The Presidents Cup is a series of men's golf matches between a United States team and an International Team representing the rest of the world less Europe. Europe 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, with the Ryder Cup being held in odd numbered years. However, the cancellation of the 2001 Ryder Cup due to the September 11 attacks 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 scoring system of the event is match play. The format is 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 (also known as "foursome" and "four ball" matches respectively) However, unlike the Ryder Cup, all twelve players must play foursome and four ball matches on Thursday and Friday (six matches per 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 a one-on-one, singles match on Sunday.

Each match, whether it be a doubles or singles match, is worth one point. In the doubles matches a half-point is awarded to each team in the event of a tie. With 11 foursome doubles matches, 11 four ball doubles matches and 12 singles matches that represents a total of 34 points. To win the Presidents Cup a team must accrue a total of 17.5 points.