he found himself in Sunday at the Presidents Cup — the spot his talent and potential say he belongs in.
A month ago, before Snedeker made his six captain’s picks to round out the team, Koivun was the biggest talking point. After a historic amateur career, he turned pro and won in his third professional start at the 3M. He made the FedEx Cup Playoffs but bowed out after the first event. Would Snedeker take a 21-year-old with minimal pro experience over a number of veterans who had either had good seasons, had previous team experience or both? Should he, in order to get Koivun experience ahead of next year’s Ryder Cup? It was a decision that previous U.S. captains would not have made. But it’s one that European captain Luke Donald made when he selected Ludvig Aberg for the 2023 Ryder Cup just months after he turned pro. When the time came to make his selections, Snedeker went chalk to start with Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay and Chris Gotterup. Then he chose Jacob Bridgeman, the PGA Tour’s best putter. And then Snedeker rounded out his team with Koivun.
“I’m so impressed by this young man,” Snedeker said after picking Koivun. “I think he brings a lot to the team room; he brings a lot in terms of pairings. I know what this guy is capable of. I’m excited for him to show it to the world.”
Koivun did just that at Medinah.
He went 2-0-1 and was the only player who didn’t lose a single match all week. He paired with Thomas in both fourball sessions, and while Thomas was tabbed as Koivun’s “mentor,” the 21-year-old star did most of the lifting in that pairing. Then, on Sunday, when his team was facing a historic upset, Koivun weathered an early flurry from Kim and responded to deliver the knockout blow to the Internationals.
“The kid is special. He’s different,” Snedeker said. “You saw that for a 21-year-old kid to stand up there and hit those last two balls like he did, not many people like that. I’ve got a team full of them over there but they’re very rare to find.”
“He is really good at golf,” Thomas said on Sunday. “He’s really just — he gets it. He’s very mature. It just was really cool to kind of just watch him do his thing.”
In what has become commonplace for American team golf of late, the captain seemed unable to get out of his own way at Medinah. The Chris Gotterup-Cameron Young pairing arrived too late. The Jacob Bridgeman-Russell Henley pairing made little sense. Benching Scheffler would’ve been a fireable offense if the job didn’t have a firm end date. Snedeker’s missteps were many, and yet he’s a winning captain because he didn’t follow the normal path. He didn’t do what previous U.S. skippers would’ve done and selected the No. 8 or No. 10 player in the points standings instead of going with a talented 21-year-old who wasn’t in the top 25.
But Koivun is golf’s next big thing. He has already shown that the hype is real. Everyone expects him to be a pillar of U.S. team golf for the next decade. So Snedeker played a different tune from U.S. captains of the past and picked Koivun because he was capable of what he delivered on Sunday. Because rare, world-beating talent, regardless of age, is more important than points earned at the Charles Schwab Challenge or past team caps. Because what Jackson Koivun has can save you from any mistakes you make during tournament week. And it did.
“I thought he brought everything and more,” Snedeker said. “He’s obviously a great player, but he’s a great kid. Super locked into what he’s doing. He’s an unbelievable competitor. I had a feeling about him. I don’t know what it was — just being around him, talking to people, knowing what he accomplished — I felt like he was ready for the stage.”
Koivun was, and the Americans avoided a Presidents Cup debacle because of it.
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