MEDINAH, Ill. (AP) — Jim Furyk and Keegan Bradley were appointed assistant captains for the Presidents Cup on Wednesday, giving skipper Brandt Snedeker the current and most recent U.S. Ryder Cup captains help at Medinah this September.
Furyk was the last Presidents Cup team captain that won, which came in 2024 at Royal Montreal, and he was appointed Ryder Cup captain last month. Bradley, who played in the last Presidents Cup, was the losing Ryder Cup captain at Bethpage Black in 2025.
“Both guys have incredible experience as leaders representing the United States and they've each earned the respect of players across generations,” Snedeker said.
Snedeker, who won the Myrtle Beach Classic two weeks ago at age 45, still has two more assistants to appoint ahead of the Sept. 24-27 matches at Medinah Country Club. The Americans have lost the Presidents Cup only once, in 1998, since it began in 1994 against an International team of players from everywhere but Europe.
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Brandt Snedeker hits from the fairway on the 10th hole during the first round of the PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Thursday, May 14, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Keegan Bradley lines up his shot on the 12th green during the second round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at Aronimink Golf Club, Friday, May 15, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Jim Furyk speaks to the media during a PGA Championship golf tournament practice round at Aronimink Golf Club, Wednesday, May 13, 2026, in Newtown Square, PA. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — An imprisoned Belarusian journalist has fallen seriously ill, relatives say, and his family and media rights advocates urged authorities on Friday to quickly release him from custody to save his life.
Kiryl Pazniak, 49, has been in custody since his arrest in September on extremism charges, accusations widely used by authorities to stifle critical voices. Pazniak, who hosted a popular show on YouTube, faces a prison sentence of up to seven years if convicted.
Pazniak's 20-year-old daughter also has been arrested on extremism charges. Both have been named political prisoners by human rights defenders.
Pazniak's ex-wife Elena said that he was suffering from pneumonia and COVID-19, and was placed earlier this month in a prison hospital in grave condition. She argued that he hadn't been given proper medical treatment and his life was in jeopardy.
Belarusian authorities didn’t immediately comment on Pazniak’s condition or accusations that he wasn’t being provided with adequate medical care.
“Freedom of speech in Belarus has a specific price, and today 21 journalists behind bars, including Pazniak, are paying for it with their health and ruined lives,” said Andrei Bastunets, head of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. “Belarus has already become a black hole of Europe and leads the continent in the number of arrested journalists.”
Belarus' authoritarian president, Alexander Lukashenko, has governed the nation of 9.5 million with an iron fist for more than three decades, and the country has been sanctioned repeatedly by Western nations — both for its crackdown on human rights and for allowing Moscow to use its territory in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, 2022.
Lukashenko's government was challenged after a 2020 presidential election, when hundreds of thousands took to the streets to protest a vote they viewed as rigged. In an ensuing crackdown, tens of thousands were detained, with many beaten by police. Prominent opposition figures fled the country or were imprisoned.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, Lukashenko has released hundreds of political prisoners as part of American-brokered deals that lifted some U.S. sanctions, part of the isolated leader’s efforts to improve ties with the West.
Human rights groups say, however, that Belarusian authorities have continued their crackdown on dissent. Belarus still has 841 political prisoners, according to the Viasna human rights center.
In this photo, released by Belarusian Presidential Press Service, Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko, center, speaks to officers as he attends joint nuclear drills held by Russian and Belarusian armed forces in Asipovichy district of Belarus, Thursday, May 21, 2026. (Belarusian Presidential Press Service via AP)
