SAN DIEGO – Scott Brown birdied his last hole for a 30 on the front nine, a 6-under 66 and a share of the lead Thursday in the Farmers Insurance Open.

Only it felt much better for Brown. He played on the tough South Course at Torrey Pines, which was 2 1/2 strokes harder than the North Course where Andrew Loupe shot his 66 in the opening round.

Phil Mickelson salvaged a rough start when he made double bogey on the second hole, the second-easiest par 4 on the South. But he stayed patient, made six birdies and wound up with a 69.

Jason Day, who missed the pro-am with the flu, had a 72 on the North Course. Rickie Fowler, who won last week in Abu Dhabi, had a 73 on the North Course.

Adam Hadwin topped the Canadian contingent after a 1-under 71, while Graham DeLaet was a shot back at even-par thanks to a 72. Nick Taylor was 4-over. All three Canadians played the North Course Thursday.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Golf’s new “Big Three” has been around for only a few months, and already there’s talk of the exclusive group being expanded.

Rickie Fowler is back in the conversation after his fourth worldwide victory in the last nine months, over a stellar field at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.

On Monday, the American found himself at a career-high No. 4 in the rankings, with only Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy above him. But to merit inclusion in the sport’s golfing elite, Fowler knows he needs to add a major to his increasingly impressive resume.

He gets his first chance at the Masters in April.

“I’d like to jump in and be a part of that crew,” said Fowler, sitting beside the huge Falcon Trophy awarded to the Abu Dhabi champion. “The goal right now with where my game’s at – it’s the best it’s been this early in the season in my career – I’m working on getting ready for Augusta.

“I’d like to have my shot at getting the green jacket there.”

Fowler had never previously won a tournament in the first four months of a year. He’s been a slow starter to seasons – he tied for 66th in Abu Dhabi in 2015, 17 shots behind unheralded French winner Gary Stal – making the Masters even tougher to win.

But this is a different Fowler, who acknowledges that his work on the range with celebrated coach Butch Harmon is starting to pay off.

His playoff win at The Players Championship last May started his winning run that has also taken in the Scottish Open and the Deutsche Bank, and made him believe more in himself.

“From The Players on, just being in the situation, contention, Sunday, final round, against the best players in the world and just believing and having the confidence that, hey, if I go hit the shots, I’m winning, no question,” Fowler said.

“It’s nice to have that added confidence now. Really having the belief and knowing that come Sunday when I’m in the mix, I know I can go get it done.”

That experience likely helped in Abu Dhabi when Alejandro Canizares and Thomas Pieters both came within one shot of Fowler’s final-round lead, which started at two strokes and had grown to four by No. 6. Fowler pulled off some clutch putts and two chip-ins – from a greenside bunker from 30 yards at No. 8 for eagle, and from just off the green at No. 17.

“Being able to do that, you get such an adrenaline rush and such a boost from it, and it’s so rewarding,” said Fowler, who won by one shot from Pieters. “I felt really comfortable in some of those situations.”

In 2014, Fowler finished in the top five in all four majors and his fifth place at the Masters was his best at Augusta.

He said Sunday that, with a rare early-season victory in the bag, all roads now lead to Augusta.

“It’s a great way to start,” Fowler said. “Nice to have the game where it’s at right now going into the season, instead of trying to work on things and trying to find stuff.

“Right now, I can go and fine-tune and really build ultimately for Augusta. … The ultimate goal this year is to go win a major and this is a step in the right direction.”

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Jason Dufner won the CareerBuilder Challenge with a par on the second hole of a playoff Sunday, taking advantage of David Lingmerth’s shot off the rocks that bounced into the water.

Dufner finished with a 2-under 70 on PGA West’s TPC Stadium Course to match Lingmerth at 25-under 263. Lingmerth shot a 65, matching the best score of the day on the difficult course that was used in the tournament for the first time since being dropped after its 1987 debut.

Dufner made two great par escapes to stay alive.

In regulation on the island-green 17th called Alcatraz, he pulled his 8-iron tee shot left and the ball bounced into a narrow sandy area between rocks that circle the putting surface. Maneuvering his club around the rocks, he hooded the clubface and hooked a chip that struck the flagstick and stopped inches away.

On the first extra hole on the par-4 18th with rocks and water running the length of the left side, Dufner hit his 3-wood drive near the lip in the front of a right-side bunker. Unable to reach the green, he blasted out 100 yards to set up a 110-yard third shot that he hit to 11 feet.

