1975 Ryder Cup

21st Ryder Cup Matches
DatesSeptember 19–21, 1975
VenueLaurel Valley Golf Club
LocationLigonier, Pennsylvania
Captains
21 11
United States wins the Ryder Cup
Laurel Valley 
Golf Club
Location in the United States
Laurel Valley Golf Club
Location in Pennsylvania

The 21st Ryder Cup Matches were held September 19–21 at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. The United States team won the competition by a score of 21 to 11 points.[1][2] After the competition, questions started to be asked about the future of the event, as Britain and Ireland had once again failed to seriously challenge the United States team.[3] The next time the competition was held in the U.S. in 1979, the visiting team included players from continental Europe.

Laurel Valley was co-founded by U.S. captain Arnold Palmer and had hosted the PGA Championship a decade earlier, in 1965.

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was adjusted slightly from the 1973 Ryder Cup, with the second day sessions being swapped:

  • Day 1 — 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session
  • Day 2 — 4 four-ball matches in a morning session and 4 foursome matches in an afternoon session
  • Day 3 — 16 singles matches, 8 each in morning and afternoon sessions

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:[4]

 Team USA
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Arnold Palmer 46 Non-playing captain
Billy Casper 44 7 33 18–9–6 63.64
Raymond Floyd 33 1 4 0–2–2 25.00
Al Geiberger 38 1 5 3–1–1 70.00
Lou Graham 37 1 2 0–1–1 25.00
Hale Irwin 30 0 Rookie
Gene Littler 45 6 24 11–5–8 62.50
Johnny Miller 28 0 Rookie
Bob Murphy 32 0 Rookie
Jack Nicklaus 35 3 16 10–4–2 68.75
J. C. Snead 34 2 8 7–1–0 87.50
Lee Trevino 35 3 17 9–4–4 64.71
Tom Weiskopf 32 1 6 3–2–1 58.33

Eight members of the Great Britain and Ireland team were chosen from the money leaders in 1975 European Tour events after the Benson & Hedges Festival on 16 August, with the remaining four members of the 12-man team selected by a committee. The eight automatic selections were: Eamonn Darcy, Maurice Bembridge, Brian Barnes, Bernard Gallacher, Norman Wood, John O'Leary, Guy Hunt and Brian Huggett.[5] The committee chose two US-based players, Tony Jacklin and Peter Oosterhuis, together with Christy O'Connor Jnr and Tommy Horton. Horton was selected despite finishing 15th in the points list, making his debut at the age of 34.[6][7]

Neil Coles withdrew from consideration because of his fear of flying and because it was impractical to travel by sea.[8]

 Team Great Britain and Ireland
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Bernard Hunt 45 Non-playing captain
Brian Barnes 30 3 12 4–8–0 33.33
Maurice Bembridge 30 3 13 5–5–3 50.00
Eamonn Darcy 23 0 Rookie
Bernard Gallacher 26 3 13 7–5–1 57.69
Tommy Horton 34 0 Rookie
Brian Huggett 38 5 23 8–9–6 47.83
Guy Hunt 28 0 Rookie
Tony Jacklin 31 4 23 10–8–5 54.35
Christy O'Connor Jnr 27 0 Rookie
John O'Leary 26 0 Rookie
Peter Oosterhuis 27 2 12 6–4–2 58.33
Norman Wood 28 0 Rookie

Friday's matches

Morning foursomes

Results
Barnes/Gallacher 5 & 4 Nicklaus/Weiskopf
Wood/Bembridge 4 & 3 Littler/Irwin
Jacklin/Oosterhuis 3 & 1 Geiberger/Miller
Horton/O'Leary 2 & 1 Trevino/Snead
0 Session 4
0 Overall 4

Afternoon four-ball

Results
Oosterhuis/Jacklin 2 & 1 Casper/Floyd
Darcy/O'Connor 3 & 2 Weiskopf/Graham
Barnes/Gallacher halved Nicklaus/Murphy
Horton/O'Leary 2 & 1 Trevino/Irwin
112 Session 212
112 Overall 612

Saturday's matches

Morning four-ball

Results
Oosterhuis/Jacklin halved Casper/Miller
Horton/Wood 4 & 2 Nicklaus/Snead
Barnes/Gallacher 5 & 3 Littler/Graham
Darcy/Hunt halved Geiberger/Floyd
1 Session 3
212 Overall 912

