US Trail By Three At Presidents Cup As Snedeker Admits Captaincy Errors

Team International go into Sunday's singles at the Presidents Cup needing only five points from twelve matches to secure the trophy for the first time since 1998, holding a 10.5-7.5 lead over the United States.

The gap owes plenty to strong International performances across the week, but US captain Brandt Snedeker used his Saturday night press conference to place blame squarely on his own leadership rather than his players' efforts, according to Golf Monthly.

Snedeker said he had worked hard to put his team in the best possible position but did not feel he had managed the week well enough to prevent the deficit his side now face. He said his players looked to him to make them comfortable and that he held himself to a high standard he felt he had not met in the team room.

The captain was keen to stress that the fault lay with him rather than his players, saying they had given him everything he could have asked for and that it was down to him to find better ways of setting them up. He praised the International team's play, particularly on Saturday, and said his own players had battled hard on a difficult course.

Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim were among the standout performers for the Internationals, each having taken three points across the week's play, Golf Monthly reports.

In the US camp, world number one Scottie Scheffler carried a record of two wins and one defeat into the final day despite being rested from Saturday afternoon's foursomes, a decision that drew scrutiny once the singles pairings were confirmed.

Snedeker explained that he had wanted to protect Scheffler's energy for Sunday, describing him as a player who takes a heavy load onto his own shoulders for the team. He called it a difficult call to leave out arguably the best player in the world, but said the aim was to have him fresh and ready to perform in the singles.

Scheffler is drawn against Nico Echavarria in the fourth match of Sunday's session as the US attempt to avoid a first Presidents Cup defeat in 28 years.

Snedeker said his focus now was on getting his group together and playing to the level he knows they are capable of, adding that a team reflects its captain and that he felt he had not yet held up his end of the bargain. He said the players would fight hard and that the group had a strong plan going into the final day's singles.