Presidents Cup Gives Medinah ‘Mount Rushmore’ of Major Golf Events

MEDINAH, Ill. — When the Presidents Cup tees off this Thursday, Medinah Country Club’s famous Course No. 3 will become the first golf venue to host at least one edition of the Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup, PGA Championship, and U.S. Open.

“There’s a tremendous amount of pride to have that Mount Rushmore of events on our shelves,” Medinah host committee chairman Mike Scimo tells Front Office Sports.

Seven other courses have hosted at least one edition of the Ryder Cup, PGA Championship, and U.S. Open. But Medinah No. 3’s portfolio is more diverse than any other, as the suburban Chicago course has welcomed several other notable golf events in its history:

• Presidents Cup: 2026
• Ryder Cup: 2012
• PGA Championship: 1999 and 2006
• U.S. Open: 1949, 1975, 1990
• U.S. Senior Open: 1988
• BMW Championship: 2019
• Former Western Open: 1939, 1962, and 1966

Medinah’s 1,100-plus-person membership funded a $23 million renovation of its championship course that was completed in 2024 and led by OCM Golf, a design firm co-owned by President Cup International team captain Geoff Ogilvy. Overall, membership has invested “well north” of $100 million into transforming the club since the 2012 Ryder Cup, Scimo says.

Next Up for Medinah

Medinah president David Latham tells FOS the club has tried to “reimagine” what types of golf events it can host in the future. “Getting tournaments is a hard business,” Latham says.

U.S. Open venues are mostly set through 2050, and the PGA Championship’s move from August to May in 2019 makes another edition at Medinah unlikely due to the risk of unfriendly springtime weather in the Chicago area. The Ryder Cup’s next open U.S. date is 2041.

Latham says Medinah is in talks to host another tournament that has yet to be announced, but he pointed to major women’s, collegiate, and amateur events as future targets for the club.

The PGA Tour operates the Presidents Cup, and the tour’s shift to a new two-track model with a top-tier Championship Series and revamped Tour Championship is attractive to Medinah’s long-term hosting goals, although Scimo says it’s too early to tell what that could result in. 

“We want the tournaments to be elevated in stature,” Scimo says. “It will never be a tour stop—never. But if it’s in that same once- or twice-a-decade timespan, and it’s a special event—like a U.S. Amateur, like a Tour Championship, like a BMW Championship or an LPGA major—those are the type of marquee events that I think the members would rally around to continue to add to our legacy.”