nd U.S. goalkeeper Jackie Briggs had three saves in the first half.I think we were a bit outplayed, U.S. midfielder Michelle Vittese said. We dont ever like to do that. When we know that, I think it hits us a bit harder. Our job was just to get out there and do what we know we can do.The Americans had

1. A new commissionerThe transition will occur a bit more quickly than expected, but that should be no problem when Jay Monahan takes over as PGA Tour commissioner on Jan. 1. Tim Finchem has been grooming him for the job, naming him deputy commissioner in 2014 -- a position that had not existed for 20 years, one that Finchem filled prior to his move up in 1994 -- as well as chief executive officer duties for the past nine months.It would have never come to Mondays policy board vote had the outcome not already been determined long ago. The PGA Tour does not operate in that manner. Monahan comes to the top job with eight years of experience at the tour, not to mention two different stints as a tournament director as well as key roles in marketing and sales. He has been doing much of the day to day work for the past year.As Finchem has often stated since announcing his intentions to step down, there is a big team of executives in place that helped him put the tour in a strong position, fully sponsored tournaments throughout the year, robust purses and a solid contingent of young star players to build around.2. The issuesThat is not to say Monahan, 46, will not have things to tackle immediately. A big one is FedExs sponsorship of the season-long points race that concludes with a $35 million playoff series, of which $10-million is presented to the winner. Rory McIlroy just celebrated the 10-year anniversary of the system by pocketing the big prize when he won the Tour Championship and the overall title.But the 2016-17 season is the last under the current deal with FedEx, and there is some mild surprise that an extension has not been announced. Is the tour waiting to let Monahan do so? Is a potential different sponsor in play? That is a huge sum of money to find if it isnt there, and it is hard to believe Finchem would stick Monahan with such a burden. Yet it is an issue to be resolved.Television rights deals are also not far off, and they are a big part of Finchems legacy. He used the popularity of Tiger Woods to leverage huge deals that resulted in enormous purses over the length of his tenure. The current contracts with CBS and NBC run through 2021, but there is an opt-out clause that can kick in next year.If the PGA Tour is willing to shake things up, it is possible that is why the FedEx deal has not been announced. Nevertheless, those are just two of the big items facing Monahan as he takes over.3. Wish listThere are unlikely to be huge changes in the short term at PGA Tour headquarters. Such is the relative popularity and success of Finchem and Monahans transition that he would not be compelled to stir things up, especially in a controversial manner.While the commissioner does not have the power to make changes at will, he can certainly have a big influence. For now, well put forth two things wed like to see, one inside the ropes and the other outside.First, slow play. Everyone talks about it, but nobody does anything about it. Watching on television doesnt come close to showing the problems. Spectators at events, however, must get frustrated with the length of time between shots, the constant fretting on the greens and any number of issues that have an influence on how long it takes to play. The players themselves get annoyed with the pace, which seems to be accepted as five-plus hours.What to do? The fine system in place clearly does not serve as a deterrent, so some sort of stroke penalties have to be enforced, maybe as quickly as after a single warning. If it means a shot clock, so be it. If it means heavy fines in addition, even better. And they should be announced. There is no better way to get the slow-pokes moving than to hit them with stroke penalties and call them out publicly.Second, transparency in discipline. Finchem has held firm in his belief that announcing player transgressions doesnt do anyone any good. To maintain the tours image, he has kept any disciplinary measures -- save for positive performance-enhancing drug tests -- private.We dont necessarily need to hear about every time a player cusses at a volunteer, or skips a mandatory meeting. But to keep quiet positive tests for recreational drugs not only creates doubt about the overall testing program, it hardly serves as a means to stop the behavior.Major sports leagues typically announce when a player fails a drug test, for whatever variety. Just like other athletes, golfers are not perfect, and some have issues. To keep it secret with a fine or suspension that nobody knows about only serves to protect the violator from embarrassment.It also invites skepticism of the overall anti-doping program. There are few who believe that performance-enhancing drugs are prevalent in golf. But if you dont announce failed drug tests for recreational drugs, why should we believe youll announce them for a failed PED test?4. Speaking of drug testsThe International Golf Federation reported that all of the golfers who competed in the Olympic Games in Rio passed anti-doping tests associated with their participation.The organization