Lingmerth hit his approach from the right rough to 23 feet, but missed the birdie try. Dufner then holed his putt to send the playoff back to the 18th tee.

Dufner switched to a driver and followed Lingmerth into a grass bunker on the right side. Lingmerth’s approach from 184 yards crashed into the rocks along the edge of the fairway and shot left into the water.

Dufner hit the front of the green with his second shot and two-putted for par, holing a 5-footer after Lingmerth missed his par try from 22 feet.

The 38-year-old Dufner earned $1,044,000 for his fourth victory on the PGA Tour and first since the 2013 PGA Championship. He shot a 64 on Thursday on the Nicklaus Tournament Course for a share of the lead, had a 65 on Friday on the Stadium Course to take a one-shot advantage, and added a 64 on Saturday at La Quinta Country Club to pull two shots ahead.

Lingmerth also lost a playoff in the 2013 tournament on PGA West’s Palmer Private Course. That year, the Swede dropped out on first extra hole after hitting his approach into the water and making a bogey. Brian Gay went on to beat Charles Howell III with a birdie on the second hole.

Phil Mickelson shot a 68 to tie for third at 21 under in his first start since the Presidents Cup in October and first since splitting with swing coach Butch Harmon to work with Andrew Getson.

Kevin Na and Andrew Loupe also shot 68 to finish alongside Mickelson.

Canadian Adam Hadwin shared the lead with Dufner thru 9 holes Sunday, but went 2-over on the back nine to finish in a tie for 6th with Americans Luke List and and Jamie Lovemark at 20-under.

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Jason Dufner birdied seven of his final nine holes Saturday at La Quinta Country Club to take a two-stroke lead in the CareerBuilder Challenge.

Dufner finished with an 8-under 64 to reach 23-under 193 with one round left at PGA West’s TPC Stadium Course. He opened with a 64 on Thursday on the Nicklaus Tournament Course for a share of the lead and had a 65 on Friday on the Stadium Course to take a one-stroke advantage.

“I made the turn at 1 under, and told the guys we were going to have a good back nine,” Dufner said. “I told my caddie and my amateur partners, ‘I’m about to do something good.’ So, when you start thinking like that, good things happen. So, that’s just kind of where my mindset is right now.”

Jamie Lovemark was second after a 65 on the Stadium Course.

“Any time you go out there and shoot 7 under, it’s a good day, no matter what,” Lovemark said. “I was pleased with the way I played the entire round. I’m in good position to compete for a win tomorrow.”

Adam Hadwin had a 64 on the Nicklaus Course to get to 20 under. The Canadian missed a chance to get closer, bogeying the par-5 15th after hitting into the water and closing with three pars.

“It’s just going to be a question of handling the nerves and making sure those putts kind of keep hitting the lines tomorrow,” Hadwin said.

Phil Mickelson was tied for fifth at 17 under in his first start since the Presidents Cup in October and first since splitting with swing coach Butch Harmon to work with Andrew Getson. Lefty had a bogey-free 66 at the Stadium Course, holing a flop shot for birdie on the 10th hole.

“It’s been a good three days,” Mickelson said. “It’s been a good start.”

Dufner started the birdie spree on the first hole, hitting a lob wedge to 10 feet. He made a 20-footer on No. 3, hit a 9-iron out of a bunker to 3 feet on 4, two-putted the par-5 fifth and sixth, and made it five in a row with a 12-footer on 7. He rolled in another 12-footer on 9 for his 10th birdie of the day.

“I don’t worry about zones and talking about stuff like that,” Dufner said. “I’m just trying to hit each shot as good as I can and not let results and outcome dictate how I feel or how I think out there. … I’m just playing golf like I should.”

The 2013 PGA Championship winner earned his PGA Tour card at PGA West in 2008. He’s comfortable on the Stadium Course, the Pete Dye-designed layout that is being used in the tournament for the first time since being dropped after its debut in 1987.

“Conditions are perfect for scoring,” Dufner said. “I’m not too worried about what other people are saying about golf courses. I feel like I can play pretty good. You got a lot of scoring clubs in your hand on that course.”

The Stadium Course had a three-day average of 70.908. The Nicklaus Course finished at 68.930, and La Quinta at 69.149. The cut was at 9 under, with 70 players returning to the Stadium Course on Sunday.

