The United States holds a commanding lead after the opening day of the Junior Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club. Play was suspended due to darkness after the afternoon Foursomes session, following a weather delay that pushed back the start of the morning Four-Ball matches.
After sweeping the morning Four-Ball session, the U.S. Team carried a 6.0 - 0.0 lead into the afternoon Foursomes. As play continued before darkness suspended the session, the United States added another point from Ronin Banerjee and Giuseppe Puebla to extend its lead to 7-0. The U.S. Team holds the lead in three of the five remaining Foursomes matches, while the International Team leads two.
Banerjee and Puebla dropped the opening hole but quickly answered, winning No. 2 to square the match. The U.S. duo then began to heat up on No. 6, winning five of the next six holes to take control. Banerjee and Puebla closed out the match on No. 14, securing the United States’ seventh point before play was suspended due to darkness.
Morning Four-Ball Matches
The United States swept the International Team in the morning Four-Ball session, with Sam Carraher of Crown Point, Indiana, and Brady Barnum of Dublin, Ohio, delivering the first points of the day with a 4&3 victory over Fernando Saravia of Guatemala and Tomas Del Grosso of Argentina. Saravia and Del Grosso jumped out to an early lead through the first five holes, but Barnum answered with a birdie to square the match. From there, Carraher and Barnum took control, winning two of the next three holes before closing out the match with wins on Nos. 13 and 15 to put the U.S. Team on the board.
Miles Russell of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, and Rory Asselta of Ramsey, New Jersey, added the second point to the U.S. Team’s total. Russell and Asselta trailed Minsu Kim and Jeyi Son of South Korea for most of the match before catching fire on the back nine, playing the final nine holes in 4-under-par to rally for a 1 UP victory on the final hole.
The third point for the United States came from Jessy Huebner of Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Giuseppe Puebla of Royal Palm Beach, Florida, who defeated Emilio Velez of Colombia, and Cooper Moore of New Zealand, 3&2. The match was tied through six holes before Huebner and Puebla took control, winning four of the next six holes to build a three-hole lead. They maintained that advantage through No. 16, where they closed out the match.
Jaden Soong of Los Angeles, California, and Ronin Banerjee of Irvine, California, claimed the fourth point for the U.S. Team with a 1 UP victory over Taisei Nagasaki and Zhi Li. The match went back and forth throughout the day, with the United States holding a one-hole lead for much of the round. The International Team trailed by two holes with three to play, but won the next two holes to square the match before the U.S. duo closed it out with a win on No. 18.
The final match to tee off in the morning gave the U.S. Team its fifth point of the day, keeping the morning shutout alive. Grant DeLorenzo of Houston, Texas, and Hayes Corcell of Tampa, Florida, defeated Tuan Anh Nguyen of Vietnam and Settawut Kenanan of Thailand, 4&3. After falling three holes behind through No. 5, DeLorenzo and Corcell caught fire, winning seven of the next eight holes to take control before closing out the match on No. 15.
Sohan Patel of Weston, Florida, and Grayson Baucom of Hickory, North Carolina, completed the clean sweep in the morning Four-Ball session, securing the sixth and final point for the U.S. Team with a 1 UP victory over Qiyou Wu and Jun Tian of China. After a back-and-forth match, Patel and Baucom reclaimed the lead on No. 14 and held on to close out the final point of the morning.
INT - 0.0 | USA - 6.0
Tournament Schedule
Foursomes matches were suspended due to darkness and are scheduled to resume tomorrow, September 21, at 7:30 a.m. CT, with Singles matches to follow.
Tournament History
The inaugural Junior Presidents Cup was held Sept. 25-26, 2017, at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, New Jersey. Since its debut, the biennial competition has been contested in 2017, 2019, 2022 and 2024, with the United States Team winning each of the first four editions.
The United States Team will look to make it five consecutive victories when the Junior Presidents Cup returns to Medinah Country Club in 2026.
About Medinah Country Club
Founded in 1924, Medinah Country Club has a rich history that spans more than a century and includes a long list of significant tournaments. Course No. 1 was originally designed by renowned architect Tom Bendelow in 1925 and later reimagined by acclaimed architect Tom Doak in 2014. The course features generous fairways and thoughtfully contoured greens that provide both playability and challenge.
Bendelow designed Course No. 2 in 1927, and the course was restored in 2017 to honor his original vision while incorporating modern updates. The Junior Presidents Cup will be played on a special routing of Course No. 1 and Course No. 2, marking the first time the event will share a property with the Presidents Cup, which will follow on Course No. 3.
About the Presidents Cup
The Presidents Cup is a biennial global team competition between the United States and an International Team representing countries around the world outside of Europe. Contested by the PGA TOUR, the competition alternates between venues in the United States and other nations. The 2026 Presidents Cup will take place Sept. 22-27 at Medinah Country Club’s Course No. 3 in Chicago, Illinois. Global Partners of the Presidents Cup include Rolex, Barings, Forvis Mazars and Energy Transfer. For more information about the Presidents Cup or to purchase tickets, visit PresidentsCup.com . For 2026 Junior Presidents Cup information, visit AJGA.org .
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