which oversaw the competition said 197 golfers, men and women, were tested between May 6 and the close of the games on Aug. 21, and no anti-doping violations were discovered. The IGF said each player was tested at least once.Olympic requirements are more stringent than what players face on the PGA Tour, another issue for the new commissioner to consider.5. Fore!It seems simple enough, but amazingly, such a shout out for an errant shot doesnt always occur at the pro level. Although this might not be high on Monahans list, it is another thing to consider.6. Ryder Cup chatterSome five weeks after the conclusion of the Ryder Cup, the event continues to be a big topic of conversation. It speaks to the events popularity and intensity that even this far removed -- and with so much time before the next one in France -- it can garner such interest and speculation.So it was that Rory McIlroy and Lee Westwood have both come out in favor of changes to a European Ryder Cup selection process that has seemingly worked just fine for the better part of the last 30 years. The United States 17-11 victory at Hazeltine was just the third in 11 tries for the Americans.Some might argue that this is the natural progression of things, that the Americans were bound to finally win one, that having the event on home soil, with every player earning at least one point didnt suggest some fundamental shift in the outcome but rather the way it works out sometimes.But McIlroy and Westwood have a point when they suggest the Europeans might not have fielded their best team. Englands Paul Casey was not allowed to play because he was not a member of the European Tour; Scotlands Russell Knox could have been chosen by captain Darren Clarke, but he would have made the team on his own had his victory at the 2015 WGC-HSBC Champions counted -- it didnt because he was not yet a member. Both are ranked in the top 20 in the world.Westwood put his thoughts out last week at the Turkish Airlines Open. McIlroy did so in a podcast with nolayingup.com after having said the same thing prior to the Ryder Cup at the BMW Championship. Ive always said it should be the 12 best Europeans, regardless of whether they are a member of the Tour or not, McIlroy said.Somewhat surprisingly, European Tour chief Keith Pelley did not shoot down the notion. Speaking with reporters in Turkey, Pelley said the Tour would look at changes to the qualification criteria. We will adjust the qualification system if we feel we need to, he said.Any such changes would be likely to occur fairly quickly; the European Tour is said to be keen to name its 2018 captain in December.7. The carrot of European Tour membershipDespite the wishes of McIlroy and Westwood -- and the apparent openness of Pelley to consider it -- it is very difficult to imagine the European Tour not requiring membership in order to play in the Ryder Cup. Unlike the PGA Tour, which has no significant financial stake in the Ryder Cup -- and doesnt see potential Ryder Cup players not playing its tour -- the event is everything to the European Tour, which all but exists due to the enormous amount of money that is reaped from the event, especially when it is played in Europe.McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Raphael Cabrera Bello, Sergio Garcia and Danny Willett are all members of the PGA Tour as well as the European Tour. Westwood and Martin Kaymer, both 2016 European Ryder Cuppers, have been members. Its not a stretch to think that Thomas Pieters and Matthew Fitzpatrick -- both of whom attended college in the United States -- might want to join the PGA Tour some day.That doesnt mean they all couldnt play both tours. But as Casey pointed out, it can be difficult. He made the tough decision to not join the European Tour because he is based in Arizona and wanted to cut down on travel with a young family.If the European Tour were to change its rules in this way, how many would opt out? Its tough to envision McIlroy doing so, or Stenson or Rose. But all three live most of the year outside of Europe (McIlroy and Stenson in Florida, Rose in the Bahamas). They make plenty of money playing the PGA Tour and select events. Maybe it would be tempting?That said, if youre putting together the team, you would love to know that every European is a possibility -- not just those who take up membership.As captain, my very first priority was to know I had the 12 very best players available; Darren Clarke didnt, said Tony Jacklin, who captained the European side four times. I agree totally with Rory and Lee.8. Patrick Reeds membershipPatrick Reed took up membership with the European Tour last year, a perk for having won the 2014 WGC-Cadillac Championship -- which comes with a five-year European Tour exemption.Reed, who has five PGA Tour victories, met the criteria last year and competed in the Race to Dubai, finishing tied for 10th at the DP World Tour Championship and 16th in the final standings.He was all set to do the same thing this year, and fulfilling the obligations was seemingly easier. Because the Ryder Cup and the Olympics both counted toward the five-event minimum (outside of the majors and WGCs), Reed seemed an easy bet to make it.But he pulled out of last weeks Turkish Airlines Open. And when he didnt enter this weeks Nedbank Challenge, he was removed from the Race to Dubai