“I don’t feel as though this is a similar final-round course like we’ve had in the past,” Mickelson said. “You could get away with some wayward shots and still shoot in the 60s. But if you come out here and play a little sloppy, you’re going to shoot in the mid- to high-70s. It’s a very penalizing course for anything less than perfectly struck shots.”

David Lingmerth was five strokes back at 18 under after a 62 on the Nicklaus Course. The Swede had six straight birdies from No. 14 to No. 1, eagled the par-5 fifth, birdied the seventh and closed with two pars.

“I was hoping to catch up and get a little bit closer than I am right now,” Lingmerth said.

Kevin Na matched Lingmerth with a 62 on Nicklaus Course, playing his last seven holes in 8 under with an eagle and seven birdies to get to 17 under. “Every shot was at the flag,” Na said.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., shot a 69 for a second straight day to reach 11-under and sits T35.

DIVOTS: Dufner tied for ninth in his last two PGA Tour starts, at the RSM Classic in November and the Sony Open last week in Hawaii. In between, he teamed with Brandt Snedeker to win the Franklin Templeton Shootout. … Defending champion Bill Haas was 15 under after a 69 on the Stadium Course.

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Jason Dufner knows his way around PGA West’s TPC Stadium Course and the adjacent Nicklaus Tournament Course. He learned out of necessity at the 2008 PGA Tour qualifying tournament.

“I probably played each four or five times before that Q-school started,” Dufner said. “I played unbelievable. I think I shot 24 or 25 under for the six rounds. And to be honest with you, this is kind of where everything started for me, because then in 2009 I had a really nice season. That’s kind of when I started playing some good golf. He thought back to that experience Friday in the CareerBuilder Challenge when he shot a 7-under 65 on the Stadium Course to take a one-stroke lead over Jamie Lovemark.

“I remember a lot of the shots and how the course played,” Dufner said.

The Pete Dye-designed Stadium Course is back in the event rotation after being dumped following its debut in 1987, and the Nicklaus Tournament Course is being used for the first time. They got in when the Palmer and Nicklaus private layouts dropped out.

The Stadium Course has mellowed over the years and equipment technology has helped tame it – a bit.

“It’s a difficult golf course,” Dufner said. “There’s a little bit of room to play off the tee, but if you get off the path a little bit, you can get into some trouble. He’s (Dye’s) got some water out there. He’s got some tricky bunkers. You get some uneven lies here and there. … It’s definitely the most difficult of the courses we have played here.”

Dufner parred the final four holes, escaping trouble on the par-5 16th after his drive strayed to the left. The 2013 PGA Championship winner played the front nine in 6-under 30, bogeyed the 10th after hitting into the greenside water, and added birdies on 12 and 14. He was forced to lay up on all four par-5 holes and took advantage of many short approach shots.

“Any time I’m inside of 130 yards I feel pretty good,” Dufner said. “I had some really good numbers with my wedges, which helps. I wasn’t in between on too many of them.”

Dufner’s drive on 16 perched on a ledge of dormant grass above one of the deep bunkers that line the left side. The ball at knee level, he slashed it 100 yards down the fairway before slipping to his hands and knees on the steep bank.

“I thought I would have a good go at that green in two and maybe get another birdie or possibly even an eagle and walked away with a 5, but no damage done,” Dufner said.

He had only 22 putts, one-putting 11 of 12 greens in the middle of the round.

Dufner had a 15-under 129 total. He opened with a 64 on Thursday on the Nicklaus Course, will play La Quinta on Saturday, and return to the Stadium Course for the final round Sunday.

Lovemark had a 65 on the Nicklaus Course. He holed out from 105 yards for eagle on the par-4 first, his 10th hole of the day.

“Got a little tired coming down the stretch,” Lovemark said. “There’s some long rounds out here.”

Defending champion Bill Haas was three strokes back along with Jason Gore, Anirban Lahiri, Andrew Loupe and Adam Hadwin. Haas shot 66, Gore 64, and Lahiri 68, all at the Nicklaus Course. Loupe had a 66 on the Stadium Course, and Hadwin a 66 at La Quinta.

Phil Mickelson was 11 under in his first start since the Presidents Cup in October and first since splitting with swing coach Butch Harmon to work with Andrew Getson. The 45-year-old Mickelson had a 65 on the Nicklaus Course.

“I’m probably a week away, if I’m being honest,” Mickelson said. “But I’ve also won with a lot less game than I have right now. I still expect to get in contention and have a good weekend, but a lot of iron shots are 12, 15 feet off.”

