The PGA Tour knew a Presidents Cup at Medinah Country Club in a major market like Chicago would require extra lead time prior to the 2026 event. Much more. Organizers started the planning process more than 3 ½ years out. “Boots on the ground,” says 2026 Presidents Cup executive director Joie Chitwood.
“This was not our normal cadence,” Chitwood said. “But with the footprint that we needed to create, to create the calendar of activities, to engage the [Medinah] members as well as the Chicago market, we needed that much time.”
Time, though, has moved quickly. What seemed like a long time 3 ½ years ago suddenly morphed into a much different feeling when the calendar flipped to 2026, bringing the Presidents Cup squarely into everyone’s sights.
“When you get to less than a year out, that’s when things get real,” Chitwood said. “Really real.”
Indeed, it now is o icially a Presidents Cup year, as the countdown is on for the event Sept. 22–27 at Medinah on its newly renovated Course No. 3. The biannual event pits 12 U.S. players against 12 International players representing the rest of the world outside of Europe. U.S. captain Brandt Snedeker and International captain Geoff Oglivy will guide their teams in four days of matches, featuring best ball and alternate shot formats the first three days beginning on Sept. 24, and culminating with 12 singles matches on the final day on Sept. 27.
This will be the Chicago area’s first chance to see the world’s best PGA Tour players like Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele, Hideki Matsuyama, Adam Scott and more since the BMW Championship was at Olympia Fields in 2023. It also will be the first major international team competition in town since the Ryder Cup at Medinah in 2012. Medinah also hosted the 2019 BMW.
Knowing the robust following for golf in the area and the size of the Chicago market, Chitwood is making a bold prediction for the Presidents Cup at Medinah.
“Chicago is going to be our biggest Presidents Cup to date,” Chitwood said. “You’re talking about a market that has fantastic golf courses and more than 100,000 members in the Chicago District Golf Association. We're seeing energy and momentum at a level we've not seen before.”
The momentum began to build last spring when Snedeker and Ogilvy were unveiled as captains of their respective teams. The Presidents Cup then rented Soldier Field in October for an event that included the presentation of a $250,000 donation to First Tee—Greater Chicago. That donation came on the heels of the Presidents Cup contributing $250,000 to the DuPage County Crisis Recovery Center in September.
Officials also aggressively marketed the event when tickets went on sale in September. The airwaves and highway billboards were filled with ads for the Presidents Cup.
“It was all about creating awareness.
“We're a one-off event, not a hometown event,” Chitwood said. “We’re not the Bulls with 41 home games. A press release wasn’t going to do it. We have to be a bit bolder to capture everybody’s attention in a unique way. So running the ads and having the chance to rent Soldier Field, where we were able to get that great imagery and content, is a terrific way to get the word out.”
Chitwood said the early returns were very positive, with a high demand for premium suites. Also, he noted sales for Saturday tickets, in particular, being extremely strong.
“If anybody's looking for a Saturday grounds ticket, they better be getting that early in the spring, because I don't think there's going to be many of those left once we get into summertime,” Chitwood said.
Chitwood anticipates Medinah will attract about 40,000 people on “peak” days, and in the neighborhood of 200,000 people for the entire week. Those fans will be seeing a di erent version of Medinah’s famed Course No. 3 than the one they saw in 2012. The course has undergone a dramatic redesign, reopening in 2024 with a vast reduction in trees and the elimination of two of the three par 3s over Lake Kadijah. The last six holes were replaced and rerouted with new ones, including the drivable par-4 16th playing diagonally across the lake and the par-3 17th crossing back the opposite direction.
Golf Digest architecture critic Derek Duncan wrote, “It adds up to a head-spinning change of direction for Medinah, but one our panelists endorse.” Digest’s prestigious Top 100 ranking of Course No. 3 improved to No. 74 from No. 93.
The favorable reviews are welcome news to Ogilvy since his firm, OCM, did the redesign.
“I’m going to be a very interested observer to see how the work we did plays out when the best golfers in the world are playing on it,” Ogilvy said.
The drumbeat for the Presidents Cup only will get louder as the event draws closer. Chitwood said the Presidents Cup will have a major presence at the Chicago Golf Show Feb. 27-March 1 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont as part of CDGA Town Square. Other promotional activities also are in the works throughout the spring and summer.
“I'm ecstatic about where we were going into 2026,” Chitwood said. “And I think it is only going to get better.”
Ed Sherman is a former Chicago Tribune golf writer who is a frequent contributor to Chicago District Golfer.
When asked to get into the background about his career, Joie Chitwood cracked, “You got two hours?”
Indeed, not many people in the golf business were once a stunt car driver. Chitwood definitely had an unconventional route to his current role as the executive director of the 2026 Presidents Cup.
His grandfather, Joie, and father, Joie Jr., toured the country for 50 years until 1999 with the Chitwood Thrill Show. Joie III started participating when he was 5, and by his early teens, he was climbing out the passenger-side window in a car riding on two wheels driven by his father.
“I spent 20 years traveling this country, and driving cars in shows on two wheels,” Chitwood said. “I had a truck driver's license. I drove a car carrier. I slept in truck stops and rest areas. We would do four or five shows a week.”
Chitwood eventually transitioned to a safer role involving cars, although it had plenty of challenges. In 1999, he was named vice president and general manager of Chicagoland Speedway, overseeing the construction of a $135 million, 75,000 seat racetrack facility on 900 acres in Joliet.
After launching the Chicagoland Speedway, Chitwood eventually served stints as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the CEO of the Daytona International Speedway.
Chitwood said he retired in 2019, “but that only lasted a couple of months.” His golf connections with Arnold Palmer’s family led to him becoming the tournament director for the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando. Then in 2023, he was named executive director of the Presidents Cup at Medinah.
“I got a call asking if I'd be interested in putting on the biggest Presidents Cup in history,” Chitwood said. “I thought to myself, Indy 500, Daytona 500, Arnold Palmer Invitationals and now a Presidents Cup. I’m in.”
Chitwood says his auto racing experience has served him well in working in golf.
“Golf and racing are eerily similar,” Chitwood said. “Just think about this: There's no home team. You have a schedule that stretches across the country and you have independent athletes that perform. It’s not Bears versus Packers, if you know what I mean. I think I understand the golf world because of my experience in racing. I was very comfortable jumping in and hit the ground running.” —Ed Sherman
