Jason Day left off Presidents Cup team over back injury risk

International captain Geoff Ogilvy left Jason Day off his Presidents Cup roster for this month's matches at Medinah Country Club, pointing to the back injury that has bothered the former world No. 1 for much of the 2026 season.

Why was Jason Day left off the team?

Day, the 2015 PGA Champion, has played in five Presidents Cups and is one of the International side's biggest names alongside Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Scott. But the 38-year-old withdrew from the 3M Open and the Rocket Classic this year and missed the FedEx Cup Playoffs for the first time in 18 years because of the injury.

Ogilvy said he weighed the risk of picking Day against the four-day demands of the competition. He also pointed to last year's Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, where Viktor Hovland tweaked his neck on Saturday and could not play Sunday singles, forcing his match against Harris English to be halved under the event's envelope rule.

It felt like the right decision.

Ogilvy said Day's situation reminded him of that scenario as he made his final call. The two spoke throughout the summer as Day tried to manage the injury.

What is the envelope rule?

The rule requires each captain to seal one player's name in an envelope before the final day. If an opposing player is injured and cannot compete, the sealed player sits out and the match is scored as a half-point for each side. It has been part of the Ryder Cup since 1979 but has only been invoked three times.

The rule has never been invoked at a Presidents Cup.

Who else made the International and American rosters?

Ogilvy used his six captain's picks on Corey Conners, Sungjae Im, Ryo Hisatsune, Nick Taylor, Nico Echavarria and Christiaan Bezuidenhout. Bezuidenhout is the most surprising name: he's ranked 96th in the Official World Golf Ranking with only two top-10 finishes this season, but he made 18 of 21 cuts and carries a 3-1-0 record in prior Presidents Cups.

American captain Brandt Snedeker chose Jackson Koivun and Genesis Invitational winner Jacob Bridgeman over Ryder Cup veterans Ben Griffin and J.J. Spaun. The full U.S. roster includes Scottie Scheffler, Cameron Young, Wyndham Clark, Collin Morikawa, Sam Burns, Russell Henley, Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Chris Gotterup, Patrick Cantlay, Bridgeman and Koivun.

How has the Presidents Cup gone historically?

The United States is 13-1-1 all-time in the biennial event and has never lost on home soil. The International team's only victory came in 1998. Ogilvy has said the matches have been closer than the record suggests and that his side needs to find the same edge Europe has shown in recent Ryder Cups.