1973 Ryder Cup

Last updated

20th Ryder Cup Matches
Dates20–22 September 1973
Venue Muirfield
Location East Lothian, Scotland
Captains
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Flag of Ireland.svg
1319 Flag of the United States.svg
United States wins the Ryder Cup
  1971
1975  
Scotland relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Muirfield

The 20th Ryder Cup Matches were held at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. The United States team won the competition by a score of 19 to 13 points. [1] For the first time, what had previously been the "Great Britain" team was called "Great Britain and Ireland", although golfers from the Republic of Ireland had played since 1953, and from Northern Ireland since 1947.

Contents

Muirfield had hosted the Open Championship the previous year, won by American Lee Trevino.

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was adjusted slightly in 1973 from the format used from 1963 through 1971:

With a total of 32 points, 1612 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

Source: [2]

Selection for the Great Britain and Ireland team was based on a points list with points being earned between the 1972 Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf and the same event in 1973. Total points determined the order, with 30 points to the winner, 24 for the runner-up, down to 1 point for the player in 25th place. [3] The leading 8 in the points list were guaranteed places, with the remaining 4 selected by a committee. The top 8 were: Oosterhuis, Coles, Jacklin, Bembridge, Barnes, Butler, O'Connor and Gallacher. [4] The selection committee chose the players lying 9th to 12th in the list: Garner, Polland, Clark and Huggett. [5]

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg  Team Great Britain and Ireland
NameAgePrevious
Ryder Cups
MatchesW–L–HWinning
percentage
Flag of England.svg Bernard Hunt 43Non-playing captain
Flag of Scotland.svg Brian Barnes 28262–4–033.33
Flag of England.svg Maurice Bembridge 28273–3–150.00
Flag of England.svg Peter Butler 413113–6–236.36
Flag of England.svg Clive Clark 280Rookie
Flag of England.svg Neil Coles 3863211–15–643.75
Flag of Scotland.svg Bernard Gallacher 24295–3–161.11
Flag of England.svg John Garner 26110–1–00.00
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg Brian Huggett 364195–9–539.47
Flag of England.svg Tony Jacklin 293177–6–452.94
Flag of Ireland.svg Christy O'Connor Snr 4893110–18–337.10
Flag of England.svg Peter Oosterhuis 25163–3–050.00
Ulster Banner.svg Eddie Polland 260Rookie

Due to the rules of the PGA of America in place at the time, players with less than five years as a professional were not eligible for the U.S. team, which included reigning U.S. Open champion Johnny Miller and Lanny Wadkins. [6] (These rules also kept Jack Nicklaus on the sidelines until 1969.) Miller made his Ryder Cup debut in 1975 and Wadkins in 1977.

Flag of the United States.svg  Team USA
NameAgePrevious
Ryder Cups
MatchesW–L–HWinning
percentage
Jack Burke Jr. 50Non-playing captain
Tommy Aaron 36141–2–137.50
Homero Blancas 350Rookie
Gay Brewer 41153–2–060.00
Billy Casper 4262714–7–662.96
Lou Graham 350Rookie
Dave Hill 36164–2–066.67
Jack Nicklaus 332106–3–165.00
Arnold Palmer 4452720–5–277.78
Chi-Chi Rodríguez 370Rookie
J. C. Snead 32144–0–0100.00
Lee Trevino 332116–3–263.64
Tom Weiskopf 300Rookie

Thursday's matches

Morning foursomes

[7] [8]

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Barnes/Gallacher Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 1 up Trevino/Casper
O'Connor/Coles Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 3 & 2 Weiskopf/Snead
Jacklin/Oosterhuis halved Rodríguez/Graham
Bembridge/Polland Flag of the United States.svg 6 & 5 Nicklaus/Palmer
212Session112
212Overall112

Afternoon four-ball

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Barnes/Gallacher Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 5 & 4 Aaron/Brewer
Bembridge/Huggett Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 3 & 1 Nicklaus/Palmer
Jacklin/Oosterhuis Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 3 & 1 Weiskopf/Casper
Coles/O'Connor Flag of the United States.svg 2 & 1 Trevino/Blancas
3Session1
512Overall212

Friday's matches

[9]

Morning foursomes

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Barnes/Butler Flag of the United States.svg 1 up Nicklaus/Weiskopf
Oosterhuis/Jacklin Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 2 up Palmer/Hill
Bembridge/Huggett Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 5 & 4 Rodríguez/Graham
Coles/O'Connor Flag of the United States.svg 2 & 1 Trevino/Casper
2Session2
712Overall412

