US captain Zach Johnson has surprisingly chosen to leave Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas out of the Friday foursomes at the Ryder Cup.
The formidable duo have won four of their six Ryder Cup matches together – but the earliest they can appear is in the second session at Marco Simone in Rome.
Spieth and Thomas teamed up in the first session of the last two Ryder Cups under captains Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk, but Johnson has bucked this trend.
The two-time major champion explained why after announcing his teams at the Opening Ceremony.
“The gist of it is we’ve got 12 guys,” he said. “Unfortunately, I can’t play all 12 in each session. So at some point, somebody’s got to sit. It’s a golf course that demands a lot out of you physically.
“I think it’s an ideal situation where you don’t necessarily want to play everybody all five sessions. I’m not saying that’s what we’re going to do, but you’re taking everything into account.
“Not only that, but the eight guys I have down on paper are the ones that we feel best put us in the position to get off to a great start obviously. Then trying to fill in the holes for the next three – technically three tandems, but four sessions.
“There’s a lot of things that I’d like to keep internal,” he added. “At the same time, I have the utmost confidence in these eight and the utmost confidence in Jordan and Justin.
“I know we’re talking about a great tandem, but it’s a situation where it’s not about their form. They’re playing great. So it’s really just a matter of trying to dissect all five sessions.”
Both Spieth and Thomas earned their spots via a captain’s pick. Spieth is playing in his fifth Ryder Cup, while Thomas is making his third appearance for the USA and holds an impressive 6-2-1 record.
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Instead, Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns will go out first at 6.35am BST to face Masters champion Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.
Max Homa and Open champion Brian Harman will follow against Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg, then Rickie Fowler and Collin Morikawa will face off against Sepp Straka and Shane Lowry.
Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood meet Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay in the final match of the morning session.
The Jordan Spieth-Justin Thomas duo is strong, but why isn’t it among the first pairings for Ryder Cup 2023? Tell us your thoughts on X!
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