Presidents Cup 2026 and Open de France: This Week's Ryder Cup Watch

The Presidents Cup and FedEx Open de France both run September 24-27, 2026, but they have different consequences for the 2027 Ryder Cup. Medinah offers a chance to assess American partnerships and team roles. Le Golf National offers eligible Europeans another opportunity to earn qualifying points. Neither event has finished as of this September 23 preview.

The immediate news is also about a player outside the American team. On September 22, Brandt Snedeker responded to J.J. Spaun's Wentworth victory and disappointment at missing the Presidents Cup. That response adds a new chapter to our Spaun BMW PGA analysis; it does not change either Ryder Cup qualification system.

Presidents Cup dates, venue and the U.S. players to watch

The PGA TOUR's official event information confirms September 24-27 at Medinah Country Club. Snedeker captains the United States against Geoff Ogilvy's International team. This is a different competition from the Ryder Cup, where the United States faces Europe.

The American roster includes Scottie Scheffler, Sam Burns, Cameron Young, Russell Henley, Patrick Cantlay, Wyndham Clark, Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas, alongside Jacob Bridgeman, Chris Gotterup and Jackson Koivun. Those names create several useful comparisons, but the roster should not be read as a provisional twelve for Ireland next year.

Our main question is how players perform in the roles they are actually assigned. For Scheffler, that means looking beyond an individual ranking to how a partnership functions. For Young and Burns, it means tracking which formats and situations bring out their strongest contributions. For the newer names, it means observing how they handle their first opportunities within this particular team.

At this preview's source cutoff, Thursday's official pairings were still scheduled for a September 23 announcement in U.S. Central Time. A practice group is not sufficient evidence of a competitive pairing. Once matches begin, evaluate the confirmed combinations and completed results rather than treating a practice-round photograph as a selection announcement.

What changed in the Spaun selection story?

Snedeker praised Spaun's finish at Wentworth and stood behind the difficult choices involved in selecting his team. The September 22 press-conference transcript, linked from the official media centre, and independent Golf Channel reporting agree on that central account. Snedeker also expressed confidence in Spaun's prospects for Ireland; that was an opinion about the future, not a Ryder Cup selection.

For readers assessing the decision, timing matters. Spaun's BMW PGA win came after the Presidents Cup picks. It is fresh evidence about his form, but it was not a result available when those choices were made. The stronger question now is whether he can carry that performance into the next selection cycle. See the updated Spaun article for the source record and the captain's response.

Does the Presidents Cup award U.S. Ryder Cup points?

No. The 2026 Presidents Cup awards no points toward the U.S. 2027 Ryder Cup qualifying list. The American race begins at The American Express in January 2027 and ends at the BMW Championship in August. Jim Furyk will have six automatic qualifiers and six captain's selections under the published system, explained in our U.S. qualification guide.

Medinah can still produce evidence that informs a later assessment. A captain can learn about communication, how a player responds after a lost hole, and whether a partnership remains effective when the format changes. Those observations are editorial selection context. They should not be converted into an unofficial points bonus or presented as a promise of a place.

The comparison also needs to account for opportunity. One player may play more matches, face different opponents or spend a session on the bench. A useful review records those circumstances alongside wins and losses. Total points alone can conceal the difference between a strong individual performance and a favourable allocation of matches.

Open de France: actual European qualifying points

In France, the qualification connection is direct. The DP World Tour's Back 9 event guide lists the Open de France at Le Golf National on September 24-27 with a 1,500-point European Ryder Cup event pool. That is the pool distributed across eligible results, not an award of 1,500 points to the winner.

The tour's announced field includes Tommy Fleetwood, Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland, as well as defending champion Michael Kim. The venue, dates and those European names are corroborated by Pro Golf Weekly's September 22 preview. Announced participation remains subject to withdrawals; this article is not a live tee-time sheet.

The baseline is still the official September 20 European list, checked again September 23: Shane Lowry leads on 271.9 points, followed by Joe Dean on 265.7 and Rory McIlroy on 142.05. The Irish Times' September 22 report independently confirms that top-three order. The European standings explainer preserves the full dated snapshot. A newer article date does not mean the underlying table has advanced.

How to follow the weekend

For Medinah, start with confirmed pairings, then consider performance by format and the captain's use of each player. For France, start with completed scores, eligibility and the next official European points update. This separates what happened on the course from what it changes in the selection race.

Our 2027 qualification tracker covers the rules and dated standings. The team watch provides candidate context. The same weekend can supply useful material for both pages without making the two competitions interchangeable.