Tiger Woods attends Jack Nicklaus's US Ryder Cup team-bonding party... but there was no sign of Jordan Spieth or Patrick Reed

Jack Nicklaus hosted his long-awaited Ryder Cup team-bonding party for prospective members of the United States team in Florida on Thursday night, and the attendance of one man in particular caught the eye.

Fresh from revealing he is 'progressing nicely' in his recovery from a third major back surgery, Tiger Woods was spotted smiling at the bash in a picture posted by Nicklaus on Twitter.

The group shot in Nicklaus's kitchen featured 29 of American golf's finest, including Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, Dustin Johnson - and Nicklaus's wife, Barbara. 'Had a few friends over tonight to talk The Ryder Cup 2016 #teamusa,' said the 18-time major winner.

Most of the great and good of American golf were at Jack Nicklaus's Ryder Cup party, including Tiger Woods (top, sixth right)

The happy image was a far cry from the miserable scenes at the end of the last Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, where the US were beaten

But there was one major absentee - Jordan Spieth, the reigning Masters and US Open champion and world No 1, was nowhere to be seen.

That is, however, explained by Spieth's absence from this week's Honda Classic, the PGA Tour tournament hosted by Nicklaus at PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens this week. Spieth has already proven his commitment to the Ryder Cup with his brilliant display on debut at Gleneagles in 2014, and has declared that winning the cup back was his number one goal for the season.

At the peak of his powers, that attitude was never evident in Woods, whose 14 major wins (second only to Nicklaus's haul) is somewhat soured by his record of one Ryder Cup win in seven appearances - he has also missed two more through injury.

But the fallen champion, who is now ranked No 445 in the world following his torturous battle with injury, looked positively delighted to be among his potential team members for the battle against Europe at Hazeltine National in September.

Whether Woods is involved as a player or simply as a vice-captain to Davis Love III - he was appointed to the role last year - remains to be seen, but he is clearly committed to the role.

'Jack and Barbara were incredibly gracious, opening their home to myself, our vice-captains and many potential US Ryder Cup players,' Love said. 'What a wealth of knowledge and perspective from an icon, both on and off the golf course.' 

There was one other notable absentee from Nicklaus's picture. Patrick Reed, the Texan firebrand who made a pugnacious and highly impressive debut at Gleneagles, was not among the players, while some relatively unheralded players were, including Brian Harman, Andrew Loupe and Jason Kokrak.

Woods showed he is 'progressing nicely' from his latest back surgery by posting a video of himself hitting a shot in a simulator

World No 1 Jordan Spieth was not in the picture - he is not playing in Florida this week unlike most of those in attendance

Patrick Reed, the controversial but hugely talented Texan, was also not in the picture despite playing at the Honda Classic nearby

Reed is known to have rubbed up the wrong way several of his fellow pros with his outspoken nature - and unlike Spieth he is playing at the Honda Classic this week.  But he is surely still a shoo-in for a place on Love's team this autumn.

Nicklaus's party is part of a collective effort to improve team bonding and morale within the US Ryder Cup team following a miserable recent record in the biennial showpiece.

The players in attendance were: Zac Blair, Keegan Bradley, Jason Dufner, Tony Finau, Fowler, Harman, Russell Henley, Billy Horschel, John Huh, Dustin Johnson, Chris Kirk, Kevin Kisner, Brooks Koepka, Kokrak, Jamie Lovemark, Loupe, Ben Martin, Phil Mickelson, Brendan Steele, Robert Streb, Jimmy Walker and Gary Woodland.

Also there were vice-captains Jim Furyk, Tom Lehman and Woods, as well as PGA Ryder Cup committee member Pete Bevacqua.

Europe have won eight of the last 10 Ryder Cups, including the epic comeback victory in the Miracle at Medinah during Love's first stint as captain in 2012.

The last Ryder Cup ended in acrimony and embarrassment as Phil Mickelson delivered a withering verdict on captain Tom Watson's leadership, and steps have since been taken to try to end Europe's dominance.

Judging by Woods's smile at Jack's place, Europe captain Darren Clarke might just have a fight on his hands this time.