The Ryder Cup’s “envelope rule” caused a stir. Another team event has a fun solution

of 2025 Ryder Cup IN Black Bethpage it included an unusual wrinkle.

When an injured Viktor Hovland scratched by Sunday singles, the so-called “Envelope Rule” was adopted. Under that arrangement, each captain — the captains at Bethpage were Keegan Bradley (USA) and Luke Donald (Europe) — submits an envelope containing a player’s name before singles matches. If a player from the opposing team withdraws due to injury or illness, the opposing team’s envelope is released and whoever’s name is sealed inside also decides the singles matches, with half a point for each side.

When the rule came into play at Bethpage, there was no shortage of scorn. Among the questions that came up: Why should the US be penalized for a European player’s inability to play? And why should every player – in this case, Harris English — to be denied his hard-earned opportunity to play a match on one of golf’s grandest stages? Sure, it’s sporting to share the point, but, naysayers argued, surely the rule needs a rethink now that the Ryder Cup has evolved from a friendly exhibition to a high-stakes, charged event in which legacies are forged.

Another team event, coming up this week, may have the solution.

If you are not familiar with Skechers World Champions Cupthat may be because it debuted in 2023 and was canceled in 2024 due to inclement weather, meaning this week’s play — at Feather Sound CC near Tampa, Fla. – it’s only the second edition. The event is the PGA Tour Champions’ answer to the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, with teams of players 50 and over from the US, Europe and the rest of the world playing five sessions over three days. There are six players on each side, including a game captain and also a pair of vice-captains.

If there’s one player in the three World Cup squads you wouldn’t expect to fall prey to the disease, it might be the undeniable wonder who goes to the gym and eats whole grains, Bernhard Langer. And yet last weekend, Langer started to feel fuzzy (sore throat, soreness, low energy) and when he arrived at Feather Sound, he still wasn’t feeling himself — so much so that Langer decided it was best to sit out the first day of games on Thursday.

Every player plays every session in the World Champions Cup, so one of the rules of the event was set in motion: European captain Darren Clarke could replace Langer with one of Clarke’s two assistant captains, Søren Kjeldsen and Jesper Parnevik. Clarke chose Kjeldsen, who stepped into action on Thursday morning. Playing alongside Alex Cjeka in a nine-hole best-ball match, the pair made 6 birdies and took a session-best 10.5 points before collecting another 9.5 points in the modified alternate-stroke format in the afternoon.

“Bernhard wasn’t great when we came here,” said Team Europe player Thomas Bjørn, who, like Kjeldsen, hails from Denmark. “Søren, you could see that he had some kind of idea that he could play. He prepared well. I think that says a lot about him. A lot of guys will have come here as vice-captain and just sit around and not do anything. Søren prepared like he was going to play, and that’s why he stepped up and played well.”

Sensitive and FUN okay, right? And one that makes you wonder if it should even be included in the Ryder Cup.

For one, it would add some spice to the selection of vice-captains (you’d need at least one bowler ready to play at short notice), and two, it would eliminate the difficulty of nicking a crucial Sunday point without playing for it.

If the rule had been in place at Bethpage, Donald would have had five assistant captains to choose from: Thomas Bjørn, Francesco Molinari, Edoardo Molinari, Alex Noren and José María Olazábal. And there’s little doubt who would have succeeded Donald: Noren, who excelled in the second half of the season and who many observers believe could have made the team as a player.

How wonderful that would have been: a Ryder Cup rejection getting a shot at redemption at . . . The Ryder Cup!

Here’s hoping the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe take note this week.

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