Europe’s 2025 Ryder Cup win nearly had a huge asterisk next to it, in the eyes of many American fans.
Shockingly, the Ryder Cup hung in the balance down the stretch of Sunday’s singles. Team USA mounted a historic comeback, and despite staring at an embarrassing defeat on Saturday evening, they almost snatched the win.
Their odds of doing so were made even slimmer when Viktor Hovland’s neck injury meant he was unable to compete in singles. He and Harris English were given a half point each, after English’s name was put forward before the tournament as a player who would sit out in the event of an injury to an opponent.
That sparked fury among the American fans, especially as the tournament came down to the wire. Shane Lowry’s putt made it likely that Europe would retain by tying the event 14-14, meaning Hovland’s injury would decide the Ryder Cup.
In the end, that wasn’t the case, as Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre tied their matches to make it 15-13. But after the event, Keegan Bradley called for a change to the rule. Brandel Chamblee disagrees with the U.S. captain and claims he should have handled the situation better.
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Luke Donald said no one was more devastated than Hovland that he was unable to continue in the tournament. He had played well, and proven he was ready for the big stage of Sunday singles.
It was an unfortunate situation, but one that was out of everybody’s control. It would have been unfair to punish either side. Ultimately, the USA were disadvantaged, but only because they were losing. Had they played better over the first two days the Americans would have benefitted from the rule.
That was the point made by Chamblee on his podcast. He said on The Favorite Chamblee, “People tried to say that they should just bring an alternate along. But imagine if they did bring an alternate. I’m not saying this would happen, but it could happen. No doubt.
“If they had an alternate, imagine a scenario where a player is playing horrible. You’re telling me there wouldn’t be instances where someone might be inclined to sit that player, pretend that they are injured and bring in the alternate? It would lead to more controversy.
“You could only take 12 players to a Ryder Cup. The reason they have a captain’s agreement is because it will happen from time to time that a player on either side will get injured that week.
“Is it fair because of injury to lose one whole point? The fairest thing you can do is give each side half a point and carry on. This didn’t just fall out of a tree. They thought about this. This is the fairest agreement you could have. It’s 100% fair and necessary.”
Hovland pulled out of the Travelers Championship earlier this year due to the same neck injury, which he said he was suffering with throughout the back nine on Saturday. It’s not as if he pulled it from thin air.
No matter the rule, there would have been controversy, but Bradley’s reaction didn’t help the situation.
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Bradley seemed oblivious to the rule on Saturday evening when it became a possibility that Hovland would miss Sunday’s play. After Sunday, Bradley called for a change to the rule in the post-tournament press conference.
Hovland was in fine form before his withdrawal from the tournament. He had just beaten Scottie Scheffler alongside MacIntyre in foursomes, sinking a clutch putt on 17 which ultimately won it.
While everything went the Americans’ way on Sunday, there was no way of knowing if English would have beaten Hovland. On form, it was unlikely. That was the point made by Chamblee when addressing Bradley’s comments.
He said, “The fact that fans were annoyed by it, I think, owes to the fact that it wasn’t properly explained by Keegan and he sounded somewhat aggrieved afterwards, suggesting that it needed to change immediately.
“The time to raise an issue with an agreement of something about the Ryder Cup is in the two-year process building up to it. It’s not on the day of when it affects your team.
“But it also affects the other team. Viktor Hovland, uninjured, he would have had a very good chance to put a full point on the board. Who is to say it would have turned out in your favour?
“Being vehemently against the rule and saying it needed to change and change immediately is like assuming he is going to win that full point.
“And by the way, they were seven points down beginning the day. It turned out maybe it would have made it more compelling but at the beginning of the day nobody would have thought it would have mattered.
“Even if they would have won the whole point Europe would have won the Ryder Cup. I thought it was a little bit much ado about nothing and I thought Keegan could have handled that a bit better.”
What we can all be grateful for is that the tournament wasn’t decided by this. If conversations about the rule are causing controversy now, just imagine the backlash if Hovland’s injury decided the tournament.
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