Dufner has tied for ninth in his last two PGA Tour starts, at the RSM Classic in November and the Sony Open last week in Hawaii. In between, he teamed with Brandt Snedeker to win the Franklin Templeton Shootout.

“I feel good. I’m confident,” Dufner said.

Weyburn, Sask., native Graham DeLaet registered a 3-under on the day and sits T24 at 8-under 136. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., matched Delaet’s 69 and is tied for 70th. Brantford, Ont., product David Hearn is T88 at a combined 4-under 140.

DIVOTS: The Stadium Course had a stroke average of 70.218 for a two-day mark of 71.029. The Nicklaus Course has averaged 69.145 overall, and La Quinta 69.328. … Chesson Hadley made a double-bogey 5 on the island-green 17th on the Stadium Course after trying to hit out of the rocks and going into water, then holed out from 142 yards for eagle on 18. He shot 73 and was tied for 113th at 2 under. … Nick Taylor had a hole-in-one on the 205-yard sixth on the Stadium Course. He was tied for 70th at 5 under after a 69. … Patrick Reed, the 2014 winner, was tied for 54th at 6 under after a 69 on the Nicklaus Course.

LA QUINTA, Calif. – Phil Mickelson returned from a long layoff with a big mid-round run. PGA West’s TPC Stadium Course came back strong, too, Thursday in the CareerBuilder Challenge.

The 45-year-old Mickelson opened with a 4-under 68 at La Quinta Country Club in his first start since the Presidents Cup in October, playing a seven-hole stretch in 6 under.

“I’ve had a lot of time off,” Mickelson said. “It was fun to get back into the swing of it. We had a beautiful day here. Weather’s spectacular. Golf course was great. I had a good solid round.”

Lefty holed out for eagle on the par-4 eighth with a shot that spun back 15 feet, chipped in on the next hole for a front-nine 31 and added another birdie on 11. He three-putted for par on the par-5 13th and made two late bogeys to fall four strokes behind leaders Jason Dufner, Jerry Kelly, Jeff Overton and Anirban Lahiri.

The round was Mickelson’s first since splitting with swing coach Butch Harmon to work with Andrew Getson. The 2002 and 2004 champion is winless since the 2013 British Open.

“I felt good with my game,” Mickelson said. “I didn’t feel like I was fighting it. I was able to kind of let it go. I didn’t hit a lot of shots really close, I just hit it kind of OK. Didn’t putt great. But I had a couple shots that I holed out.”

The Stadium Course had a stroke average of 71.825 in perfect scoring conditions in the Pete Dye-designed layout’s first round in the event since it was dropped from the rotation after its 1987 debut. The course finally got another chance this year out of necessity when PGA West’s Palmer and Nicklaus private layouts dropped out.

Adam Hadwin had the best round on the Stadium Course with a 66. Only four players in the top 31 on the leaderboard played the course, with Ryan Palmer, Rhein Gibson and Si Woo Kim shooting 67.

“You give me 68, I probably would have walked away and not played today,” Hadwin said. “So, 66 bogey-free is a fantastic start.”

The Canadian birdied the par-5 16th, avoiding the 20-foot deep bunker on the left side of the green, and finished with pars on the island-green 17th and water-guarded 18th.

“I played Q-school here, so I got a pretty good feeling the way the golf courses play,” Hadwin said.

Dufner and Overton opened on PGA West’s Nicklaus Tournament Course. Kelly and Lahiri played at La Quinta, the lone holdover. La Quinta had a stroke average of 69.596, and the Nicklaus Tournament Course was at 69.424.

The 49-year-old Kelly had two eagles at La Quinta. He missed birdie putts on the final three holes, the first a 5-footer.

“In the past, this has been the tough golf course,” Kelly said. “So, it was strange just how the mindset changes when this becomes the so-called easier one and you have to get it.”

The Nicklaus Tournament Course is being used for the first time in the event. Overton had bad memories about the course from the PGA Tour’s qualifying tournament.

“I had very kind of sour vibes coming into this place, because I really like the ones we played last couple years,” Overton said. “I think I wound up playing 11 tournaments in a row my first year on tour and had to come back to Q-school. I played here and I was so tired and hit it so bad. … I just remember playing really awful.”

Dufner prepared for the courses before travelling to Hawaii for the Sony Open.

“I came out before I went to Sony and played these golf courses, both of them, twice,” Dufner said.

