It was one of those Presidents Cup finales you’re going to be talking about for a long time. Team USA came from three points down on Sunday at Medinah Country Club to win by four, and the Internationals, still chasing their first win in a dozen editions of this event, will be replaying the back half of singles for a while. They had the lead and the momentum going into Sunday, and then the red numbers started going up all over the board. I’ve watched a lot of these team events over the years, and a turnaround that big doesn’t come down to one bad putt. What makes it sting even more for the Internationals is that the best player on the property this week was wearing their colors.
Presidents Cup: Team USA’s Sunday Comeback at Medinah
Tom Kim was absolutely the story of this Presidents Cup, even from the losing side. He led all players with four points for the Internationals, going 3-1-0 alongside Si Woo Kim in the team sessions and then taking down an in-form Wyndham Clark in the second singles match on Sunday. He was 1 down through seven and 3 up by the 14th. Then he left before the trophy ceremony to catch a flight to Japan for the Asian Games, where a gold medal would earn him an exemption from South Korea’s mandatory military service. That’s the kind of week Tom Kim had. Four points in a losing Presidents Cup effort, and he’s already on his way to the next team event with even more on the line. The guy is something else, and if you haven’t been paying close enough attention to what he’s been doing on tour, this week should have fixed that.
The Internationals’ collapse in singles was painful to watch if you were rooting for them. Seven tipping-point moments in those final singles matches cost them a win they looked like they had in hand. That’s the thing about team golf — one or two matches going the wrong way can trigger a cascade, and once the momentum shifts in a venue like Medinah, it is very hard to get it back. The Internationals will be frustrated with this one for a while, and rightfully so.
One of the better moments of the week came from Scottie Scheffler, who conceded a 32-foot putt to Nico Echavarria to halve the hole after a fan yelled during Nico’s backswing. That’s sportsmanship that actually means something. A 32-footer is not a gimme by any definition, and Scheffler didn’t have to do that. The fact that he did says something about how these players approach the game when the cameras are rolling and when they aren’t. I’ve long believed that how you behave on a golf course mirrors a lot about who you actually are, and Scheffler came out of this one looking very good.
If you want to know what putters were doing the heavy lifting for Team USA’s Sunday charge, Golf.com has a good breakdown of the flatsticks that showed up when it mattered most. Worth a look if you’re in the market, because there’s nothing quite like seeing what tour players are actually gaming under that kind of pressure.
Tournament Leaderboards
Full results from the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LIV Golf, LPGA Tour, and PGA Tour Champions were not available at time of publishing this week. Check those links directly for the latest finishes and we’ll have full coverage up as results come in.
Equipment & Gear: BirdiLens GV1 Smart Glasses Are Interesting
The piece of gear news that actually caught my attention this week was the BirdiLens GV1 Golf Smart Glasses. The concept is simple: augmented reality glasses that project hole maps, yardages, hazard information, and AI-assisted putting guidance right in front of you on the course. No looking down at a watch, no pulling out a rangefinder, no fumbling with a phone. The data is just there in your field of vision as you walk up to your shot.
I’ll be honest — I’m skeptical of anything that promises to fix your game through a heads-up display until I’ve actually hit shots with it. The idea has been floated in various forms for years, and the execution usually falls short of the pitch. But the BirdiLens GV1 looks like it might be further along than most of those earlier attempts. We’re going to try to get a pair for testing and I’ll report back with actual on-course numbers. If the yardages are accurate and the interface doesn’t distract more than it helps, this could be genuinely useful for a certain kind of player. Stay tuned.
Rules Corner: Do You Have to Search for Your Ball?
Here’s a rules question that comes up more often than it should: are you actually required to search for your original ball if you’ve already hit a provisional? The short answer is no. The rules give you three minutes to search if you choose to, but there’s no obligation. If you’d rather play your provisional and move on, that’s your right. The ball only becomes the ball in play if you find your original before the three-minute clock runs out. If you’d prefer not to find it, just don’t look very hard. This comes up constantly in casual rounds and even in competition, and it’s worth knowing cold before you’re standing in the rough trying to remember it.
Bridges Cup Gear at Trump Turnberry
The Bridges Cup is coming up at Trump Turnberry, and the team gear for both the U.S. and International sides looks legitimately good. Team events always produce interesting kit because the budget is different and the designers tend to have more fun with it than they would on a standard retail line. Three days of match play at Turnberry with swag like that — not a bad week.
New Brand Alert: Ugly Rabbit Golf
Ugly Rabbit Golf just launched with a simple message: play ugly, have fun. It’s a golf lifestyle brand aimed squarely at everyday golfers who aren’t grinding the range for three hours before a round and aren’t particularly concerned with what their swing looks like on video. The market for that kind of brand is bigger than the equipment companies tend to acknowledge, and there’s room for a label that leans into the reality of recreational golf rather than the aspirational version. I don’t have pricing details yet, but I’ll keep an eye on what they’re doing.
That’s the week. The Presidents Cup delivered exactly the kind of Sunday drama that makes team golf worth watching, Tom Kim is playing out of his mind, and there’s some genuinely interesting gear news coming up as we head into fall. Check back for full tournament results and we’ll have more testing updates shortly.
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