By Lawrence Ostlere

Copyright independent

Winning Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald clapped back at his US rival Keegan Bradley after the American criticised the rarely used envelope rule.

Europe’s Viktor Hovland sustained a neck injury during Saturday’s play which ruled him out of the Sunday singles, reducing the number of matches from 12 to 11 and giving both teams half a point each.

The rules of the Ryder Cup dictate that both captains must put the name of the player they would like to withdraw from play should the opposing team lose a player to injury. Harris English was the name Bradley wrote down.

Bradley was aggrieved that the situation took Europe half a point closer to their goal of 14 after Donald’s team ended Saturday on 11½, and it meant they only required two more points on Sunday to retain the Ryder Cup.

And after Europe completed a 15-13 win, Bradley was adamant the rule must be changed for Adare Manor in 2027.

“Yeah, it has to change,” Bradley said. “I have a few ideas but I’m not going to tell you right now. I mean, the rule has to change. I think it’s obvious to everybody in the sports world, in this room. Nothing against Viktor. But that rule needs to change by the next Ryder Cup.”

But Donald rebuffed Bradley’s request, pointing out how the USA have benefited from the rule in the past.

“I think it’s been in place since 1971. The U.S. have used it before. I think it happened in 1991 with Steve Pate,” Donald said. “That was a tight Ryder Cup, too, 14½-13½. It happened in 1993; Sam Torrance couldn’t play with an injured toe. The U.S. won that one.

“We have contracts for a reason, a captains’ agreement for a reason, for situations that occur. I want to center it back to Viktor; I would have had absolute faith in him to deliver a point today. He couldn’t play. He was gutted.

“The rule is the rule and it’s been in place for a long time.”