Ryder Cup star withdraws from singles forcing unexpected score update | Golf | Sport

Viktor Hovland has been forced to withdraw from the singles at the Ryder Cup due to a neck injury, triggering the rarely used envelope rule at Bethpage Black. The Norwegian golfer sustained the injury on Saturday and was optimistic about his chances of playing on the final day.

However, it was confirmed before play commenced that Hovland would not participate, and this led to the implementation of the envelope rule, with Harris English named by USA captain Keegan Bradley. Before the tournament, both captains nominate one player who would not play in the event of an opponent’s injury.

The nominated player then pairs with the injured opponent, and the match ends as a half for both teams. This half point nudges Europe closer to retaining the Ryder Cup, bringing their total to 12 points, just two shy of the target.

The Europeans have dominated the opening two days, winning all four sessions amidst a hostile American crowd. However, European captain Luke Donald emphasised that his team would not become complacent: “Our goal is always to win every session, you know, no matter where we are, and that will be our goal tomorrow.”

He added, “We love to do things that haven’t been done before, and we’ve achieved quite a few things this week already. But the goal for me is still, we’re close to the finish line, but we still have a long way to go.

These guys are very aware of what the difficult environment is going to be like tomorrow. So we’re excited for the challenge, but our goal will be to win the session tomorrow.”