The Presidents Cup is a series of golf matches between teams of professional players representing the United States and the rest of the world less Europe, which competes against the U.S. in a similar but considerably older event, the Ryder Cup. The Presidents Cup is held biennially. Initially it was held in even numbered years, the Ryder Cup being held in odd numbered years. However, the cancellation of the 2001 Ryder Cup due to 9/11 pushed both tournaments back a year, and the Presidents Cup is now held in odd numbered years. It is hosted alternately in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world.

The format of the event is also drawn from the Ryder Cup, consisting of twelve players per side and a non-playing captain, usually a highly respected golf figure. The captains are responsible for pairing the teams in the doubles events, which consist of both alternate shot and best ball formats (sometimes called "foursome" and "four ball" matches) However, unlike the Ryder Cup, all twelve players must play both matches on Friday (six matches per Friday session, unlike the Ryder Cup, with four matches), and only two players will sit out each session of Saturday matches (five matches per Saturday session, compared to four), and each player must play one match on Saturday.

The format of the Presidents Cup is different from that of the Ryder Cup mainly in that it includes six extra matches, which prevents a team from hiding its weaknesses. By having all 24 players on the course for all three days there cannot be a situation such as in the 1999 Ryder Cup when Europe kept three players (Jarmo Sandelin, Jean Van de Velde and Andrew Coltart) on the bench for the sixteen four-ball and better-ball matches on the first two days. This use of twelve players on all three days arguably led to the United States' victory.

The event was created and is organised by the PGA Tour. At the inaugural Presidents Cup former U.S. President Gerald Ford was Honorary Chairman. Subsequent events saw former President George HW Bush, Australian Prime Minister John Howard and then-President Bill Clinton in the chair. *

In 2005, Jack Nicklaus captained the United States team and Gary Player captained the International team.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem is looking at making major changes to the Tour's schedule for 2007. According to interviews with tournament executives, the magazine Golfweek thinks that the Ryder and Presidents Cups will be the last events on the official PGA Tour schedule, two weeks after THE TOUR Championship. *