Kim Si-woo and Kim Ju-hyung, paired together in Group 5 of the opening fourball session at the 2026 Presidents Cup. [PGA Tour]
Kim Si-woo and Kim Ju-hyung, paired together in Group 5 of the opening fourball session at the 2026 Presidents Cup. [PGA Tour]

South Korean players anchoring the International team will bookend the opening fourball session on the first day of the 2026 Presidents Cup.

According to pairings announced Thursday, International team captain Geoff Ogilvy placed Im Sung-jae and Min Woo Lee (Australia) in the leadoff Group 1 slot, while the proven winning duo of Kim Ju-hyung and Kim Si-woo were assigned to the anchor Group 5 position. The 2026 Presidents Cup tees off Thursday (local time) at Medinah Country Club's No. 3 Course near Chicago, Illinois.

Im and Lee will face Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns. On a course stretching more than 7,600 yards, Scheffler — ranked No. 1 in tee-to-green statistics — looms as a dominant force. Burns also brings a knack for stringing together birdies in match play.

That said, the Scheffler-Burns pairing carries a modest record in continental team matches, going one draw and three losses in past editions. Im counters with his trademark precision iron play and high fairway-hit rate, giving him a steady, unflappable game. The key question is how well Lee's power off the tee can hold up against Scheffler's precision.

Kim Si-woo and Kim Ju-hyung draw Chris Gotterup and Patrick Cantlay. The matchup looks evenly balanced. The Kim-Kim duo has demonstrated strong chemistry and match-play dominance throughout Presidents Cup history. Both players thrive on the tension inherent to match play, and their clutch putting ranks among the best on the team. Kim Si-woo's exceptional short game around the greens pairs particularly well with Kim Ju-hyung's ability to ignite momentum — a combination well suited to the fourball format.

On the American side, Gotterup is one of the PGA Tour's longest hitters, boasting elite driving distance. Cantlay has a well-established reputation as a strong putter. If Gotterup uses his length at the sprawling Medinah layout to set up birdie opportunities and Cantlay converts them on the greens, the Kim-Kim pairing could find themselves in a difficult spot.

Beyond those two groups, the rest of the opening fourball draw also offers compelling matchups. Japan's Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune take on Xander Schauffele and Cameron Young of the US team in Group 2. Group 3 pairs Corey Conners (Canada) and Nico Echavarria (Colombia) against Justin Thomas and Jackson Koivu, while Group 4 features Ryan Fox (New Zealand) and Adam Scott (Australia) against Wyndham Clark and Collin Morikawa.

In fourball, each player competes with their own ball and the better score of the two partners counts for the team. Looking across all five matches on opening day, a key prerequisite for the International team to keep pace early is either an upset by Im and Lee over Scheffler and Burns in the leadoff match, or a convincing win by Kim Si-woo and Kim Ju-hyung in the anchor match to lift team morale.


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