Afternoon foursomes

Results
Jacklin/Huggett 3 & 2 Trevino/Murphy
O'Connor/O'Leary 5 & 3 Weiskopf/Miller
Oosterhuis/Bembridge 3 & 2 Irwin/Casper
Darcy/Hunt 3 & 2 Geiberger/Graham
1 Session 3
312 Overall 1212

Sunday's matches

Morning singles

Results
Tony Jacklin 2 & 1 Bob Murphy
Peter Oosterhuis 2 up Johnny Miller
Bernard Gallacher halved Lee Trevino
Tommy Horton halved Hale Irwin
Brian Huggett 4 & 2 Gene Littler
Eamonn Darcy 3 & 2 Billy Casper
Guy Hunt 5 & 3 Tom Weiskopf
Brian Barnes 4 & 2 Jack Nicklaus
3 Session 5
612 Overall 1712

Afternoon singles

Results
Tony Jacklin 1 up Raymond Floyd
Peter Oosterhuis 3 & 2 J. C. Snead
Bernard Gallacher halved Al Geiberger
Tommy Horton 2 & 1 Lou Graham
John O'Leary 2 & 1 Hale Irwin
Maurice Bembridge 2 & 1 Bob Murphy
Norman Wood 2 & 1 Lee Trevino
Brian Barnes 2 & 1 Jack Nicklaus
412 Session 312
11 Overall 21

Individual player records

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

Source:[9]

United States

Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes Fourballs
Billy Casper 2.5 2–1–1 1–0–0 1–0–0 0–1–1
Raymond Floyd 1.5 1–1–1 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–1
Al Geiberger 3 2–0–2 0–0–1 2–0–0 0–0–1
Lou Graham 3 3–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0
Hale Irwin 4.5 4–0–1 1–0–1 2–0–0 1–0–0
Gene Littler 3 3–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0
Johnny Miller 2.5 2–1–1 0–1–0 2–0–0 0–0–1
Bob Murphy 2.5 2–1–1 2–0–0 0–1–0 0–0–1
Jack Nicklaus 2.5 2–2–1 0–2–0 1–0–0 1–0–1
J. C. Snead 2 2–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 1–0–0
Lee Trevino 2.5 2–2–1 0–1–1 1–1–0 1–0–0
Tom Weiskopf 4 4–0–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–0–0

Great Britain and Ireland

Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes Fourballs
Brian Barnes 2.5 2–2–1 2–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–1
Maurice Bembridge 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 0–0–0
Eamonn Darcy 0.5 0–3–1 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–1–1
Bernard Gallacher 1.5 0–2–3 0–0–2 0–1–0 0–1–1
Tommy Horton 1.5 1–3–1 1–0–1 0–1–0 0–2–0
Brian Huggett 1 1–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0
Guy Hunt 0.5 0–2–1 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–1
Tony Jacklin 2.5 2–3–1 0–2–0 1–1–0 1–0–1
Christy O'Connor 0 0–2–0 0–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0
John O'Leary 0 0–4–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 0–1–0
Peter Oosterhuis 3.5 3–2–1 2–0–0 0–2–0 1–0–1
Norman Wood 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0

References

  1. ^ Parascenzo, Marino (September 22, 1975). "British retreat from Ligonier as Ryder Cup remains in U.S." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 1.
  2. ^ Jenkins, Dan (September 29, 1975). "As much play as match". Sports Illustrated. p. 18. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013.
  3. ^ "US golfers rout British". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. September 22, 1975. p. 11-part 2.
  4. ^ "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  5. ^ "Norman Wood gains Ryder Cup place". The Glasgow Herald. August 18, 1975. p. 15.
  6. ^ "Horton chosen for Ryder Cup but is centre of controversy again". The Times. August 19, 1975. p. 6.
  7. ^ "British Ryder Cup team completed". Glasgow Herald. August 19, 1975. p. 21.
  8. ^ "Coles drop out of Ryder Cup". The Guardian. August 6, 1975. p. 18.
  9. ^ "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.

40°13′44″N 79°14′10″W / 40.229°N 79.236°W / 40.229; -79.236