Ryan Fox will make his Presidents Cup debut at Medinah Country Club this week as the International Team attempts to end one of the longest droughts in team golf.
The Internationals have won the trophy just once, at Royal Melbourne in 1998, with the United States claiming the past 10 editions and 13 of the 15 contests since the event began in 1994.
For Fox, the 2026 edition completes another major milestone in a remarkable season.
The 39-year-old earned automatic selection after becoming only the second New Zealander to win The Open, capturing the Claret Jug at Royal Birkdale in July.
He joins fellow automatic qualifiers Si Woo Kim, Hideki Matsuyama, Tom Kim, Min Woo Lee and Adam Scott in captain Geoff Ogilvy’s 12-man International side.
Ogilvy completed his team with Corey Conners, Nico Echavarria, Sungjae Im, Ryo Hisatsune, Nick Taylor and Christiaan Bezuidenhout.
Fox will be one of three Presidents Cup rookies in the International line-up, alongside Echavarria and Hisatsune, but arrives at Medinah in encouraging form after finishing tied sixth at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
At the other end of the experience scale is Scott, who will make his 12th appearance and equal Phil Mickelson’s record for the most Presidents Cups played.
Despite representing the Internationals for more than two decades, the Australian has never been part of a winning side.
Scott also arrives in form after sharing second at Wentworth, while fellow Australian Lee returns for his second Presidents Cup after debuting at Royal Montreal in 2024.
Ogilvy believes match play offers his team an opportunity despite the strength of an American line-up headed by world No 1 Scottie Scheffler.
“Seventy-two-hole stroke play is a totally different task than getting on a team and playing in match play,” Ogilvy said.
“I think where we will excel is that we’re going to love playing with each other.”
The US automatic qualifiers are Scheffler, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Sam Burns, Russell Henley and Collin Morikawa, with captain Brandt Snedeker adding Chris Gotterup, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Jackson Koivun and Jacob Bridgeman.
Medinah provides a fitting stage for another attempt at an International breakthrough.
Its No 3 Course was the scene of Europe’s famous 2012 Ryder Cup comeback and has since undergone a major redevelopment led by Ogilvy and fellow Australians Mike Cocking and Ashley Mead.
For Ogilvy, guiding the Internationals to victory on a course he helped redesign would rank among his greatest achievements.
For Fox, the equation is simpler: after becoming Champion Golfer of the Year and earning his first Presidents Cup appearance, he now has the chance to be part of the International Team’s first victory in 28 years — and its first on American soil.
The four-day competition begins on Thursday in Illinois, Friday NZT, with five four-ball matches. Five foursomes follow on day two, Saturday features four-ball and foursomes sessions, before 12 singles matches decide the Cup on Sunday in the US, Monday NZT.
