One of golf’s most unique personalities is back in the saddle this week.
Viktor Hovland is set to tee it up at the DP World India Championship, his first start since withdrawing from the final two sessions of the Ryder Cup with a neck injury. Hovland said he was undecided on traveling halfway around the world because of the injury but played two 18-hole practice rounds and said his neck felt “OK,” prompting him to try to play this week.
When Hovland withdrew from Sunday Singles, it invoked the Ryder Cup’s envelope rule for the first time in 32 years. Each captain writes a player’s name down and it’s sealed in an envelope. If someone on either side is forced to withdraw due to injury, the opposing team’s envelope is opened and that player will sit out singles.
For the U.S., Harris English was the name in the envelope chosen by Captain Keegan Bradley.
As part of the captains’ agreement, the two sides agreed that if a player can’t perform because of injury or illness, his match would be declared a draw, not a forfeit, and each side would get a half-point. At the time, the half point moved Europe to need only two points in Sunday singles to retain the Ryder Cup and was met with plenty of scrutiny at the time.
Bradley said the rule needed to change, defending English. European captain Luke Donald was quick to cite Ryder Cup history when the rule benefited the United States and how it hasn’t been an issue until it went against the red, white and blue.
But Hovland was never asked about the situation until Tuesday in India. And in typical Hovland fashion, he broke down the situation with an in-depth explanation.
“That’s a good question. The whole situation was pretty upsetting, just the fact that I didn’t get to play, and I felt really bad for Harris, who also didn’t get to play a match, even though there was nothing wrong with him. He just didn’t get to play, and he was upset about that, and I feel very bad for not being able to compete.
“It’s tough. I think we’re so used to, in sports, that if you can’t play because you’re hurt, obviously that should be a loss of point. But I think in the spirit of the Ryder Cup and the spirit of the game and the history of it, knowing that this Ryder Cup is just a part of many, many Ryder Cups to come, I think it’s more of a gentlemen’s agreement that OK, you were hurt this time and maybe the next time there’s a guy on the U.S.’s team and we’re all kind of sympathetic about the person being hurt and not being able to play.
“I think there’s kind of a mutual understanding that if we were healthy we would all go out there and play. I don’t think people are using that to really finagle the system and try and squeak by.
“Also to the other point, if you do change the rule and you give away a point, now there’s also the angle that OK, knowing that the other team is going to put out their best player most likely in the first few groups, they can just kind of put me out as a sacrificial lamb and take the L against their best player. So there’s other ways around it, and I don’t think there’s any ideal way to do it. . . I think that’s just a better way overall to do it, even though it’s just a tough situation, and at the end of the day, I think we’d all be wanting to go out there and play.”
Hovland’s neck injury is something that has been bugging him for months, dating to the early part of the season. The timing of it flaring up was unfortunate, but he’s hoping those issues don’t flare up in India.
“I think one of the big things, you don’t have to hit driver out here, very much at least,” Hovland said. “That definitely helps my neck because it’s definitely the driver, I think, that gives me the biggest amount of pain. Hopefully we’ll stick to the 3-iron, and the neck will be fine.”
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