Hovland Withdrawn; Envelope Rule Halves Match

Viktor Hovland was withdrawn from his Sunday singles match at the Ryder Cup after aggravating a neck injury during Saturday play and after painful shots on the range; he was taken for further scans. Tyrrell Hatton replaced him in Saturday afternoon fourballs, teaming with Matthew Fitzpatrick to win that session. U.S. captain Keegan Bradley had already placed Harris English in the captains’ sealed “envelope,” so the Hovland–English pairing was automatically halved under the envelope rule, awarding each side a half-point and leaving the score Europe 12, USA 5 before singles began. Europe are two points from the 14 needed to retain the Ryder Cup (14.5 would secure an outright win), and captain Luke Donald said the team will push to reach those targets while managing injuries. Europe completed another strong stretch at Bethpage Black heading into Sunday singles.