‘I was pissed’: Harris English opens up on Ryder Cup ‘envelope rule’ debacle

Even Ryder Cup ties leave us with a winner and a loser.

But no Ryder Cup loser has left quite as snakebitten as Harris English left Bethpage at the end of September.

“It all started with that,” English said Wednesday on Sirius XM PGA Tour Radio, recounting the misfortune that cost him Sunday at the Ryder Cup. “I mean obviously you’re pretty pissed. I’m gearing up, getting ready to go to play a Sunday singles match at the Ryder Cup and then Keegan came and told me.”

Perhaps you remember the story. In Saturday morning’s alternate shot pairings, Viktor Hovland poured in a gutsy par putt on the 17th hole to protect a European lead, resulting a thunderous fist-pump that silenced the American crowd. As Hovland delivered his follow-through, he felt something tweak in his neck — a pain that only grew as he and Robert MacIntyre closed out a 1-up win on the 18th. By the time the afternoon sessions had started, it was clear that Hovland would not be able to compete any longer. (Later, MRIs would diagnose Hovland with a bulged disc in his neck.)

But there was just one problem: The Europeans still had one more day of competition at Bethpage. Hovland was one of 12 players expected to compete to protect a European Ryder Cup lead in Sunday’s singles matches.

As Sunday morning dawned at Bethpage, European Ryder Cup leadership shared the unfortunate news: Hovland was not healthy enough to suit up. But rather than forfeit his point to a player on the American side, the Europeans took advantage of an unusual Ryder Cup rule: the so-called “Envelope Rule” whereby both captains are required to submit an envelope with their last-ranked player who will be left out of the competition on Sunday in case of an injury to the other side. Should an injury trigger a player to withdraw, the injured player and the “envelope player” sit out, resulting in a halved match and .5 points to each side of the ledger.

No player was more affected by this rule than English, the 36-year-old Ryder Cup veteran who’d played some of the best golf of his life in 2025 to earn a spot on the U.S. team. When word came down that Hovland couldn’t compete, word followed shortly after that English was the “envelope rule” selectee on the American side. He would be forced to sit out for Sunday’s singles pairings.

The rule was an esoteric piece of Ryder Cup lore — something you might not have even known existed (particularly if you don’t follow GOLF.com’s social media channels) prior to Hovland’s injury. But by Sunday afternoon, it had the internet ablaze.

It’s been a long two months for English since that Sunday morning in Bethpage. But before his first PGA Tour start since the Cup at the RSM Classic, English sat down with SiriusXM’s Gravy and the Sleeze to talk about that long morning at Bethpage.

“That was one of my two main goals for this year was to make the Ryder Cup,” English told hosts Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz. “And to not be awarded that opportunity to play on Sunday, it really sucked.”

English said he didn’t get much time to mope. U.S. captain Keegan Bradley quickly assigned him an earpiece and a microphone and sent him out into the field to take care of the remaining 11 players in their matches.

“It was a little bit of a shock,” he said. “I had to process that for a bit, and then put my earpiece on and my microphone and then go be another pseudo-Assistant Captain.”

Eventually, the Europeans would close out the Americans in a nailbiter, with the U.S. side winning six out of a possible eleven matches — and tying another five — to land 1.5 points short of a Ryder Cup victory.

The good news for English? His point against Hovland would not have mattered in the grand scheme of things: even a victory would not have turned the tide.

The bad news, though, was obvious: English had been robbed of his Ryder Cup moment — even if the memories were still sweet.

“I had a great time. Watching those guys compete on Sunday and almost come back to beat the Europeans was incredible. I was just looking at the pairings early that morning and I was saying ‘I could see a scenario where we could literally win every single match,'” English said. “And that almost happened, and so happy to be part of that team and watch those guys battle to the finish.”

Of course, the opportunity at a Ryder Cup Sunday Singles match might not return again for English, a Tour lifer with two Cups under his belt. He will be 38 when the Cup returns to Adare Manor, Ireland in 2027. But as Keegan Bradley showed us this year, stranger things have happened than a 38-year-old making a bid for the team.

“The Ryder Cup is awesome. It’s the pinnacle of our sport. It’s something I’ll always want to be a part of,” English said. “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to go play an away game in Ireland in two years and I’m gonna do the best I can and work as hard as I can to try to get back there.”