Jason Day candidly admits his attitude has been lacking in the Presidents Cup previously and he wants to make amends at Royal Melbourne in December - hopefully in a glamour pairing with Adam Scott.
Former world No.1 Day's record for the International team in the biennial clashes with the powerhouse United States team is poor - earning just seven points from 20 matches across four Presidents Cup contests.
In the foursomes - alternate shot - format, he has no wins from eight outings.
Day admitted on Tuesday that the timing of the Cup contests late in the year had found him wanting.
"I'm the first one to put my hand up...because, unfortunately, it has to start at the top, and I've made mistakes with regards to not mentally being there," said Day of his 2017 Cup performance in South Korea where he went 1-3-1.
"I need to understand we've got 11 other guys on the team that are trying just as hard or trying even harder than myself, so I've got to pick the slack up too."
Internationals captain Ernie Els is trying to reverse the team's long losing streak by building culture and combinations for the future.
Hence Day and countryman Scott have joined forces at this week's two-man PGA Tour teams event in New Orleans, along with other potential team combos including Branden Grace and Justin Harding, Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel and Si Woo Kim and Sangmoon Bae.
Again the Internationals face a huge task. On current rankings US captain Tiger Woods could draw his entire 12-man team from the world top 20 while Els would need to go down to No.54, with only Day in the top 20.
"I've sat through a lot of Presidents Cup beat-downs over the years, and I've kind of had enough of it," said No.28 Scott.
"So I'm prepared to do whatever it takes, whatever Ernie thinks it takes, to kind of change the culture in our team. Certainly an effort has been made by a lot of guys here this week that want to do that."
While they have been on four Presidents Cup teams together, Day and Scott have only combined in one Cup match, earning a half in 2017.
Scott said he'd asked to play more with Day in the past.
"You have to do what's best for the team, but I would definitely push for this pairing certainly in Australia. I think it's very formidable," he said.
Day is ready to draw from Scott's passion for Presidents Cup.
"Scottie has been one of the major voices in the team room, and you can see in his emotions and his attitude with regard to losing every single year, " said Day.
"It's disappointing for me to sit there and know that I can do better, and I should be doing better.
"But you know, I'm going to try and change my attitude and be a lot better for the Presidents Cups that I can play in."
Australian Associated Press
