OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. — Regardless of how this week's Northern Trust turns out, Jason Day plans on having a few drinks on Sunday night. Sure, it doesn't hurt that the tournament is being played close to New York City, but the Aussie is more concerned with the company he keeps than the location.
"I think we would like to have a really good bond session on Sunday night. Have a few drinks with the boys would really set that off," Day said of his potential Presidents Cup teammates. "Because really as a team, the American Team, you see them, I talked to — Rickie Fowler was with me at a Zurich outing on Monday and I said, what did you do over the last weekends. He said he was on Long Island and went to Liberty National and was with Jordan and J.T. and the whole team — pretty much part of the team. Those boys hang out a lot. Unfortunately the International Team don't get to hang out as much as that."
RELATED: Rickie Fowler & Justin Thomas go low at Shinnecock Hills
Next week's Dell Technologies Championship, the second event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, is the last tournament for golfers to get inside the top 10 in the points standings to earn a spot at next month's Presidents Cup. After that, International captain Nick Price will make two picks to fill out his roster at nearby Liberty National.
The Americans have only lost the biennial event once, losing at Royal Melbourne in 1998. They've won nine times and tied once in the 11 meetings, but only won 15.5 to 14.5 in South Korea two years ago.
And while historically, Team USA has been more talented on paper, the team chemistry Day alluded to hasn't hurt. While the American golfers all represent their country and often live near each other, the International Team made up of players from all around the globe is naturally a more disjointed bunch. Jason Day thinks some extra bonding can help, though, and he acknowledges that it starts with some of the more established international players such as himself.
"I think to be honest it's more on the veteran side of things; that we need to make the opportunity of actually reaching out to these younger guys and having more practice rounds with them," Day continued. "So being able to know and get to know these guys is imperative for us as a team going forward, and I think Captain Price has done a phenomenal job with trying to bring the guys together as much as possible."
It shouldn't be too hard to convince a few golfers to enjoy a night on the town — especially if Jason is buying.
RELATED: Phil Mickelson is leaning toward making Phil Mickelson a captain's pick