She is the golfer who said her team blamed her for losing the Solheim Cup after withdrawing from the singles with injury

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The envelope rule in the Ryder Cup is likely to come under greater scrutiny than ever after Europe’s victory at Bethpage Black this past week, with Viktor Hovland earning a half point in the singles despite withdrawing with injury.

Viktor Hovland played twice over the first two days at the Ryder Cup. However, he had to be replaced on Saturday afternoon in New York. And he ended up sitting out the singles due to a neck issue.

Ryder Cup rules dictate that his singles match against a player nominated by Keegan Bradley before the week starts is tied. Unsurprisingly, Bradley called for the rule to be changed after Team USA ended up losing 15-13.

You would imagine that Bradley would have been a lot happier with the rule used in the Solheim Cup, where the injured player forfeits the match 10&8.

It is a situation which has only cropped up on one occasion so far in the history of the Solheim Cup.

The player who lost 10&8 in Solheim Cup singles after withdrawing with injury

Europe went into the 2011 event looking to end a run of three consecutive American victories. Killeen Castle ended up playing host to a thriller.

There was little to pick between the two teams after the first two days. Team USA clawed back a two-point deficit after three sessions to ensure that the sides were tied heading into the singles.

The matches ended up going down to the wire. Suzann Pettersen won the final three holes to beat Michelle Wie 1 up. Meanwhile, Caroline Hedwall won the last two holes of her match to take the home team to the brink of victory.

Azahara Munoz’s victory over 2026 US captain Angela Stanford confirmed a 15-13 victory for the Europeans.

But Alison Nicholls’ side had also been awarded a point after two-time major champion Cristie Kerr could not compete. Her match was declared a 10&8 victory to Karen Stupples.

Kerr was an injury concern throughout the week. Nevertheless, Rosie Jones played her in every single session. The decision backfired with Kerr clearly in agony as she attempted to warm up.

What Cristie Kerr’s teammates initially thought of the decision to forfeit her match

Of course, so much is going on on the final day of these team competitions. While the players attempt to concentrate on their own games, it must be nearly impossible not to think about the projected score, particularly when near a leaderboard. It can become chaos.

So perhaps it is no surprise that some of Kerr’s teammates were not initially sympathetic having seen her play all of Friday and Saturday. As she told golf.com in 2021, there was a lot of confusion about what had happened.

“The low was definitely Ireland in 2011. I’d developed such bad tendinitis in my right arm, I couldn’t even lift a straw. I’d played in the early matches. But I was taking so much medicine and in so much pain, I was hyperventilating, I was really out of it. The medics took me into a room and wouldn’t let me leave. I couldn’t even go out to the first tee and concede. I had to pull out and we lost by a point. It’s hard to describe how bad that feels to have your team look at you like you had cost them the Solheim Cup,” she said.

“I think that’s how they looked at it before they knew the whole story,” she added, when asked whether her teammates actually blamed her.

“That’s how a lot of people saw it at first. People thought I didn’t want to play. But the truth is I was not allowed to leave the team room. My blood pressure was through the roof. I was in physical distress. I probably should have gone to the tee first to concede before I saw the medics. But that’s not how it worked out. It was very tough. At the same time, my thinking was that I wouldn’t have wished the experience on any of my teammates. I knew how strong I was. I knew I could take it and that I’d recover. And I would rather take the hurt than have that pain go to someone else. That was a unique perspective that came from all of that.”

It would be interesting to know what Viktor Hovland would have done had a similar rule been in place at Bethpage.

With Europe well ahead, he may have felt that he was still able to sit out.

But had the scoreline been a lot closer, the decision would have become even more agonising for Hovland as clearly, he was in no condition to tee it up.