To say that Chicago is a sports city isn’t much of a revelation. The Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox and Blackhawks have each shaped its identity, while venues like Wrigley Field, Soldier Field and the United Center have hosted some of the country’s biggest sporting moments. This week, Medinah Country Club will join that lineage as it welcomes the Presidents Cup to the Chicago area.
But the tournament week will stretch beyond the confines of Medinah. Across public golf, food, fashion and music, the PGA Tour is building a series of touchpoints intended to connect an international team competition with the culture of its host city.
That begins with Derrick Rose. The former Chicago Bulls star will be on hand for Thursday morning’s opening ceremony, where he will handcraft the floral ring encircling the Presidents Cup trophy on the first tee. The installation is being designed in partnership with Rose’s Flower Shop, bringing a distinctly local point of view to one of the week’s central visual moments.
Chicago’s relationship with golf runs deeper than the major-event setting, too. The city has a long place in the history of American golf, while its public courses continue to offer a different kind of entry point into the game. On Wednesday evening, HNRS Golf and Roger Steele in collaboration with the PGA Tour will host a kickoff party at Sydney Marovitz Golf Course, the public, lakefront course that has become a familiar part of the city’s golf landscape. The event will include one-of-one merchandise giveaways, while the course’s first tee will receive a Presidents Cup buildout for the week.
It is a fitting place to begin the conversation. For many golfers, public courses are where the game becomes part of ordinary city life: a few hours before work, a quick nine at the end of the day or an introduction to the sport without the barriers associated with private clubs. Bringing Presidents Cup programming to Sydney Marovitz creates a connection between the scale of a global team competition and the communal side of the game that exists closer to home.
Food will be another part of that equation. Chef Soo Ahn, the Michelin-starred Chicago chef and avid golfer, has been named the designated chef for the International Team. Elsewhere, Chef Hannah Flora, known for her runner-up finish on Hell’s Kitchen, will appear in the 1924 Club experience. Together, those details give the tournament week a more local and personal dimension than the standard hospitality playbook.
Fashion, meanwhile, will be visible in the uniforms and the fan experience. Summit and B. Draddy (whose headquarters sits less than 100 miles from Medinah) are bringing a Midwest perspective to the team uniforms, combining heritage references with modern performance. Local brands will also appear in the PGA Tour Fan Shop, alongside a merchandise collection that includes Chicago Cubs- and White Sox-inspired jerseys. Pieces of the collection will be on display as Chicago’s tastemakers gather for a First Round viewing experience at Five Iron Golf.
Even the music surrounding the event will lean into the city. Players across both teams are expected to feature Chicago artists including Ye and Chief Keef in their social content, a small but clear signal of the city’s influence on the week.
The Presidents Cup is, at its core, a competition between the United States and an International Team. There will be pressure, strategy and the kind of atmosphere that comes with a major sporting event. But as the tournament arrives at Medinah, Chicago’s own culture will be part of the picture too. Public golf courses, celebrated chefs and sports history included.
For more information, visit the PGA Tour Instagram, Facebook, X account and YouTube.
