Viktor Hovland’s Absence Triggers Envelope Rule

On Saturday morning, Viktor Hovland began experiencing stiffness in his neck.  Throughout the day, it progressed into a pain that made every movement difficult for the Norwegian golfer.  It got to the point that he had to withdraw for the rest of the day.  He went to get some rest and medical attention.  He went to a local hospital to get a scan done on Saturday night.  On Sunday morning, he couldn’t move his head at all.  Now Hovland is unable to play, and a little-known rule in the Ryder Cup has been triggered for the first time in decades.

Hovland’s Injury

The injury Viktor Hovland is currently dealing with is a lingering one.  He first got it during the Travelers Championship back in June.  He has since dealt with the pain on and off.  It wasn’t until now that things got serious enough for him to step away again.  During Hovland’s MRI scan, it was revealed that the pain and limited movement are due to a bulging disk.  Despite all this, he still tried to warm up at the course.  The pain and limited movement forced him to throw in the towel before the singles began.  Viktor Hovland said in a statement on the matter:

“There is nothing more I would like to do than be out there representing Team Europe and trying to help them win the Ryder Cup today,” Hovland said. “Not being able to do so is pretty heartbreaking. I will be backing my team as hard as I can and rooting them on.”

Withdrawing from the biggest tournament was the last thing Hovland wanted to do.  However ,when he realized that he couldn’t play to the best of his ability, he was left no choice.  This does mean that the Ryder Cup has to implement the envelope rule, something that Kegan Bradley was dreading.

Kegan Bradley Opens The Envelope

The envelope rule is unique to the Ryder Cup and is only used when a player has to withdraw from the singles for whatever reason.  What happens is that each team captain writes the name of a player who has to sit out for a matchup with the player who had to leave.  That match is then worth a half point, all in an effort to keep things fair in Hovland’s absence.  For Team USA, the player in question was Harris English, who can only sit on the sidelines and cheer his team on.  The US team captain, Kagan Bradley, spoke about the rule.

“It’s tough. It’s a strange rule, but we’ve got to go with what the rules say.”

When talking about English’s reaction to the letter, Bradley says that he, “took it so well, I’m really proud of him.”

Hovland Accidentally Made Ryder Cup History

When Viktor Hovland came onto the course with a bulging disk, he accidentally set the course to become part of the Ryder Cup’s history.  The envelope rule is something that was first implemented in 1979 for its first use.  It wasn’t triggered until 1991 and again in 1993, thirty-two years ago.  This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime event, and the captains dread ever having to open that envelope and would rather take that knowledge to the grave.  However, today Viktor Hovland has put his name in Ryder Cup history, but in a way that he would have rather not happened.