Lahiri, from India, played last week in Malaysia in the EurAsia Cup matches.

“Obviously, still feeling all the travel from coming from Asia, but really happy with the way I hit the ball,” Lahiri said. “I don’t think I missed a green all day.”

Defending champion Bill Haas had a 66 at La Quinta. He eagled the par-4 first hole.

“Ball-striking, I think I left a lot of room for improvement, which is a good sign,” said Haas, also the 2010 winner.

Weyburn, Sask., native Graham DeLaet is T18 at 5-under 67, while David Hearn from Brantford, Ont., opened with a round of 68. Nick Taylor, also from Abbotsford, finished the day at 2-under.

DIVOTS: CareerBuilder is in its first year as the title sponsor of the event long called the Bob Hope Classic, taking over for Humana. … Patrick Reed, the 2014 winner, had a 69 at La Quinta. … Stuart Appleby withdrew because of a back injury. Brice Garnett took his place and shot a 78 on the Nicklaus layout.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. – Hyundai has reached a deal to become the title sponsor of the PGA Tour event at Riviera Country Club, following Northern Trust’s decision to shift from the Los Angeles tournament to the FedEx Cup playoff opener in the New York/New Jersey area.

Fountain Valley-headquartered Hyundai Motor America and the PGA Tour announced the deal Wednesday, a day after Northern Trust said it was leaving following the Feb. 18-21 event. Chicago-based Northern Trust took over in 2008 as the Los Angeles title sponsor.

Hyundai is moving its sponsorship from the Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. South Korea television giant SBS has a 10-year deal through 2019 at Kapalua, and it farmed out the title to Hyundai in 2011.

Hyundai’s deal at Riviera and Northern Trust’s with the FedEx Cup opener will begin next year. The New York/New Jersey event opened up after Barclays decided not to renew its title sponsorship.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – The latest stop for Jordan Spieth on his tour of the golfing world is the Middle East and an eagerly anticipated head to head with Rory McIlroy at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship this week.

It seems that two of the sport’s biggest names have clashed before the first tee shot has even been struck.

For some pre-tournament publicity, Spieth and McIlroy were among those taking part in a “Rider Cup” challenge that included riding motorized golf scooters – so-called GolfBoards – along a fairway on a local course in the gulf emirate.

“It was quite competitive,” McIlroy said with a smile. “Actually, Jordan nearly took me out. We collided halfway down the fairway – thankfully I didn’t fall off.”

On Thursday, it will be McIlroy trying to knock the top-ranked Spieth out of his stride.

Fresh off an eight-stroke win in Hawaii on his 2016 debut that backed up his sensational 2015, Spieth will make his first appearance in a regular European Tour event when he joins McIlroy and Rickie Fowler in a stellar three-ball for the first two rounds at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

For No. 3-ranked McIlroy, it will be a first start of the year and a chance to see his biggest rival up close.

“I don’t play the game on (laying down) markers at all,” McIlroy said. “I want to play my best, and I don’t have to just beat Jordan Spieth this week. I have to beat another 142 guys.”

Since McIlroy last played competitively, in winning the World Tour Championship to clinch the European Tour’s Race to Dubai, Spieth has competed in Australia, the Bahamas and Hawaii. What has become a virtual global tour for golf’s new big thing started in October with the President’s Cup in South Korea and continues with his Middle East debut in Abu Dhabi and an appearance at the Singapore Open next week.

“It’s a bit tiring,” said the 22-year-old Spieth. In fact, he looked as bouncy and excitable as ever Wednesday.

“Last year, I kind of wanted more of a break. This year I kind of wanted to go out and take advantage of the year and see places that I had never seen before, on and off the course.”

While Spieth has been travelling, McIlroy underwent – and has been recovering from – laser eye surgery which he hopes will improve his short game and putting. He emerged from a two-month winter break with week of practice in Dubai last week, and says he is refreshed and refocused.

After four runners-up finishes in Abu Dhabi, including the last two years, McIlroy wants to take the extra step this week to give him momentum at the start of a seven-tournament stretch before the Masters at Augusta National, where he will bid once again to complete the career grand slam of majors.

As well as No. 6 Fowler, the other member of the world’s top six in action is No. 5 Henrik Stenson, who makes his first start since keyhole surgery in right knee on Dec. 9

“It feels fine hitting balls. That’s not an issue really,” the Swedish player said. “Just getting back to walking normal and putting it to the test of walking 18 holes five days in a row is going to be the challenge.”

