Inside Ryder Cup Day 2: Team USA’s practice, Marco Simone’s perilous rough

Welcome to GOLF.com’s “Seen & Heard” video series, in which we give you an inside look at golf’s biggest events through the eyes and ears of our onsite crew. On deck this week: the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club in Rome. Let’s go!

ICYMI: Inside Day 1 at the Ryder Cup: the Colosseum, pasta, early Marco Simone findings

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On Day 2 at the Ryder Cup, morale was high. Thanks to a proper night’s sleep, the fog of jet lag was dissipating, and the GOLF team got to work observing Team USA’s practice round. Which players would make the most sense as teammates?

Sean Zak was looking forward to seeing who Brooks Kopeka would gravitate toward in Tuesday’s practice session at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club. Turns out, Koepka played with Wyndham Clark.

“That makes sense to me,” Dylan Dethier said. “A couple of alpha boys, hit it pretty hard. Athletes. I think you can see it.”

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The vibe was casual on Tuesday, with Collin Morikawa sporting his polo untucked, and captain Zach Johnson rocking shorts and statement socks.

It was a beautiful day, and reports from the ground described the conditions as pure, with the greens running at about an 11 on the Stimp.

The course presents a stiff test in terms of the walk required, and Dethier speculated that it would be a surprise to see a player tee it up in five matches.

“I think there’s enough parity, enough depth on this team — and it’s a hard enough walk — that for the most part, the U.S. players will just play three or four sessions each,” he said.

Dethier and Zak explored the course, and found a number of different lies in the various cuts of rough. Basically, if you’re going to miss, missing big into the gallery walkways will likely result in a better situation than being a few yards off the fairway.

On Tuesday, we also heard from some players. Jordan Spieth expressed confidence in Justin Thomas’ prospects this week, Patrick Cantlay revealed that Xander Schauffele possesses Tony Robbins-level positivity and Schauffele sang the praises of Cantlay’s steady game.

The 2023 Ryder Cup begins on Friday. Want a sneak preview of all the action? You can watch the crew’s highlights from Tuesday at Marco Simone in the video above. And make sure to tune in every day this week for more exclusive content from the 2023 Ryder Cup.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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