Viktor Hovland was forced to withdraw from the Ryder Cup singles match-ups on Sunday afternoon due to injury, with Justin Thomas seen reacting to the news
Justin Thomas was caught on camera shaking his head in clear frustration and irritation upon learning that Viktor Hovland would be absent from the Ryder Cup singles clashes on Saturday afternoon.
Europe strengthened its stranglehold on keeping the Ryder Cup during a thrilling Saturday of competition. Going into Sunday’s finale at Bethpage Black, Europe required merely 2.5 points to retain the trophy.
Yet with Hovland now sidelined from the singles, they needed only two after both teams agreed to share the point under the envelope rule.
Before the final Saturday session, Hovland had been chosen to team up with Matt Fitzpatrick against Sam Burns and Patrick Cantlay. But the Norwegian withdrew at the eleventh hour, with Tyrrell Hatton taking his place.
Hovland was due to take on Harris English in the singles, but neither competed on Sunday owing to the Norwegian’s injury, which triggered the envelope rule, effectively cancelling their encounter, reports the Mirror US.
“Not being able to do so is pretty heartbreaking. I will be backing my team as hard as I can and rooting them on,” Hovland said in a statement.
After the announcement, Thomas was filmed during his warm-up shaking his head at the development in footage shared on X by Golf Digest. Speaking before it was confirmed that Hovland would miss his match against English, European captain Luke Donald said on Saturday: “He was feeling quite uncomfortable in the middle of the round this morning. He got some physio.
“He was given a lot of anti-inflammatories during the round.Sign up for our golf newsletter to get all the latest news and views from the PGA Tour, LIV Golf and beyond. He was feeling okay. He went in to rest, and then he went back out to the range to try and hit some balls.
“And when he got to the driver, he hit one, and it was very painful. “Team Europe’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Andrew Murray, also gave his thoughts on Hovland’s injury.Murray stated: “Viktor’s pain started during the morning foursomes, where he received treatment and medication from the physio and medical team on course during the match.
“Following this he attempted to warm up for Saturday fourballs, but experienced increasing pain while swinging a golf club, and a lack of range of movement in his neck and withdrew, being replaced by Tyrrell Hatton. An MRI was arranged following liaison between Team Europe and PGA of America on-site medical team, which confirmed a flare up of a previous injury – a disc bulge in his neck by a medical imaging specialist.
“This morning, Viktor received ongoing treatment but unfortunately he is not able to rotate or flex his neck to one side making playing the singles impossible.”
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