Even the Ryder Cup ties ensure we have a winner and a loser.
But no The Ryder Cup loser has left as snakebitten as Harris English left Bethpage at the end of September.
“That’s where it all started,” English said Wednesday on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio, talking about the accident that cost him Sunday’s Ryder Cup. “I mean, you’re obviously pretty angry. I’m getting ready, I’m getting ready to go play a singles match in the Ryder Cup on Sunday and then Keegan came and told me.”
Maybe you remember the story. During Saturday morning’s alternating shot combinations, Viktor Hovland holed a courageous par putt on the 17th hole to protect a European lead, resulting in a thunderous fist pump that silenced the American crowd. As Hovland delivered his follow-up, he felt something squeezing his neck – a pain that only increased as he and Robert MacIntyre pulled off a 1-up victory on the 18th. By the time the afternoon sessions started, it was clear that Hovland would no longer be able to compete. (Later, MRIs would diagnose Hovland with a bulging disc in his neck.)
But there was just one problem: the Europeans had one more day of competition at Bethpage. Hovland was one of 12 players expected to battle to secure the European Ryder Cup lead in Sunday’s singles matches.
As Sunday morning dawned at Bethpage, European Ryder Cup officials shared the unfortunate news: Hovland was not healthy enough to participate. But instead of ceding his point to a player on the American side, the Europeans took advantage of an unusual Ryder Cup rule: the so-called ‘Envelope Rule’, which requires both captains to present an envelope to their last-ranked player, who will be left out of the competition on Sunday in the event of an injury to the other side. Should an injury cause a player to withdraw, the injured player and the ‘envelope player’ will remain out, resulting in a halved match and 0.5 points on each side of the ledger.
No player was more affected by this rule than the Englishman, the 36-year-old Ryder Cup veteran who had played some of the best golf of his life in 2025 to earn a spot on the US team. When word got out that Hovland couldn’t compete, word soon followed that Engels was the envelope rule selectee on the American side. He would be forced to sit out Sunday’s singles matches.
The line was an esoteric piece of Ryder Cup lore — something you might not have even known existed (especially if you don’t follow GOLF.com’s social media channels) before Hovland’s injury. But on Sunday afternoon the internet was on fire.
It’s been a long two months for Engels since that Sunday morning in Bethpage. But before his first PGA Tour start since the Cup at the RSM Classic, English sat down with SiriusXM’s Gravy and the Sleeze to talk about that long morning at Bethpage.
English said he didn’t get much time to mope. American captain Keegan Bradley quickly gave him an earpiece and a microphone and sent him onto the field to look after the remaining eleven players in their matches.
“It was a bit of a shock,” he said. “I had to process that for a while, then put on my earpiece and put on my microphone and then go back to being a pseudo-assistant captain.”
Ultimately, the Europeans would finish off the Americans in a nail-biter, with the American side winning six of a possible 11 matches – and tying another five – to fall 1.5 points short of a Ryder Cup victory.
The good news for English? His point against Hovland wouldn’t have mattered in the grand scheme of things: even a win wouldn’t have turned the tide.
The bad news, however, was clear: Engels was robbed of his Ryder Cup moment – even if the memories were still sweet.
“I had a great time. It was incredible to see those guys compete on Sunday and almost come back to beat the Europeans. I looked at the matchups early that morning and said, ‘I could see a scenario where we could literally win every game,'” English said. “And that almost happened, and I’m so happy to be part of that team and see those guys compete all the way to the finish.”
Of course, the chance at a Ryder Cup Sunday Singles match may not come again for English, a Tour lifer with two Cups to his name. He will be 38 when the Cup returns to Adare Manor, Ireland in 2027. But as Keegan Bradley showed us this year, stranger things have happened than a 38-year-old making a bid for the team.
“The Ryder Cup is amazing. It’s the pinnacle of our sport. It’s something I always want to be a part of,” English said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to play an away game in Ireland in two years’ time and I’m going to do my best and work as hard as I can to get back there.”
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