Medinah’s Three-Point Deficit Became a Four-Point Win, Nishimura Broke Through in Arkansas
In this week’s ‘The Starter,’ the U.S. spends three days trying to catch the International Team at Medinah and then takes control in one singles session. In Arkansas, Yuna Nishimura watches a five-shot lead disappear before answering with her first LPGA victory, while Matt Fitzpatrick turns a five-shot cushion in France into his fourth title of 2026.
PRESIDENTS CUP: Sunday Turned 10.5-7.5 Into 17-13
The International Team carried a lead into Sunday singles on American soil for the first time, 10.5-7.5, after a 5-0 foursomes sweep Friday. The U.S. won Saturday, 4.5-3.5, but cut only one point from the deficit. Twelve singles matches remained.
Cameron Young supplied the first U.S. point with a 3-and-2 win over Ryo Hisatsune. Tom Kim answered, but Justin Thomas and Scottie Scheffler followed with American wins. Then Chris Gotterup, Collin Morikawa, Patrick Cantlay, Jackson Koivun and Jacob Bridgeman won five consecutive matches. Xander Schauffele won the anchor match, leaving the U.S. with 9.5 of 12 singles points and a 17-13 victory, its 11th consecutive Presidents Cup.
Seven days earlier, Bridgeman’s story was a closing 61 and a Biltmore Championship win. At Medinah, he lost both foursomes matches before facing Min Woo Lee in singles. Lee bogeyed the 18th, Bridgeman closed out a 1-up win and the Cup was decided. Gotterup and Koivun also won, giving the U.S. a Sunday point from each of its three rookies.
Snedeker had been hard on himself Saturday night and later acknowledged how much the captaincy had weighed on him. He said decisions rippled through the team and players’ families. One of his biggest Sunday calls was sending Koivun against Si Woo Kim. The 21-year-old won, 2 up, and finished his debut 2-0-1.
Scheffler Gave Back the Advantage a Fan Created
A fan yelled during Nico Echavarria’s backswing on the 14th tee, sending his drive badly off line. Scheffler confronted the fan, then, after missing his own birdie putt, conceded Echavarria’s 30-foot par attempt so the hole would be halved.
“There’s just no place for that,” Scheffler said later. With the U.S. trying to erase a three-point deficit, he still chose not to profit from the disruption. Scheffler won the match, 2 and 1.
LPGA: Nishimura’s Lead Got Smaller, Her Target Did Not
Nishimura began the final round of the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship at 16 under after consecutive 63s. Her 126 tied the tournament’s 36-hole scoring record and gave her a five-shot lead. She played the opening nine Sunday in even-par 36 while Aki Iwai made six birdies in seven holes and briefly moved one ahead. Nishimura learned on the eighth green that she had been caught and said the leaderboard pushed her to be more aggressive.
Nishimura holed a bunker shot for birdie at the 11th, reached the par-5 14th over water and made eagle, then birdied the 15th. A closing 66 took her to 21 under and 192, tying Nasa Hataoka’s 54-hole tournament scoring record from 2018. Nishimura won by five over Iwai, Chanettee Wannasaen and In Gee Chun.
It was her first LPGA victory after a season in which she had missed more cuts than she had made. Ai Miyazato, the 2012 winner in Arkansas, is the reason Nishimura says she plays golf, and she has called Miyazato for support during difficult stretches. Sunday ended with Nishimura saying she could not wait to call again, this time to tell her she had won the same tournament.
Coughlin Went From 73 to a Record 26
Lauren Coughlin’s week never became a Sunday title story, but Saturday produced a number worth keeping. After opening with a 73, she began Round 2 with nine consecutive birdies and played her first nine holes in 26. The streak tied the LPGA record for consecutive birdies in a round, and 26 became the lowest raw nine-hole score in LPGA history. She finished with a career-best 61.
Two weeks after the Solheim Cup, Coughlin described the return to regular tournament golf as a comedown. She told her caddie before Saturday’s round that she did not really want to be there but would try as hard as she could. Nine birdies later, she had a 26 on one side and a 61 on the card.
DP World Tour: Fitzpatrick Needed 70, Not Another 65
Matt Fitzpatrick opened with rounds of 65, 64 and 65 at Le Golf National, reaching 19 under and taking a five-shot lead into Sunday at the FedEx Open de France. His 54-hole total matched Seve Ballesteros’ 1985 event record at 19 under through three rounds. A 1-under 70 got Fitzpatrick to 20 under and three clear of Angel Hidalgo.
It was Fitzpatrick’s fourth title of 2026. He had already won the Valspar Championship and RBC Heritage on the PGA Tour and partnered with younger brother Alex to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. France asked him to manage a lead rather than create one late, and the margin tightened without disappearing.
Hidalgo also left France with a 2027 destination. Because Fitzpatrick was already exempt, Hidalgo earned the available spot in the Open Championship at St Andrews through The Open Qualifying Series. Three birdies over his final five holes secured second at 17 under.
The Closing Thought
The International Team could carry 10.5 points to the first tee Sunday, not to the trophy ceremony. Nishimura could carry a five-shot lead into the final round, but not past Iwai’s 62 without an answer. Fitzpatrick could carry a five-shot advantage into 18 more holes at Le Golf National, but those five shots did not count toward his final-round 70.
By Sunday evening, 10.5-7.5 had become 17-13, Nishimura had been caught and still won by five, and Fitzpatrick’s five-shot lead had finished as three. Saturday’s position mattered everywhere. The next shots decided what it became.