Report: Spieth, Cantlay and Schauffele miss first Ryder Cup practice session

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson has revealed why Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and Patrick Cantlay missed the first practice session in Italy.

Report: Spieth, Cantlay and Schauffele miss first Ryder Cup practice session

U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson confirmed the reason why Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay missed the first practice session after Team USA landed in Rome. 

Johnson and his team of 12 golfers and five vice-captains arrived at the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Italy on 8 September ahead of the contest which begins later this month. 

The 47-year-old captain - who also claimed Tiger Woods desperately wants to be in Rome - revealed all the three golfers had 'family matters' that 'supersede what we're doing'. 

Related: Six things you need to know about Ryder Cup course

Johnson was hesitant to go into any further detail about what potentially has happened, only telling the Associated Press:

"Jordan Spieth, Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay have family matters that definitely supersede what we're doing."

Schauffele and Cantlay qualified for the U.S. side automatically whereas Spieth was reliant on a captain's pick from Johnson.

At the time of writing it was unknown whether Spieth, Cantlay and Schauffele were going to play in the team's practice day on 10 September.  

The U.S. side are the favourites for the Cup, played over 29 September - 1 October.

They are hoping to become the first side to win on European soil in more than 30 years. 

"The guys are excited"

Johnson also said the team were impressed with their first look of the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club. 

He said:

"The common sentiments that I heard on the golf course was they really liked it, which is awesome, and I knew they would because Marco Simone is very, very good.
"The rough was very thick. That was the other nugget that we talked about a lot. The putting greens were very good, very true, very nice.
"The fairways were awesome. It's a great test and it's a really, really good matchplay golf course. So the guys are excited about the competition."

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