DeChambeau Heard Making 'Asterisk' Claim After Use Of Ryder Cup Rule

While the margin of victory was not what many expected it to be prior to the final day of play, the European team will be relieved to get over the line despite a nervy finish to the Ryder Cup.

Bringing a sizeable lead into Sunday’s singles, the visitors needed just 2.5 points to retain the trophy. They would eventually get 3.5 on the day to run out as 15-13 victors, although the final scoreline would prove to be much closer than anticipated.

At one point, it looked as though the Americans could pull off an unthinkable comeback. In saying that, their task was made a bit more difficult by the absence of one player from the European Ryder Cup team.

Bryson DeChambeau Overheard Making ‘Asterisk’ Claim At Ryder Cup Rule

Viktor Hovland was unable to play in Sunday’s singles, with the Norwegian withdrawn from the action due to injury.

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That resulted in the use of a rather obscure Ryder Cup rule. The ‘envelope rule’ sees each team captain submit the name of one player on their team that will not play in the singles should an opposition player be forced to withdraw due to injury.

In this case, USA captain Keegan Bradley submitted the name of Harris English. As a result, neither English or Hovland would feature in the singles, with each team be awarded half a point instead.

The rule has caused quite a bit of discussion over the last day or so, with some believing it is unfair that the Europeans were awarded half a point for simply having an injured player.

It was potentially even more controversial at one stage when it looked as though Europe could retain or win the Ryder Cup on the back of the half point picked up due to this rule. That is something that was even discussed among the players.

Speaking on No Laying Up, podcaster Chris Solomon revealed a remark that he overheard Bryson DeChambeau suggesting that there would be an ‘asterisk’ on the result if the competition finished 14-14 after the use of the envelope rule.

If they would have retained via the envelope today, that would have been one of the best and worst results. It would have been the best for content, but it would have been the worst result for this Ryder Cup.

I overheard Bryson [DeChambeau] saying ‘this will have an asterisk if they don’t get to 14.5, if they retain it based on this [Hovland] thing’.

There was a buzz around that around the green. I’m honestly glad they got to 15.

The rule ended up having little bearing on the ultimate result, with Europe running as winners on a 15-13 scoreline. Even if the Americans had been awarded the full point, the visitors still would have won the Ryder Cup outright on a scoreline of 14.5-13.5.

In any case, those comments from Bryson DeChambeau seem like a bit of sour grapes. That is especially true when you consider that the Americans won the Ryder Cup due to the use of this very rule back in 1991, when the half point they were directly resulted in Europe not retaining the trophy.

DeChambeau Heard Making ‘Asterisk’ Claim After Use Of Ryder Cup Rule

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