When an injured Viktor Hovland scratched himself from Sunday singles, the so-called “Envelope Rule” was enacted. Under that agreement, each captain — the skippers at Bethpage were Keegan Bradley (U.S.) and Luke Donald (Europe) — submits an envelope containing a player’s name in advance of the singles matches. Should a player from the opposing team withdraw on account of injury or illness, out comes the opposing team’s envelope and whoever’s name is sealed inside also sits out the singles matches, with half a point going to each side.
When the rule came into play at Bethpage, it drew no shortage of scorn. Among the questions that surfaced: Why should the U.S. be penalized for a European player’s inability to play? And why should any player — in this case, Harris English — be denied his hard-earned opportunity to play a match on one of golf’s grandest stages? Sure, it’s sporting to split the point, but, naysayers argued, surely the rule needs some rethinking now that the Ryder Cup has evolved from a friendly exhibition to a high-stakes, hyper-charged event at which legacies are shaped.
Another team event, in progress this week, might have the solution.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Skechers World Champions Cup, that might be because it debuted in 2023 and was cancelled in 2024 on account of bad weather, meaning this week’s playing — at Feather Sound CC near Tampa, Fla. — is only its second edition. The event is the PGA Tour Champions’ answer to the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, with teams of 50-and-older golfers from the U.S., Europe and the rest of the world playing five sessions over three days. There are six players on each side, including a playing-captain, and also a pair of vice-captains.
If there’s a player on the three World Champions Cup squads who you wouldn’t expect to fall prey to illness, it might be the gym-going, whole-grain-eating ageless wonder, Bernhard Langer. And yet last weekend, Langer began feeling crummy (sore throat, achiness, low energy), and when he arrived at Feather Sound, he still wasn’t feeling himself — so much so that Langer decided it best to sit out the first day of matches Thursday.
Every player plays every session at the World Champions Cup, so one of the event’s rules was set in motion: European captain Darren Clarke could replace Langer with one of Clarke’s two assistant captains, Søren Kjeldsen and Jesper Parnevik. Clarke elected Kjeldsen, who sprang into action Thursday morning. Playing alongside Alex Cjeka in a nine-hole best-ball match, the duo made 6 birdies and picked up a session-tying-best 10.5 points before collecting another 9.5 points in the afternoon modified alternate-shot format.
“Bernhard was not great when we came here,” said Team Europe player Thomas Bjørn, who, like Kjeldsen, hails from Denmark. “Søren, you could see that he got kind of the idea that he might be playing. He prepared well. I think that says a lot about him. A lot of guys will have come here as a vice captain and just kind of bobbled around and not doing anything. Søren prepared like he was going to play, and that’s why he went up and played well.”
Sensible and fun rule, right? And one that makes you wonder whether it should also be incorporated at the Ryder Cup.
For one, it would add some spice to vice-captain selections (you’d need at least one baller who’d be ready to play on short notice), and two, it would eliminate the awkwardness of having to split a crucial Sunday point without playing for it.
If the rule had been in place at Bethpage, Donald would have had five assistant captains from whom to choose: Thomas Bjørn, Francesco Molinari, Edoardo Molinari, Alex Noren and José María Olazábal. And there’s little doubt about who Donald would have landed on: Noren, who shined in the second half of the season and who many observers believe could have been on the team as a player.
How great would that have been: a Ryder Cup snub getting a shot at redemption at . . . the Ryder Cup!
Here’s hoping the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe are taking notes this week.
