Jim Furyk, 51, makes ace in opening 62 at Sony Open

A Bahamas retreat. Decreasing the overall points played for. Increasing the Captain’s picks. Changing the criteria to get on the team. Playing more together. Infiltrating a European think-tank. Importing a vocal football crowd to Royal Melbourne. These were just some of the suggestions thrown up as the International Team began the post mortem on a lopsided result at Liberty National. Having fallen to the U.S. Team 19-11 to go 1-10-1 all-time in the Presidents Cup the Internationals know they need to blow it up and start again. They’ve lost seven straight. Due credit to Steve Stricker’s team. They are possibly about to start a scary good dynasty in team play. But outside of that, the Internationals need to do more. “We need to just find a way like Europe had to at one point,â€� Captain’s Assistant Geoff Ogilvy said. “For a long time, they were outmatched on paper, but they found a way to be the best team. It forced the Americans into their task force and now they’ve found the formula… and we’re paying for it.â€� It is true that this U.S. Team, with an average age of 31.8 years, is the youngest red, white and blue team in the events history. And that includes a 47-year-old Phil Mickelson. The future looks very bright with the likes of Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger, Patrick Reed, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka in form. “Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler are the best team in the world – but they’re not even the best team in the American line-up,â€� Ogilvy says. “Dustin Johnson is actually the best player in the world right now and he’s probably part of their third best combination. That’s hard to beat.â€� But the International Team was even younger at 30.3 average age. They have young stars at the helm also. They just need the magic European formula. Perhaps a call to Paul McGinley or Jose Maria Olazabal or Colin Montgomerie is in order to ask about the secret sauce. They love beating America. Perhaps they’d love to see the Internationals do the same. Adam Scott, who now has tasted defeat in the last seven Cups, couldn’t hide his disappointment. As a stalwart very likely to make his ninth appearance in his home country in two years’ time at Royal Melbourne he is calling for a collective investment. “Unfortunately, it was a bit of a slaughtering this week but we’ve got to stand up and take our ass-whipping like men and walk out of here with our heads high,â€� Scott said. “Then I think everyone who is involved in the Cup going forward should get together, talk about it, talk about what the United States Team have done the last few years, what the European Team (Ryder Cup) has done in years gone by, and try and come up with something to get our guys a little more invested in it. “That’s kind of the key. The players are really going to have to invest more in this as a group collectively on the off-year, and somehow get better, if we don’t want this kind of stuff to happen.â€� One of the suggestions was getting the top 18 or so players on the standings together in the Bahamas, or somewhere similar, during Ryder Cup week for a retreat. Wives, girlfriends and families could bond together while the players also competed and practiced in team events while also strategizing of what they saw on TV. The bonding part isn’t the issue though, as the team was likely the closest International Team on record. They specifically spent extra effort to come together as one off the course. The boys certainly enjoyed each other’s company. They just didn’t play smart. “We had some new guys again this year, and I think some of that showed up a little bit in all of our strategy on the golf course,â€� Scott said. “It’s not everything, because I think they played better, but when you are playing it every year; they are getting good at it now, and they are breeding.â€� Scott admitted to not making clever choices or being more vocal with teammate Jhonattan Vegas in team play to promote better strategic decisions. It was clear in other pairings also. There was not enough discussion on clubs or positioning or things of that nature. Rather players just assumed the individual would do better making his own choices. Match play though, is always a different beast. Away from the course prospective International Captain Ernie Els foreshadowed some heavy negotiations with the powers that be at the PGA TOUR. In 2015 – after heavy lobbying – Nick Price managed to get the overall points played for down from 34 to 30. He wanted 28. It was a hard negotiation as the TOUR is overseeing the interests of both teams. Unlike in the Ryder Cup, where the PGA of America and European Tour handle their respective sides and venues and set up and criteria etc. the Presidents Cup is run solely by the TOUR. “There’s a couple of things we have to sit down and talk to the TOUR about,â€� Els says. “Format is one, and definitely to get our hands on our business personally to make our own decisions, I think that’s definitely a point that we can discuss. “It’s gotten to a stage now where we have to do whatever we can to try and benefit our team. Whether that is logistics, scheduling, golf course setup… I think we have to be more in control, especially when we have a home-course advantage.â€� Els also voiced his want to see more choice in the selection process. Currently the International Team is picked via 10 automatic qualifiers from the world rankings and two Captain’s Picks. The issue there can be form as the world rankings are based on a two-year rolling cycle and players can be terribly out of form as the Cup approaches. Els is calling for up to six Captain’s picks, or just a revolutionary method of qualification. Perhaps a split points list like Europe where players can either make their way via world points or FedExCup points that are heavier weighted as the Cup approaches.  “The Presidents Cup is owned by the PGA TOUR. They have written down the rules. So to change rules to benefit us; there’s got to be a two-way street going,â€� Els said. “But If negotiations don’t go our way I don’t think the guys want to walk away from the Cup. I think the guys are invested into the Cup. The guys want to play. They want to compete. “We just want to feel that we are being treated fairly and that we get something going our way a little bit. The future of the Cup is important.â€� The next Cup is in December 2019 in Australia at Royal Melbourne – the site of the lone International win in 1998. After hearing the New Jersey and New York crowds in their ears all week, the Internationals are already calling on their fans to provide a hostile environment for the Americans. The Fanatics were very vocal at Liberty National for the visiting team, but in small numbers, were easily out gunned. “Obviously the Americans got a lot of support this week. They were big crowds. It was almost a football crowd. I feel like if we could have that in Australia, that might benefit us,â€� Marc Leishman said. “We have to play better golf. But it is possibly on a course that may suit us a little better. And if we can have Aussie and International fans really roaring like they would at an Aussie Rules or rugby match at everything we do I’m sure that might help gain momentum in matches we were just unable to find this week.â€� There is no doubt the next few months will be interesting in terms of what happens next but the losing side do not want to be seen as sore losers or whiners. Credit where credit is due says Price. “You can always blame and point fingers and say this and that and whatever but to be honest, I think we were simply outplayed this week.â€� It doesn’t take a task force to see that.

