MELBOURNE, Australia – In 2015 the PGA Tour reduced the number of available points to 30 at the Presidents Cup at the urging of then-International captain Nick Price, and heading into this year’s matches the circuit reduced the number of team matches a player must play (one) before Sunday.

In both cases the goal was to help narrow the gap in an event that has been wildly one-sided with the U.S. team having won the last eight matches, but following another loss Sunday at Royal Melbourne captain Ernie Els said he is looking for even more change.

“I know it's a PGA Tour-sanctioned event, but to really be able to do what you need to do, you need to be away from the PGA Tour,” Els said. “To make our own rules, to get our own choices, to do our own thing. We need to be separate.”

Els, who seems likely to get another turn as the International side’s captain, compared his concept to the Ryder Cup process, which is governed by both the PGA of America and the European Tour and has been much more competitive. The South African also said any kind of separation would be a “long, long process.”

“We're trying to do it under one umbrella, under the Tour’s office, under their roof and there's a lot of things that clash,” he said. “We need to be able to control our own destiny.”