The Internationals lead the Presidents Cup 10.5-7.5 heading into Sunday singles at Medinah, a first on U.S. soil. With 12 matches running at once, the best final-day photo coverage comes from organizing shots by match and exporting two sizes per keeper, not from dumping a camera roll at the end of the day.
- ✓The International Team leads 10.5-7.5 entering Sunday singles, its first-ever final-day lead on U.S. soil since the event began in 1994
- ✓The Internationals need 5 points from the 12 singles matches to reach 15.5 and win for only the second time; their lone win came in 1998
- ✓Sunday singles spreads 12 matches across the course at once, so photos pile up out of order and lose their story fast
- ✓Sort by match rather than by timestamp, and export a 1080x1350 social version and a 1600px web version from each original
The International Team leads the United States 10.5-7.5 going into Sunday singles at Medinah Country Club, and it is the first time since the Presidents Cup began in 1994 that the Internationals have carried a lead into the final day on American soil. They need 5 points from the 12 singles matches to win for only the second time, after 1998. The U.S. has won 10 straight editions and needs 8 points to make it 11.
That sets up the most photographed day of the week, and also the messiest one. Friday and Saturday give you four matches per session, in pairs, moving together. Sunday gives you 12 separate matches going off in sequence and spreading across the whole course, with results landing minutes apart. If you are shooting it, from the ropes or from a club or media account, the challenge is not getting the photos. It is keeping them attached to the right story.
How Medinah Got Here
Geoff Ogilvy's International side built the lead early and held it through a U.S. push on Saturday. Brandt Snedeker's Americans got a strong day from Chris Gotterup and Cameron Young, who won their four-ball match 2&1 and then their foursomes match 6&4. Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns beat Hideki Matsuyama and Ryo Hisatsune 2&1 in the morning.
It was not enough. Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim won three of their four matches as a pairing, and Nick Taylor and Corey Conners closed Saturday by winning the last hole to take a full point in foursomes. That swing is why the gap is three points and not two.
For anyone building a photo record of this week, that list matters. It tells you which faces the Sunday story will hang on: the Kims, Scheffler, the Gotterup-Young partnership, and whoever ends up holding the clinching putt.
Why Sunday Singles Wrecks Most Photo Rolls
Singles day produces more photos and less order than any other day of a team event. Three things cause it:
- Matches overlap. Match 1 might be on the 14th green while match 9 is on the 4th tee. If you are following a group, you'll also catch players from other matches walking past, on the big leaderboards and on neighbouring holes.
- The score changes the meaning of old photos. A 10:40 a.m. fist pump from a player who is 2 up means something different once you know he lost on 18. Photos need to be labelled after the fact, not only when you take them.
- Everything finishes in a rush. The last four or five matches can decide the Cup within about half an hour of each other. That is when people shoot the most photos and have the least time to sort them.
The result is a camera roll of 400 frames in timestamp order that tells no story at all.
Organize by Match, Not by Time
The fix is simple and it works just as well for a fan with a phone as for a club social team. Give each of the 12 matches its own album or folder, and file photos into them as you go or during breaks. Name them by match number and players, for example M07-Scheffler-vs-Kim, so they sort in playing order.
When the matches end, add the result to the folder name (M07-Scheffler-vs-Kim-USA-3and2). Every photo inside now carries its outcome. Building a recap later, you can pull the three best frames from each match in order instead of scrolling for an hour.
Shooting From the Ropes Without Being That Person
Golf is the one big sport where your phone can affect play. Check the event's mobile device policy before you go, because rules differ between tournaments. Where phones are allowed, a few habits get you better photos and keep you out of trouble with marshals:
- Silent mode, always. Some phones sold in Japan and South Korea can't mute the shutter sound at all. If yours is one of them, only shoot between shots.
- Shoot after impact, never during the swing. The follow-through, with the player holding the finish and watching the ball, is the frame you want anyway. It shows the effort and the player's face, and it's allowed.
- Use burst on the green, not the tee. Burst mode on a holed putt gives you the reaction sequence: the ball dropping, the turn, the fist. On the tee you only need one good follow-through frame.
- Use the telephoto lens, not a crop. On a phone with a 3x or 5x lens, switch to it rather than pinching to zoom on the main camera. The dedicated lens gives you real detail, while pinch zoom mostly upscales pixels.
Export Two Sizes, Keep the Original
Final-day photos go two places: social feeds tonight and somewhere permanent later. Treat those as separate exports from the same untouched original.
| Use | Size | Target file size |
|---|---|---|
| Instagram / Threads feed | 1080x1350 (4:5) | 250-450 KB |
| Stories / Reels cover | 1080x1920 (9:16) | 300-500 KB |
| Club site or blog | 1600px long edge | 200-350 KB (WebP) |
| Archive | Original, untouched | Whatever the camera wrote |
Don't upload a 5 MB phone original to a club website because it feels "higher quality". It slows the page and gets recompressed anyway. Resize to the destination first, then compress, and keep the original in a folder you never edit.
Why This One Is Worth Archiving Properly
In the International Team's 32-year history there is exactly one winning Sunday to look back on, and good photo coverage of 1998 is thin. Today will either give them a second one or produce the biggest U.S. comeback in the event's history. Both are stories people will want to find again in 2028 and beyond.
A match-by-match archive with results in the folder names is the version that stays useful. Put the day's best frames into a single shareable gallery grouped by match so friends, club members or teammates can browse the whole Sunday in order, not just the final putt.
Related reading:
- Open Championship Golf Photography and Compression Guide: shooting and compressing golf on a tournament week
- Trophy Lift Photography Guide: capturing the moment the silverware goes up
- Photo Archive Format Durability Guide: picking formats that still open in 20 years
Frequently asked questions
What is the Presidents Cup score going into Sunday 2026?
The International Team leads the United States 10.5-7.5 after Saturday's four-ball and foursomes sessions at Medinah Country Club. The Internationals need 5 of the 12 available singles points to reach the 15.5 required to win.
Has the International Team ever won the Presidents Cup?
Once, in 1998 at Royal Melbourne. The United States has won the last 10 editions in a row, and 2026 is the first time the Internationals have taken a lead into Sunday on U.S. soil.
Can spectators take photos at the Presidents Cup?
Check the event's mobile device policy before you go, since rules vary by tournament. Where phones are allowed, keep them on silent and never shoot during a player's swing; take the photo after impact or between shots.
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