What happens if a Ryder Cup player gets injured? The ‘envelope rule’ explained
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On the rare occasion a player should have to pull out during the competition, the Ryder Cup envelope rule will come into force. Here’s what happens in that scenario…
While it is one of golf’s most iconic events, there is one interesting aspect of it that perhaps remains something of an unknown. And that is the Ryder Cup envelope rule.
It was put in place in 1979 when the Ryder Cup was extended to include Continental Europe and has only been brought into effect on a few occasions.
But what is it?
The envelope rule is enforced when a player is injured to the point they can’t play in the Sunday singles.
If someone is injured for the fourball or foursomes matches across the opening two days, it doesn’t pose the same kind of problem as there are four players on each side sitting out anyway. It is probably far from ideal for captains, who will likely have to adjust a plan that has long been in place for their pairings, but it is manageable.
However, in the Sunday singles when all 12 players from each team are in action, an injury does cause an issue, and that is where the envelope rule comes in.
When the captains – in this case Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald – submit their singles lineups at Bethpage, they will also hand over a sealed envelope with the name of one player written down inside.
More often than not the envelopes remains sealed and nobody ever finds out the names inside. But if someone on the opposing team gets injured, the envelope will be opened and the name of the player written down will sit out the singles and that match will be considered a half.
For example, it could go something like this at Bethpage…
- Player X is ruled out of Sunday’s singles for Team Europe through injury
- The American envelope is opened to reveal Player X’s name inside
- Player X and Y both sit out and are awarded a half-point each
Why was the Ryder Cup envelope rule different in 2021?
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a second envelope was handed over by team captains Steve Stricker and Padraig Harrington at Whistling Straits with the names of three more players written down in the order in which they would have to sit out in the event of positive tests on either side.
Fortunately, and as is often the case, the envelopes weren’t required. However, while it is not something either team would want to come into effect, it has happened in the past.
When has the Ryder Cup envelope rule come into play before?
In 1991, Steve Pate and some of his American teammates were involved in a minor caravan accident on the Wednesday of Ryder Cup week at Kiawah Island. Pate played only one session across the opening two days and was benched for the Sunday singles due to the injuries he sustained. That meant England’s David Gilford was forced to miss out after being chosen by European captain Bernard Gallacher.
Most recently, Team USA’s Lanny Wadkins volunteered to sit out in 1993 at The Belfry after Sam Torrance picked up a foot injury and couldn’t play.
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If a player gets injured, the Ryder Cup envelope rule comes into force.
