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1979 Ryder Cup
23rd Ryder Cup held September 14–16
23rd Ryder Cup held September 14–16
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ryder Cup |
| year | 1979 |
| dates | September 14–16, 1979 |
| venue | The Greenbrier, |
| The Greenbrier Course | |
| location | White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia |
| home | USA |
| away | Europe |
| homecaptain | Billy Casper |
| awaycaptain | John Jacobs |
| homescore | 17 |
| awayscore | 11 |
| result | United States wins |
The Greenbrier Course |USA |USA West Virginia The 23rd Ryder Cup Matches were held September 14–16, 1979, in the United States, at the Greenbrier Course of The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
It was the beginning of a new era for the Ryder Cup. For the first time, players from continental Europe took part in the Ryder Cup (specifically, Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido of Spain). The new Team Europe replaced Great Britain and Ireland as the official opposition to the United States. It was hoped that the change would help raise the profile of the competition and bring about the end of near total domination by the United States that had existed since the end of the Second World War. However the change made no real impact at the first attempt as the United States won the competition easily by a score of 17 to 11 points and led after every session. Ballesteros and Garrido played together in all four team sessions and were 1–3; both lost their singles matches on Sunday. All four of Ballesteros' losses came against Larry Nelson.
Jack Nicklaus, age 39, failed to make the team for the first time since missing his first chance at making the team in 1967. Tom Watson left the day before the competition for the birth of his first child and was replaced on the team by first alternate Mark Hayes.
Format
The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was similar to the formats used from 1963 through 1975, but with fewer singles matches:
- Day 1 — 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in a morning session and 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in an afternoon session
- Day 2 — 4 foursome matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball matches in an afternoon session
- Day 3 — 12 singles matches, 6 each in morning and afternoon sessions With a total of 28 points, 14 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.
Teams
| Name | Age | Points | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | Previous | |||||
| Ryder Cups | Matches | W–L–H | Winning | |||
| percentage | ||||||
| Billy Casper | 48 | Non-playing captain | ||||
| Gil Morgan | 32 | 0 | Rookie | |||
| Hubert Green | 32 | 1 | 2 | 2–0–0 | 100.00 | |
| Larry Nelson | 32 | 0 | Rookie | |||
| John Mahaffey | 31 | 0 | Rookie | |||
| Tom Kite | 29 | 0 | Rookie | |||
| Lee Trevino | 39 | 4 | 22 | 11–6–5 | 61.36 | |
| Hale Irwin | 34 | 2 | 8 | 6–1–1 | 81.25 | |
| Lanny Wadkins | 29 | 1 | 3 | 3–0–0 | 100.00 | |
| Andy Bean | 26 | 0 | Rookie | |||
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 27 | 0 | Rookie | |||
| Lee Elder | 45 | 0 | Rookie | |||
| Mark Hayes | 30 | 0 | Rookie |
Mark Hayes replaced Tom Watson.
| Name | Age | Points | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rank | Previous | |||||
| Ryder Cups | Matches | W–L–H | Winning | |||
| percentage | ||||||
| ENG John Jacobs | 54 | Non-playing captain | ||||
| ESP Seve Ballesteros | 22 | 1 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| ENG Mark James | 25 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0–3–0 | 0.00 |
| SCO Brian Barnes | 34 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 7–12–1 | 37.50 |
| SCO Bernard Gallacher | 30 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 8–8–4 | 50.00 |
| SCO Sandy Lyle | 21 | 5 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| SCO Ken Brown | 22 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0–1–0 | 0.00 |
| ESP Antonio Garrido | 35 | 7 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| ENG Tony Jacklin | 35 | 8 | 6 | 31 | 12–12–7 | 50.00 |
| ENG Michael King | 29 | 9 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| ENG Nick Faldo | 22 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 3–0–0 | 100.00 |
| IRL Des Smyth | 26 | 12 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| ENG Peter Oosterhuis | 31 | – | 4 | 21 | 12–6–3 | 64.29 |
The wild card selections are shown in yellow.
