Presidents Cup coming to Medinah Country Club in 2026

The PGA Tour announced Friday that Medinah Country Club will host the 16th Presidents Cup in 2026, making it the fifth venue in the United States to do so.

The Presidents Cup is the latest on a list of tournaments hosted at Course No. 3, including the 2019 BMW Championship, 2012 Ryder Cup, two PGA Championships, three U.S. Opens, the 1988 U.S. Senior Open and three Western Opens (BMW Championship).

“As the significance of the Presidents Cup continues to grow, we look forward to showcasing the 2026 event from one of the world’s great sporting and cosmopolitan cities in Chicago and a storied venue in Medinah Country Club,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said in a statement.

Medinah Country Club received a request for proposal from the PGA Tour to host a future Presidents Cup in the fall of 2018.

Michael Scimo, Medinah’s 2026 Presidents Cup bid leader, said he was in a position to guide the response at the time and got to work with a selection of members to secure that bid.

It was a two-year process, but Scimo believed the case for Medinah Country Club as host of this relatively new tournament, which began in 1994, was an easy one. The club, with its proximity to two international airports and major roadways, not to mention the course itself, is an attractive venue for an event of this scale.

The 640-acre campus didn’t hurt Medinah’s pitch either.

“The story in terms of why Medinah would be the best venue starts with our track record,” Scimo said. “This will be the 16th professional event over the course of 90 years. This is an opportunity for [Medinah] to build on its legacy of hosting the most important events in golf.”

The economic impact the Presidents Cup will have on DuPage County and Chicagoland, Scimo estimated, will be in the millions. This was another factor that made hosting the tournament appealing to members.

Medinah’s bid was not contingent on any course renovations, and Scimo said the course already is set up well for match play. Medinah recently signed an agreement with a golf course architecture firm, OCM Golf, to create a master plan for Course No. 3, including potential changes that would make it even better from a competition perspective.

Members drove this master planning project, Scimo said. In the next six to eight months, Medinah members expect to have a design for consideration. At that point, members will determine if they want to implement some or all of those changes before or potentially after the Presidents Cup.

The PGA Tour will announce tournament dates for the 2026 Presidents Cup at a later date.