Who has won the most points for the International team and the USA in Presidents Cup history?

Established in 1994, the Presidents Cup is a team golf competition featuring the top USA players pitted against a team of the best international players, excluding those from Europe who compete in the Ryder Cup against the USA.

Over the last 30 years, the contest has featured all USA’s top players, including Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Jim Furyk, and Patrick Cantlay. The international side boasts some game legends, too, like Ernie Els, Craig Perry, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, and Vijay Singh, to name just a couple.

Throughout the 14 Presidents Cups, a combined total of 452 individual matches have been contested. The United States came out victorious in 220 matches, while the International team secured 173 wins, with 59 matches resulting in a tie. As a result, the United States accrued a total of 249.5 points, compared to the International team’s 202.5 points.

Who were the most successful golfers in the 30-year-old history of the Presidents Cup?

Team USA

The most successful player of the United States team throughout history and, at the same time, the most successful player ever is the one and only six-time major winner, Phil Mickelson. The Presidents Cup seemed to bring out the best in Phil Mickelson, not just on the golf course but off it as well. From 1994 to 2017, we saw Phil’s celebratory side, his laughter, and, of course, his classic trash-talking.

The lefthander played 12 times for Team USA between 1994 and 2017, with 26 wins, 13 draws, and 16 losses in 55 games. During the competitions, he earned 27.5 points from 43 matches, five more points than the second on the list, Tiger Woods, also with seven wins in nine singles matches.

The International Team

Ernie Els, the South African professional golfer, four-time major winner, and former World No. 1, was the most successful player on the International side and the fifth most successful player in the Presidents Cup history until Australian professional golfer Adam Scott, the winner of the 2013 Masters, didn’t equal him with 21 points but from 10 appearances, in difference to Els’s 8.

In one of his appearances in 2000, Els didn’t manage to score any points. However, he accumulated many points in his other seven appearances, including his best performance in 2003, where he earned four points. This helped him maintain the lead until his final appearance in 2013, after which Scott finally matched his record in 2022.

This year, the Australian will also aim to participate in the prestigious competition for his 11th consecutive year.

He automatically qualified for the 2024 Presidents Cup, where earning another 0.5 points will place him in the lead among International Team players.