list -- as he wasnt going to play the necessary number of events, he wasnt eligible for next weeks season-ending event.That would seem to suggest hes lost his European Tour membership, but not so said Pelley last week in Turkey. In comments reported by The Telegraph, Pelley is using his powers as the tours head to basically give Reed a pass.It would be my decision to keep him as a full member of the European Tour, Pelley said. And obviously the justification would be his desire to want to be here in Turkey.Reed is believed to have pulled out due to the security concerns in the region. McIlroy did the same thing. It was last year that Pelley granted McIlroy a similar reprieve as he had not met the tour minimum; he reasoned that McIlroy would have met the minimum were it not for the ankle injury that forced him to miss seven weeks of the 2015 season.9. About those playing opportunities ...Rod Pampling won for the first time in 10 years on the PGA Tour when he captured the Shriners Hospital for Children Open in Las Vegas. He did so after playing on the Web.com Tour for the last three. After getting back to the tour via the Web.com Finals. At the age of 47.But perhaps the best thing about his victory -- or maybe the worst, if you believe there is too much golf, too many players in tournaments -- is that Pampling was the beneficiary of a PGA Tour clerical error which saw the field size in Las Vegas go from 132 to 144. The idea had been to have it be fewer to deal with daylight issues. Pampling, based on his priority ranking coming out of the Web.com finals, would not have been in the field if only 132 were allowed.He took advantage and won the tournament, and now is exempt for the rest of this season and two more years. And he provides fodder for those who believe the more playing opportunities, the better.Gump Worsley Jersey Large . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Custom Stars Jerseys . -- Running backs Darren McFadden and Rashad Jennings were back at practice for the Oakland Raiders on Wednesday despite being hampered by hamstring injuries. http://www.customstarsjersey.com/ . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. Cheap Stars Jerseys . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15. Stars Jerseys China .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.RIO DE JANEIRO -- Britain snatched Pool B out of the United States hands, scoring two goals in the final eight minutes Saturday to defeat the Americans 2-1 in womens field hockey.Sophie Bray scored midway through the fourth period, then Alex Danson barely got the stick on a long shot and redirected it into the goal three minutes later for the clincher.The United States would have won the pool with a draw because of goal difference, making Britains strong finish more dramatic.We have to show resilience, British player Kate Richardson-Walsh said. The American side are full of positive energy, full of resilience themselves. So we have to learn from that and feed off that.Topping the group means Britain avoids possibly running into the No. 1-ranked Netherlands, the Group A winner, until the final. The Netherlands, the two-time defending Olympic champion, has allowed just one goal in five matches at the Rio de Janeiro Games.In quarterfinal action on Monday, Britain will play Spain, the United States will face Germany, the Netherlands plays Argentina and Australia will square off with rival New Zealand.The Americans, who havent medaled since 1984, posted the best pool play performance in team history.Weve had a good set of pool games, United States coach Craig Parnham said. Were disappointed with the result tonight, but overall and for the week, weve been very good. Huge amount of positives to come out of the week. Todays not the worst thing that can happen. We can learn some lessons from there, make sure we regroup and reset before the quarterfinall.ddddddddddddBritain outshot the United States 6-1 in the first half, but the match was scoreless at the break. Britain failed to score on four penalty corners, and U.S. goalkeeper Jackie Briggs had three saves in the first half.I think we were a bit outplayed, U.S. midfielder Michelle Vittese said. We dont ever like to do that. When we know that, I think it hits us a bit harder. Our job was just to get out there and do what we know we can do.The Americans had been a second-half team throughout pool play, and they looked ready to produce another strong effort. Vittese scored midway through the third quarter, and the United States took a 1-0 lead into the fourth period.Britain felt it was a matter of time before the dam burst. Briggs, who had been nearly impenetrable at the games, allowed two goals on two in the final period.We had a lot of possession, and just needed to turn it into a goal, Richardson-Walsh said. Its just believing, knowing that it would come.Two five-minute yellow cards hampered the United States in the second half. Julia Reinprecht got one late in the third period, and Vittese got one with 10 minutes remaining in the match.Britain scored its first goal with Vittese out.Our flow was interrupted a little bit by some of the cards, Parnham said. Playing with 10 is difficult, and we played a lot of that second half with 10. That makes a big difference.---Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter (at)CliffBruntAP ' ' '