The 2025 Ryder Cup has seen the ‘Envelope Rule’ come into play, with Harris English set to miss the final round of the tournament after Viktor Hovland’s withdrawal
Harris English will be sitting out the final round of the 2025 Ryder Cup due to the activation of the ‘Envelope Rule’, triggered by Viktor Hovland’s withdrawal through injury.
Norwegian golfer Hovland had to bow out from Saturday evening’s fourball session because of a neck injury, leaving Team Europe captain Luke Donald anxious about his status for Sunday. Hovland was subsequently taken for additional scans.
Just thirty minutes before Sunday’s singles session, it was announced that Hovland had to withdraw. Hovland had played a significant role in Team Europe’s dominant performance over the first three sessions, where they left Team USA trailing.
What is the envelope rule?
This forced Team USA to also withdraw a player, with Bradley choosing Ryder Cup newcomer English. Mirror US Sport has provided an explanation of what the Ryder Cup envelope rule actually is.
Before the Ryder Cup kicks off, each captain writes down the name of one player and places it in an envelope, to be used in the rare event of a player having to withdraw from the Sunday session.
If a player from one team has to withdraw, the other team presents their envelope player to be matched against them.
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The player whose name is written down is essentially excluded from the Sunday session, and is paired against the injured player, resulting in neither playing and the voided game being declared a tie.
Each team’s total is increased by half a point. With Hovland’s withdrawal, Europe begins the session with 12 points, while Team USA starts with 5.
Since English was the player designated by Bradley prior to the Ryder Cup, he won’t participate in Sunday’s session and will split a point with the sidelined Hovland.
What’s been said?
A crushed Hovland said: “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.
“Not being able to do so is pretty heartbreaking. I will be backing my team as hard as I can and rooting them on.”
Team USA captain Bradley then appeared on Sky Sports to react to the withdrawal, and indicated he wasn’t too happy about losing English – or the half point.
He said: “It’s tough. It’s a strange rule, but we’ve got to go with what the rules say.”
Bradley then lifted the lid on English’s reaction to learning he was the envelope player, saying: “He took it so well, I’m really proud of him.”
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