Friday's matches
September 14, 1979
Morning four-ball
| Europe | Results | USA | 1 | Overall | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garrido/Ballesteros | USA 2 & 1 | **Wadkins/Nelson** | |||
| Brown/James | USA 3 & 2 | **Trevino/Zoeller** | |||
| Oosterhuis/Faldo | USA 2 & 1 | **Bean/Elder** | |||
| **Gallacher/Barnes** | Europe 2 & 1 | Irwin/Mahaffey | |||
| 1 | Session | 3 |
Afternoon foursomes
| Europe | Results | USA | 2 | Overall | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brown/Smyth | USA 7 & 6 | **Irwin/Kite** | |||
| **Ballesteros/Garrido** | Europe 3 & 2 | Zoeller/Green | |||
| Lyle/Jacklin | halved | Trevino/Morgan | |||
| Gallacher/Barnes | USA 4 & 3 | **Wadkins/Nelson** | |||
| 1 | Session | 2 |
Saturday's matches
September 15, 1979
Morning foursomes
| Europe | Results | USA | 5 | Overall | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Jacklin/Lyle** | Europe 5 & 4 | Elder/Mahaffey | |||
| **Faldo/Oosterhuis** | Europe 6 & 5 | Bean/Kite | |||
| **Gallacher/Barnes** | Europe 2 & 1 | Zoeller/Hayes | |||
| Ballesteros/Garrido | USA 3 & 2 | **Wadkins/Nelson** | |||
| 3 | Session | 1 |
Afternoon four-ball
| Europe | Results | USA | 7 | Overall | 8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballesteros/Garrido | USA 5 & 4 | **Wadkins/Nelson** | |||
| Jacklin/Lyle | USA 1 up | **Irwin/Kite** | |||
| **Gallacher/Barnes** | Europe 3 & 2 | Trevino/Zoeller | |||
| **Faldo/Oosterhuis** | Europe 1 up | Elder/Hayes | |||
| 2 | Session | 2 |
Sunday's matches
September 16, 1979
Morning singles
| Europe | Results | USA | 8 | Overall | 13 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Bernard Gallacher** | Europe 3 & 2 | Lanny Wadkins | |||
| Seve Ballesteros | USA 3 & 2 | **Larry Nelson** | |||
| Tony Jacklin | USA 1 up | **Tom Kite** | |||
| Antonio Garrido | USA 1 up | **Mark Hayes** | |||
| Michael King | USA 4 & 3 | **Andy Bean** | |||
| Brian Barnes | USA 1 up | **John Mahaffey** | |||
| 1 | Session | 5 |
Afternoon singles
| Europe | Results | USA | 11 | Overall | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| **Nick Faldo** | Europe 3 & 2 | Lee Elder | |||
| Des Smyth | USA 5 & 3 | **Hale Irwin** | |||
| Peter Oosterhuis | USA 2 up | **Hubert Green** | |||
| **Ken Brown** | Europe 1 up | Fuzzy Zoeller | |||
| Sandy Lyle | USA 2 & 1 | **Lee Trevino** | |||
| Mark James | halved | Gil Morgan | |||
| 2 | Session | 3 |
Individual player records
Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.
Source:
United States
| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Bean | 2 | 2–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 0–1–0 | ||
| Lee Elder | 1 | 1–3–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | ||
| Hubert Green | 1 | 1–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 0–1–0 | ||
| Mark Hayes | 1 | 1–2–0 | 1–0–0 | 0–1–0 | ||
| Hale Irwin | 3 | 3–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 | ||
| Tom Kite | 3 | 3–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–1–0 | ||
| John Mahaffey | 1 | 1–2–0 | 1–0–0 | 0–1–0 | ||
| Gil Morgan | 1 | 0–0–2 | 0–0–1 | 0–0–1 | ||
| Larry Nelson | 5 | 5–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 2–0–0 | ||
| Lee Trevino | 2.5 | 2–1–1 | 1–0–0 | 0–0–1 | ||
| Lanny Wadkins | 4 | 4–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 2–0–0 | ||
| Fuzzy Zoeller | 1 | 1–4–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 |
Europe
| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seve Ballesteros | 1 | 1–4–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–2–0 |
| Brian Barnes | 3 | 3–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 2–0–0 |
| Ken Brown | 1 | 1–2–0 | 1–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Nick Faldo | 3 | 3–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Bernard Gallacher | 4 | 4–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 2–0–0 |
| Antonio Garrido | 1 | 1–4–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–2–0 |
| Tony Jacklin | 1.5 | 1–2–1 | 0–1–0 | 1–0–1 | 0–1–0 |
| Mark James | 0.5 | 0–1–1 | 0–0–1 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Michael King | 0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Sandy Lyle | 1.5 | 1–2–1 | 0–1–0 | 1–0–1 | 0–1–0 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 2 | 2–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Des Smyth | 0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 |
Controversy and fallout
Due to their behaviour both on and off the course, the PGA levied Mark James and Ken Brown with the highest fines in professional golf up to that point. Both forfeited their match fee of £1000, with James receiving an additional £500 fine and Brown a suspension from international duty for 12 months. It was reported that James had failed to wear team uniform when requested, missed meetings and misbehaved during social functions. In addition to missing meetings and behaving improperly at social functions, Brown was also cited for his attitude towards playing partner Des Smyth and their opponents during the opening afternoon foursomes matches.
Video
- You Tube: 1979 Ryder Cup Sunday singles
References
References
- (May 31, 1978). "Ryder Cup goes Continental". The Age.
- (May 30, 1978). "British receive help in Ryder Cup change". Spokane Daily Chronicle.
- Jenkins, Dan. (September 24, 1979). "The U.S. rookies were rough Ryders".
- (September 17, 1979). "Not-so-good loser". Miami News.
- (September 17, 1979). "Nelson-led Yanks retain Ryder Cup". Spokesman-Review.
- (September 14, 1979). "U.S. minus Watson as Ryder Cup starts". St. Petersburg Times.
- Mark James withdrew because of injury. Gil Morgan was also injured, so this match was not actually played.[https://www.espn.com/golf/rydercup04/news/story?id=1880647]
- "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide".
- (29 November 1979). "Brown and James pay heavy penalty". The Times.
- Dobereiner, Peter. (29 November 1979). "Expensive way of growing up". The Guardian.
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