Ryder Cup Uses Unusual 'Envelope Rule' That Is Closely Guarded Secret

The Ryder Cup will return to our screens this week, and some of the world’s greatest golfers will go head-to-head across the pond.

The event will be held at Bethpage Black Course in New York and will get underway on Friday, 26th September and will run through to a conclusion on Sunday evening.

Europe, who will be captained by Luke Donald, have some of the biggest stars the sport has to offer at their disposal, including Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood.

Team USA will be led by Keegan Bradley and also have a star-studded cast, including Scottie Scheffler, Russell Henley, and Xander Schauffele.

Europe came out on top at the 2023 Ryder Cup, beating Team USA by five points after three thrilling days of action in Rome.

One of the lesser-known facts about the event is that it adapts a bizarre ‘envelope rule’.

Scottie Scheffler will be in action for Team USA. (Image: Getty)

It was introduced to the Ryder Cup in 1979 but is only applicable in the rare situation that one of the golfers gets injured and is subsequently unable to take part in the final singles session on Sunday.

In such a situation, the opposition team’s captain can select a player from his own team that he would like to withdraw from the competition to prevent one side having an additional player.

The brutal rule then sees the injured player and the withdrawn player paired together, with the contest being recorded as a half.

However, the strange nature of the rule does not stop there.

In a bizarre twist, the captain of each team selects the player they would like to withdraw and places their name into an envelope before the singles matches get underway.

The Ryder Cup first introduced the unique rule back in 1979.

The players who have been selected are then kept secret and only revealed if the envelope rule comes into force.

If no players are injured during the course of the Ryder Cup, then the envelopes are destroyed to protect the identity of the player and everything proceeds as normal.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, three additional players were selected in case there was an outbreak during the 2021 edition of the event.