Martin Kaymer is the other star attraction, with the German seeking his fourth title in Abu Dhabi after victories in 2008, ’10 and ’11. Kaymer held a 10-shot lead with 12 holes to play in the final round round, but his dramatic implosion saw Gary Stal of France snatch the win.

Stal is defending his title.

It is the first leg of the Desert Swing, which also includes the Qatar Masters and the Dubai Desert Classic.

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Rory McIlroy expects his short game and putting to be better this year after undergoing laser eye surgery during his two-month break from competitive golf.

“It’s definitely made things just that little bit sharper, maybe within 50 meters or so,” McIlroy said Wednesday ahead of his first tournament of 2016 at the Abu Dhabi Championship. “I feel like I’ve always been a decent green reader, but maybe not quite as good as I could be. So that was one of the reasons why I took this step.”

McIlroy said the surgery hasn’t made a huge difference to his long-range sight.

The Northern Irishman hasn’t played competitively since winning the World Tour Championship in November in Dubai, clinching the Race to Dubai on the European Tour. He was back in Dubai last week, spending time on the range, and made his now-customary list of goals for the year on the back of his boarding pass as he flew out to the gulf emirate.

“There’s always obvious ones and result-based goals. But I never really write those down because they are always there,” McIlroy said. “They are always obvious, they are always in the forefront of your mind. You want to win tournaments and you want to achieve things, but it’s about how to go about that on your off-weeks.”

So winning the Masters to complete the career Grand Slam of the majors wasn’t on the list?

“Yeah, that’s obvious,” he said, laughing. “I don’t need to write that down.”

The build-up to the Masters was the No. 1 topic of conversation this time last year. Now, the focus is elsewhere – particularly on Jordan Spieth, McIlroy’s big rival who dominated the sport in 2015 by winning two majors, the Tour Championship on the PGA Tour and two other tournaments to clinch FedEx Cup, and winning more than $22 million.

McIlroy believes that could give him a better chance going to Augusta National in April.

“I feel I’m better equipped now, I’ve got a little bit of experience in how to deal with it and approach it,” McIlroy said. “I know it’s going to be there, but there’s still, there’s a whole bunch of other story lines that are going on with golf right now.

“Jordan is obviously defending and that’s so many other guys that have a chance going in there. I think it will be a little different this year, for sure.”

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – Forget the majors, forget an Olympic gold medal: Jordan Spieth’s big goal in 2016 is winning the Ryder Cup with the United States.

“We’re tired of hearing about changes that need to be made. We’re tired of hearing about the past,” the top-ranked Spieth said Wednesday, adopting a fierce tone. “And we’re ready to believe in a younger, more hungry team going forward.”

The European team has won eight of the past 10 editions of the Ryder Cup, and will defend the cup at Hazeltine in September for a third straight time after winning 16½-11½ at Gleneagles in 2014.

Since then, the Americans have appointed Davis Love III for a second stint as captain and created a so-called “task force” to take a closer look at where the team has been going wrong.

“When we get there this year, it starts over,” said Spieth, who is playing the Abu Dhabi Championship this week. “If we go in believing that the Ryder Cup, this is the inaugural event, this is a clean slate, we are ready to go and start a new trend, then we’ll be fine.”

The 2014 edition of the Ryder Cup ended in acrimony for the U.S. team, with Phil Mickelson – sitting beside captain Tom Watson at a closing news conference – praising the success of Paul Azinger in 2008 in the most recent USA victory and suggesting that Watson didn’t embrace that winning formula.

There was a general feeling that Watson was out of touch with his decisions, tactics and leadership – especially compared to the dynamic captaincy of Paul McGinley for Europe.

Referencing up-and-coming players like Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas and Patrick Reed, Spieth predicted there will be a younger U.S. team with “less scar tissue” and a “fiery” side through its success in team events in junior and amateur tournaments.

“We are all going to listen to our captain. We are going to listen to our assistant captains, and they are going to listen to us,” said Spieth, saying the Ryder Cup was a “huge goal” that was “possibly at the very top of the list” for 2016.

“We are going to have to – all as team members – put a lot of thought into this ahead of time on how we want to prepare, so that when we get there, we know the teams, we can then play matches against each other.”

“We don’t have to figure stuff out last minute,” he added in what appeared to be a nod to Watson’s leadership in 2014. “That’s going to be important for us, to just kind of ease the transition.”