FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – The road to an American comeback just got even harder after Viktor Hovland withdrew from Sunday Singles’ competition because of a neck injury.

Hovland won an emotional Foursomes match Saturday morning at Bethpage State Park alongside Robert MacIntyre, but he was a late scratch from the afternoon session as he experienced neck pain during the morning round that exacerbated during his midday warm-up. European Captain Luke Donald told reporters Saturday night that Hovland had gone to get an MRI on the injury, and in a later statement, tournament officials shared that Hovland awoke Sunday morning “unable to move his neck.”

According to Dr. Andrew Murray, Ryder Cup Europe’s chief medical officer, Hovland’s MRI revealed a bulging disc in his neck which was termed “a flare-up of a previous injury.”

“There is nothing more I would like to do than be out there representing Team Europe and trying to help them win the Ryder Cup today,” Hovland said. “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 was slated to face Harris English in the final match of the day, but his withdrawal was announced nearly three hours before their match was set to begin. The Ryder Cup Captains’ Agreement has specific language addressing situations where one player cannot go in the final Singles session.

“When the captains lodge their team selection for Singles play, they must provide a sealed envelope containing the name of one player who is regarded as having been paired with a player who, through illness, injury or other emergency reason, has to withdraw from the other side,” the agreement reads. “Such pairing is regarded as a tied match.”

U.S. Captain Keegan Bradley put English’s name in the envelope, and now, instead of an 11.5 to 4.5 deficit, the U.S. now faces a 12-5 score, needing to win 9.5 out of a possible 11 points on Sunday to win the trophy. In his post-round comments, Bradley seemed against the possibility of a tied match via injury – knowing it would give the Europeans a half-point that his squad could ill afford to surrender, given their sizeable deficit.

“We need to go out there and play this tournament the way it was supposed to be played,” Bradley said. “I have to figure this out now. I’m still learning what’s going on. I don’t know how that’s going to end up.”

Hovland now ends the week with a 1-1-1 individual record, having split two Foursomes matches alongside MacIntyre. English ends the week a disappointing 0-2-1 after he and Collin Morikawa lost both of their Foursomes matches to Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood.

This is the fourth time that the “envelope rule” has come into play at the Ryder Cup. The first was in 1979, when England’s Mark James was injured and the Americans sat Gil Morgan at The Greenbrier. In 1991, American Steve Pate was injured in a car accident during tournament week and was unable to play on Sunday in a narrow American victory. Two years later, Scotland’s Sam Torrance was unable to play through a toe injury and his match with Lanny Wadkins was deemed a tie while setting the stage for a close American win in England – which is still the last time that the U.S. has won the Ryder Cup on foreign soil.