Snedeker Defends Presidents Cup Snubs After Spaun's BMW PGA Win

U.S. Presidents Cup captain Brandt Snedeker responded this week to comments from JJ Spaun, who said he carried a chip on his shoulder into his BMW PGA Championship victory after being left off Snedeker’s roster.

What did Spaun say about being left off the team?

Spaun, the 2025 U.S. Open champion, won the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth on his debut in the DP World Tour’s flagship event, defeating a field that included major champions Rory McIlroy, Aaron Rai and Ryan Fox. He said afterward that missing out on a captain’s pick a couple of weeks earlier had added motivation, and that Snedeker informed him of the decision by phone in a call that lasted 45 seconds, telling him he was the “odd man out.”

Who did Snedeker choose instead?

Snedeker filled his six captain’s picks with Xander Schauffele, Justin Thomas, Patrick Cantlay, Chris Gotterup, Jacob Bridgeman and Jackson Koivun. Spaun had stumbled toward the end of his PGA Tour season and withdrew from the Tour Championship with a shoulder injury; Snedeker declined to say whether that factored into the decision, saying he would not discuss specifics on any player who did not make the 12-man squad.

It sucks for them. They put two years of their life into this.

Snedeker acknowledged the difficulty of the process without naming names. Now ranked 12th in the world, Spaun said he intends to watch the matches from home.

The Presidents Cup opens this week at Medinah Country Club outside Chicago, where the U.S. is chasing its 11th consecutive victory over an International team captained by Geoff Ogilvy.