Afternoon four-ball

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Barnes/Butler Flag of the United States.svg 2 up Snead/Palmer
Jacklin/Oosterhuis Flag of the United States.svg 3 & 2 Brewer/Casper
Clark/Polland Flag of the United States.svg 3 & 2 Nicklaus/Weiskopf
Bembridge/Huggett halved Trevino/Blancas
12Session312
8Overall8

Saturday's matches

[10]

Morning singles

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Brian Barnes Flag of the United States.svg 2 & 1 Billy Casper
Bernard Gallacher Flag of the United States.svg 3 & 1 Tom Weiskopf
Peter Butler Flag of the United States.svg 5 & 4 Homero Blancas
Tony Jacklin Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 3 & 1 Tommy Aaron
Neil Coles halved Gay Brewer
Christy O'Connor Flag of the United States.svg 1 up J. C. Snead
Maurice Bembridge halved Jack Nicklaus
Peter Oosterhuis halved Lee Trevino
212Session512
1012Overall1312

Afternoon singles

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg Results Flag of the United States.svg
Brian Huggett Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 4 & 2 Homero Blancas
Brian Barnes Flag of the United States.svg 3 & 1 J. C. Snead
Bernard Gallacher Flag of the United States.svg 6 & 5 Gay Brewer
Tony Jacklin Flag of the United States.svg 2 & 1 Billy Casper
Neil Coles Flag of the United States.svg 6 & 5 Lee Trevino
Christy O'Connor halved Tom Weiskopf
Maurice Bembridge Flag of the United States.svg 2 up Jack Nicklaus
Peter Oosterhuis Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Flag of Ireland.svg 4 & 2 Arnold Palmer
212Session512
13Overall19

Individual player records

Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.

Source: [2]

Great Britain and Ireland

PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Brian Barnes 22–4–00–2–01–1–01–1–0
Maurice Bembridge 32–2–20–1–11–1–01–0–1
Peter Butler 00–3–00–1–00–1–00–1–0
Clive Clark 00–1–00–0–00–0–00–1–0
Neil Coles 1.51–3–10–1–11–1–00–1–0
Bernard Gallacher 22–2–00–2–01–0–01–0–0
Brian Huggett 3.53–0–11–0–01–0–01–0–1
Tony Jacklin 3.53–2–11–1–01–0–11–1–0
Christy O'Connor 1.51–3–10–1–11–1–00–1–0
Peter Oosterhuis 43–1–21–0–11–0–11–1–0
Eddie Polland 00–2–00–0–00–1–00–1–0

John Garner did not play in any matches.

United States

PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Tommy Aaron 00–2–00–1–00–0–00–1–0
Homero Blancas 2.52–1–11–1–00–0–01–0–1
Gay Brewer 2.52–1–11–0–10–0–01–1–0
Billy Casper 44–2–02–0–01–1–01–1–0
Lou Graham 0.50–1–10–0–00–1–10–0–0
Dave Hill 00–1–00–0–00–1–00–0–0
Jack Nicklaus 4.54–1–11–0–12–0–01–1–0
Arnold Palmer 22–3–00–1–01–1–01–1–0
Chi-Chi Rodríguez 0.50–1–10–0–00–1–10–0–0
J. C. Snead 33–1–02–0–00–1–01–0–0
Lee Trevino 43–1–21–0–11–1–01–0–1
Tom Weiskopf 3.53–2–11–0–11–1–01–1–0

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References

  1. "U.S. prevails in Ryder Cup". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 23 September 1973. p. 5D.
  2. 1 2 "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  3. "Change to Ryder Cup team selection". The Glasgow Herald. 3 February 1972. p. 4.
  4. "Garner may miss Ryder Cup". The Glasgow Herald. 20 August 1973. p. 5.
  5. "Selectors stick to Ryder Cup table". The Glasgow Herald. 21 August 1973. p. 4.
  6. Green, Bob (22 June 1973). "Johnny Miller ineligible for Ryder Cup team". Lewiston Evening Journal. Lewiston, Maine. Associated Press. p. 18.
  7. "Ryder cup captains choose predictable partnerships". Glasgow Herald. 20 September 1973. p. 5.
  8. "Scottish pair show the way to British lead". Glasgow Herald. 21 September 1973. p. 4.
  9. "Americans now hold the balance of power". Glasgow Herald. 21 September 1973. p. 2.
  10. "US victory confirms hopeless imbalance of Ryder cup". Glasgow Herald. 24 September 1973. p. 5.

56°02′35″N2°49′23″W / 56.043°N 2.823°W / 56.043; -2.823