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Stream live on Facebook Watch: Click here for Featured Groups coverage | Click here for Featured Holes coverage SILVIS, Ill. – Zach Johnson and Steve Stricker headline the Featured Groups for Sunday’s Facebook Watch coverage of the final round of the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run. Also featured in the coverage are Ryan Moore, Arjun Atwal, Nick Hardy, Hudson Swafford, Lanto Griffin and Andrew Landry. The broadcast begins at 8:30 a.m. ET and runs through 6 p.m. Moore and Atwal get things started with an 8:38 a.m. ET tee time. Both players shot 1-under 70 in the third round and are 4 under for the tournament. Hardy and Swafford tee off at 9:05 a.m. The long-hitting Hardy, who played the Deere as an amateur last year, made the 36-hole cut on the number before shooting a third-round 69 to get to 5 under. Final-round playing partner Swafford struggled to a third-round 72 and is at 4 under. At roughly 9:45 a.m. ET, we will transition to the following two groups: Stricker and Griffin will go off at 9:59 a.m. Three-time Deere winner Stricker, 51, who splits time between the PGA TOUR and the PGA TOUR Champions, shot a disappointing third-round 71, while Griffin had a 69. Both players are 6 under par. Tournament ambassador and Iowa’s favorite son Johnson and Landry tee off at 10:08 a.m. Both players shot 67 in the third round and are 7 under. All players are teeing off the first hole. At 1 p.m. ET, Facebook Watch transitions to the Featured Holes portion of the broadcast. We start with coverage of the par-4 first hole and par-4 14th hole. Once play has completed at No. 1, we will begin coverage at the scenic par-3 16th hole, adjacent to the Rock River.

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NAPA, Calif. – World No. 1 Jon Rahm will head into the Ryder Cup after missing only his second PGA TOUR cut of 2021 at the Fortinet Championship at Silverado. After settling for a par at the par-5 18th hole, where his drive sailed into the right fairway bunker, he gave his ball and glove to a cluster of boys on the way to sign his card after an atypically flat performance. Although his pre-tournament odds to win were the likes of which no one had seen since Tiger Woods in 2013, Rahm came down with a stomach ailment early in the week, missed the pro-am Wednesday, and never got it going at Silverado on either Thursday (72) or Friday (71). “It’s very simple: not my best ball-striking-wise,” he said. “Still wasn’t bad. Could have been better on the greens, you know. Feel like I might have made a couple of mistakes mentally on some approach shots, maybe I could have focused a little more, visualized better, but I think I left a lot of shots on the greens.” Rahm hit just 11 of 26 fairways over two rounds at tree-lined Silverado. He also struggled on the greens with 30 putts on Thursday and 27 on Friday, throwing his head back in anguish several times. It was Rahm’s first missed cut since the Wells Fargo Championship in May, his only failure to make the weekend in a season that saw him capture his first major title at the U.S. Open. The Fortinet marks the opening week of the 2021-22 wraparound season. “It’s unfortunate to start the year with basically one of my worst TOUR rounds in a while,” he said. “It’s what it is. Course was tough out there today and just need to be better.” Rahm’s rare off week came two weeks after he finished second to Patrick Cantlay at the TOUR Championship at East Lake, and one week before the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. After coming to Napa with his wife and son, Rahm said he didn’t sleep well Monday night and wasn’t feeling great during his nine-hole practice round Tuesday. Then his stomach ailment knocked him for a loop, and he missed the Wednesday pro-am as he rested in bed. “Just a little run down from the season,” he said. “That’s my best guess. Maybe having a little bit too much good rich food Monday and Tuesday just did it for my stomach.” It was the latest development in a topsy turvy 2021. Rahm led by six shot at the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday but was forced to withdraw after the third round after testing positive for COVID. He also missed the Olympics in Tokyo after testing positive. He was asymptomatic both times, and wonders if he might have edged Cantlay for Player of the Year without those setbacks. At the Fortinet, he said, he felt much worse. Then his usual dominant game went missing. “Well, I’ve got two more days off,” he said. “I think it’s primarily rest. I just, you know, I feel like with having those stomach issues early, I wasn’t nearly as rested as I could have been, my body got a little bit tight, but I’m feeling good today. It was a tough course out there. “If anything,” he continued, “I get to rest a couple extra days and be able to figure out what’s going on with my swing, which technically is not really anything bad. It’s just I think a lot of those swings were made to look worse because of how tough it is out there. It’s firm, it’s fast, the fairways are hard to hit.”

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