Viktor Hovland was forced to withdraw from the Saturday evening fourballs session at the Ryder Cup due to a neck injury.
The Norwegian won his Saturday morning game alongside Robert MacIntyre and had initially been named to play alongside Matt Fitzpatrick in the afternoon fourballs session.
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However, he was forced to withdraw from his match due to injury, sparking concern about Sunday’s closing singles session. He was replaced by Tyrrell Hatton, who was on standby after Hovland felt discomfort during his morning foursomes game.
Hovland withdrew from the Travelers Championship earlier this year, again due to a neck injury.
Speaking on Saturday evening, Hovland said:
I’m going to get some treatment this afternoon and tonight, and hopefully I will be okay for the singles tomorrow.
European fans will certainly hope that Hovland is indeed able to play on Sunday but, should he be forced out, the tournament organisers could be forced to invoke an obscure rule that has not been used in over 30 years.
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What happens if Viktor Hovland cannot play Sunday at the Ryder Cup
Given the fact that Sunday’s session is the only one at the Ryder Cup that sees all 12 players on each team in action, any injury withdrawal presents a headache for tournament organisers.
However, there is a little-known contingency plan in place.
At every Ryder Cup, the team captains are required to write the name of one of their 12 players in secret, which is kept sealed in an envelope by the tournament organisers.
Should any player be forced out of the singles session through injury, the opposition’s envelope is opened and the player named is also withdrawn from play. In this scenario, only 11 singles games will take place. The match between those two players is then halved, with each team receiving half a point.
If Viktor Hovland is indeed ruled out of Sunday, this would see the American team’s envelope opened and one of their 12 players seeing their tournament come to an unexpected end.
It is a difficult decision for both captains, and one that both surely hope will never see the light of day, given the implications of choosing one of your team to sit out the singles.
The “envelope” rule has only ever been needed twice in Ryder Cup history, since it was introduced in 1979.
At the 1991 Ryder Cup, American Steve Pate was involved in a car accident in the week leading up to the tournament. He was forced out of Sunday’s action after a flare-up saw him deemed unfit to play. European rookie David Gilford was the man named by European captain Bernard Gallacher.
Two years later, at the Belfry, Sam Torrence was ruled out for Europe due to an infected toe. In a strange occurrence, American veteran Lanny Wadkins had volunteered to be the man named in the envelope by captain Tom Watson, and sat out what would have been his final Ryder Cup match.
Both Luke Donald and Keegan Bradley will hope the “envelope rule” is not required on Sunday, but we could see an unfortunate piece of Ryder Cup history made should Viktor Hovland be forced out.
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