1979 Ryder Cup

23rd Ryder Cup Matches
DatesSeptember 14–16, 1979
VenueThe Greenbrier,
The Greenbrier Course
LocationWhite Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
Captains
United States 17 11 Europe
United States wins the Ryder Cup
The Greenbrier is located in the United States
The Greenbrier
The Greenbrier
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Location in the United States
The Greenbrier is located in West Virginia
The Greenbrier
The Greenbrier
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Location in 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).[1][2] 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.[3] 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.[4][5]

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.[6]

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, 141⁄2 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

United States Team USA
NameAgePoints
rank		Previous
Ryder Cups		MatchesW–L–HWinning
percentage
Billy Casper48Non-playing captain
Gil Morgan320Rookie
Hubert Green32122–0–0100.00
Larry Nelson320Rookie
John Mahaffey310Rookie
Tom Kite290Rookie
Lee Trevino3942211–6–561.36
Hale Irwin34286–1–181.25
Lanny Wadkins29133–0–0100.00
Andy Bean260Rookie
Fuzzy Zoeller270Rookie
Lee Elder450Rookie
Mark Hayes300Rookie

Mark Hayes replaced Tom Watson.[6]

Europe Team Europe
NameAgePoints
rank		Previous
Ryder Cups		MatchesW–L–HWinning
percentage
England John Jacobs54Non-playing captain
Spain Seve Ballesteros2210Rookie
England Mark James252130–3–00.00
Scotland Brian Barnes3435207–12–137.50
Scotland Bernard Gallacher3045208–8–450.00
Scotland Sandy Lyle2150Rookie
Scotland Ken Brown226110–1–00.00
Spain Antonio Garrido3570Rookie
England Tony Jacklin35863112–12–750.00
England Michael King2990Rookie
England Nick Faldo2210133–0–0100.00
Republic of Ireland Des Smyth26120Rookie
England Peter Oosterhuis31–42112–6–364.29

The wild card selections are shown in yellow.

Friday's matches

September 14, 1979

Morning four-ball

EuropeResultsUnited States
Garrido/BallesterosUnited States 2 & 1Wadkins/Nelson
Brown/JamesUnited States 3 & 2Trevino/Zoeller
Oosterhuis/FaldoUnited States 2 & 1Bean/Elder
Gallacher/BarnesEurope 2 & 1Irwin/Mahaffey
1Session3
1Overall3

Afternoon foursomes

EuropeResultsUnited States
Brown/SmythUnited States 7 & 6Irwin/Kite
Ballesteros/GarridoEurope 3 & 2Zoeller/Green
Lyle/JacklinhalvedTrevino/Morgan
Gallacher/BarnesUnited States 4 & 3Wadkins/Nelson
11⁄2Session21⁄2
21⁄2Overall51⁄2

Saturday's matches

September 15, 1979

Morning foursomes

EuropeResultsUnited States
Jacklin/LyleEurope 5 & 4Elder/Mahaffey
Faldo/OosterhuisEurope 6 & 5Bean/Kite
Gallacher/BarnesEurope 2 & 1Zoeller/Hayes
Ballesteros/GarridoUnited States 3 & 2Wadkins/Nelson
3Session1
51⁄2Overall61⁄2

Afternoon four-ball

EuropeResultsUnited States
Ballesteros/GarridoUnited States 5 & 4Wadkins/Nelson
Jacklin/LyleUnited States 1 upIrwin/Kite
Gallacher/BarnesEurope 3 & 2Trevino/Zoeller
Faldo/OosterhuisEurope 1 upElder/Hayes
2Session2
71⁄2Overall81⁄2

Sunday's matches

September 16, 1979

Morning singles

EuropeResultsUnited States
Bernard GallacherEurope 3 & 2Lanny Wadkins
Seve BallesterosUnited States 3 & 2Larry Nelson
Tony JacklinUnited States 1 upTom Kite
Antonio GarridoUnited States 1 upMark Hayes
Michael KingUnited States 4 & 3Andy Bean
Brian BarnesUnited States 1 upJohn Mahaffey
1Session5
81⁄2Overall131⁄2

