For a golfer playing in the Ryder Cup, there is no bigger stage than the Sunday Singles. Unfortunately, for Harris English, that dream hit a frustrating roadblock this year, and he’s finally speaking out about how it felt.

“I mean, obviously, you’re pretty pissed. Like I’m gearing up, ready to go play a Sunday singles match at the Ryder Cup, and that was one of my two main goals this year is to make the Ryder Cup and not be awarded that opportunity to play on Sunday, it really sucked,” English told Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz on the Gravy & The Sleeze podcast.

Harris English was due to play on Sunday. But the decision came after Viktor Hovland re-aggravated a long-standing neck injury during Saturday’s Four-ball session, forcing him to withdraw from Sunday’s singles. Because of this, the envelope rule, which was agreed upon by both teams ahead of the event, was invoked.

The envelope rule, established in 1971, calls for a match to be halved if one of the players is injured with a pre-determined player on the opposing side, whose name is kept in a sealed envelope. And unfortunately, the name in the sealed envelope was English’s. This was only the fourth time in Ryder Cup history that the rule had been used, and both he and Hovland got a half-point for the match that was never played.

“And then Keegan told me, and it was a little bit of a shock, and I kind of had to process that for a little bit, and then put my earpiece on and microphone on and kind of be another pseudo assistant captain,” English continued. English’s emotions are valid, and even Hovland sympathised with him.

After the event, Keegan Bradley had called for the rule to be changed, stating, “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 many, including Luke Donald & Edoardo Molinari, believed that it wasn’t wrong and “the rule is the rule, and it’s been in place for a long time.”

Regardless of what happened and all the frustration surrounding the rule and English’s chance to play on Sunday, he still spoke positively of his experience at the Ryder Cup and said he hopes to qualify for the team in two years when the Ryder Cup heads to Adare Manor in Ireland.

“But I had a great time. I mean, watching those guys compete on Sunday and almost come back to beat the Europeans was incredible…I’m looking forward to having an opportunity to play in Ireland for an away game in a couple of years, and I’m going to do the best I can and work as hard as I can to try to get back there. 
I’ll start with that,” he confessed.

But before Sunday even arrived, Harris English’s Ryder Cup weekend had already been a rollercoaster, thanks to his first two days during the Ryder Cup that received a lot of criticism.

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Harris English’s Ryder Cup Rollercoaster

Before the Sunday disappointment even came for Harris English, his Ryder Cup weekend had already been a bumpy ride. On Day 1, he was paired with Collin Morikawa in the foursomes, facing off against Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood. The duo struggled from the start and fell 5 & 4, setting a rough tone for the weekend.

Rather than changing course, captain Keegan Bradley stuck with his plan, sending the same pairings back out on Day 2. Once again, English and Morikawa faced McIlroy and Fleetwood, and once again, they came up short, losing 3 & 2. Team Europe dominated the session, leading 3-1, raising questions about Bradley’s decision-making.

Critics and fans alike wondered why the U.S. captain didn’t change the pairings after Friday’s loss. But Bradley defended his choice stating, “We’re really comfortable with those two players… and we’re sticking to our plan. We’re not going to panic. We’re not going to panic and make those sorts of mistakes. We’re going to stick to what we know. We have a lot of confidence in them.”

That might not have been a good idea, as it was one of the worst losses for the American team in history. Many critics called the duo “far from inspiring,” and sending them out again on the second day was as good as “malpractice.”

Those early struggles on the course arguably set the stage for English’s emotional response to being left out on Sunday. After working hard through two tough days and facing repeated defeats, he had hoped Sunday singles would be his chance to contribute directly. Instead, the envelope rule kept him off the course, despite his pride in the team effort. The combination of back-to-back lows was definitely a hard lesson for English.