Afternoon singles

EuropeResultsUnited States
Nick FaldoEurope 3 & 2Lee Elder
Des SmythUnited States 5 & 3Hale Irwin
Peter OosterhuisUnited States 2 upHubert Green
Ken BrownEurope 1 upFuzzy Zoeller
Sandy LyleUnited States 2 & 1Lee Trevino
Mark Jameshalved[7]Gil Morgan
21⁄2Session31⁄2
11Overall17

Individual player records

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

Source: [8]

United States

PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Andy Bean22–1–01–0–00–1–01–0–0
Lee Elder11–3–00–1–00–1–01–1–0
Hubert Green11–1–01–0–00–1–00–0–0
Mark Hayes11–2–01–0–00–1–00–1–0
Hale Irwin33–1–01–0–01–0–01–1–0
Tom Kite33–1–01–0–01–1–01–0–0
John Mahaffey11–2–01–0–00–1–00–1–0
Gil Morgan10–0–20–0–10–0–10–0–0
Larry Nelson55–0–01–0–02–0–02–0–0
Lee Trevino2.52–1–11–0–00–0–11–1–0
Lanny Wadkins44–1–00–1–02–0–02–0–0
Fuzzy Zoeller11–4–00–1–00–2–01–1–0

Europe

PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Seve Ballesteros11–4–00–1–01–1–00–2–0
Brian Barnes33–2–00–1–01–1–02–0–0
Ken Brown11–2–01–0–00–1–00–1–0
Nick Faldo33–1–01–0–01–0–01–1–0
Bernard Gallacher44–1–01–0–01–1–02–0–0
Antonio Garrido11–4–00–1–01–1–00–2–0
Tony Jacklin1.51–2–10–1–01–0–10–1–0
Mark James0.50–1–10–0–10–0–00–1–0
Michael King00–1–00–1–00–0–00–0–0
Sandy Lyle1.51–2–10–1–01–0–10–1–0
Peter Oosterhuis22–2–00–1–01–0–01–1–0
Des Smyth00–2–00–1–00–1–00–0–0

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.[9][10]

Video

  • You Tube: 1979 Ryder Cup   Sunday singles

References

  1. ^ "Ryder Cup goes Continental". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. May 31, 1978. p. 26.
  2. ^ "British receive help in Ryder Cup change". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. May 30, 1978. p. 19.
  3. ^ Jenkins, Dan (September 24, 1979). "The U.S. rookies were rough Ryders". Sports Illustrated. p. 26. Archived from the original on August 14, 2013.
  4. ^ "Not-so-good loser". Miami News. September 17, 1979. p. 1C.
  5. ^ "Nelson-led Yanks retain Ryder Cup". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. September 17, 1979. p. 19.
  6. ^ a b "U.S. minus Watson as Ryder Cup starts". St. Petersburg Times. wire services. September 14, 1979. p. 6C.
  7. ^ Mark James withdrew because of injury. Gil Morgan was also injured, so this match was not actually played.[1]
  8. ^ "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
  9. ^ "Brown and James pay heavy penalty". The Times. November 29, 1979. p. 20. Retrieved September 25, 2025 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Dobereiner, Peter (November 29, 1979). "Expensive way of growing up". The Guardian. p. 28. Retrieved September 25, 2025 – via newspapers.com.
  • "Ryder Cup 2006 » History » 1979 Results". The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Limited, and Turner Sports Interactive. Archived from the original on October 22, 2006. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
  • "Ryder Cup history: 1979". BBC Sport. September 13, 2004. Retrieved March 14, 2007.
  • PGA of America: 1979 Ryder Cup Archived October 23, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  • About.com: 1979 Ryder Cup Archived January 8, 2014, at the Wayback Machine

37°47′13″N 80°18′50″W / 37.787°N 80.314°W / 37.787; -80.314

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