Dates | September 14β16, 1979 | ||||
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Venue | The Greenbrier, The Greenbrier Course | ||||
Location | White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia | ||||
Captains |
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United States wins the: Ryder Cup | |||||
The 23rd Ryder Cup Matches were held September 14β16, "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 oppositionββto 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 17ββto 11 points and led after every session. Ballesteros and Garrido played together in all four team sessions and were 1β3; 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.
Formatβ»
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 β 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in a morning session and 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in an afternoon session
- Day 2 β 4 foursome matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball matches in an afternoon session
- Day 3 β 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.
Teamsβ»
![]() | ||||||
Name | Age | Points rank |
Previous Ryder Cups |
Matches | WβLβH | Winning percentage |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Billy Casper | 48 | Non-playing captain | ||||
Gil Morgan | 32 | 0 | Rookie | |||
Hubert Green | 32 | 1 | 2 | 2β0β0 | 100.00 | |
Larry Nelson | 32 | 0 | Rookie | |||
John Mahaffey | 31 | 0 | Rookie | |||
Tom Kite | 29 | 0 | Rookie | |||
Lee Trevino | 39 | 4 | 22 | 11β6β5 | 61.36 | |
Hale Irwin | 34 | 2 | 8 | 6β1β1 | 81.25 | |
Lanny Wadkins | 29 | 1 | 3 | 3β0β0 | 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 | WβLβH | Winning percentage |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() |
54 | Non-playing captain | ||||
![]() |
22 | 1 | 0 | Rookie | ||
![]() |
25 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0β3β0 | 0.00 |
![]() |
34 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 7β12β1 | 37.50 |
![]() |
30 | 4 | 5 | 20 | 8β8β4 | 50.00 |
![]() |
21 | 5 | 0 | Rookie | ||
![]() |
22 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0β1β0 | 0.00 |
![]() |
35 | 7 | 0 | Rookie | ||
![]() |
35 | 8 | 6 | 31 | 12β12β7 | 50.00 |
![]() |
29 | 9 | 0 | Rookie | ||
![]() |
22 | 10 | 1 | 3 | 3β0β0 | 100.00 |
![]() |
26 | 12 | 0 | Rookie | ||
![]() |
31 | β | 4 | 21 | 12β6β3 | 64.29 |
The wild card selections are shown in yellow.
Friday's matchesβ»
September 14, 1979
Morning four-ballβ»
![]() |
Results | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Garrido/Ballesteros | ![]() |
Wadkins/Nelson |
Brown/James | ![]() |
Trevino/Zoeller |
Oosterhuis/Faldo | ![]() |
Bean/Elder |
Gallacher/Barnes | ![]() |
Irwin/Mahaffey |
1 | Session | 3 |
1 | Overall | 3 |
Afternoon foursomesβ»
![]() |
Results | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Brown/Smyth | ![]() |
Irwin/Kite |
Ballesteros/Garrido | ![]() |
Zoeller/Green |
Lyle/Jacklin | halved | Trevino/Morgan |
Gallacher/Barnes | ![]() |
Wadkins/Nelson |
11⁄2 | Session | 21⁄2 |
21⁄2 | Overall | 51⁄2 |
Saturday's matchesβ»
September 15, 1979
Morning foursomesβ»
![]() |
Results | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Jacklin/Lyle | ![]() |
Elder/Mahaffey |
Faldo/Oosterhuis | ![]() |
Bean/Kite |
Gallacher/Barnes | ![]() |
Zoeller/Hayes |
Ballesteros/Garrido | ![]() |
Wadkins/Nelson |
3 | Session | 1 |
51⁄2 | Overall | 61⁄2 |
Afternoon four-ballβ»
![]() |
Results | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Ballesteros/Garrido | ![]() |
Wadkins/Nelson |
Jacklin/Lyle | ![]() |
Irwin/Kite |
Gallacher/Barnes | ![]() |
Trevino/Zoeller |
Faldo/Oosterhuis | ![]() |
Elder/Hayes |
2 | Session | 2 |
71⁄2 | Overall | 81⁄2 |
Sunday's matchesβ»
September 16, 1979
Morning singlesβ»
![]() |
Results | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Bernard Gallacher | ![]() |
Lanny Wadkins |
Seve Ballesteros | ![]() |
Larry Nelson |
Tony Jacklin | ![]() |
Tom Kite |
Antonio Garrido | ![]() |
Mark Hayes |
Michael King | ![]() |
Andy Bean |
Brian Barnes | ![]() |
John Mahaffey |
1 | Session | 5 |
81⁄2 | Overall | 131⁄2 |
Afternoon singlesβ»
![]() |
Results | ![]() |
---|---|---|
Nick Faldo | ![]() |
Lee Elder |
Des Smyth | ![]() |
Hale Irwin |
Peter Oosterhuis | ![]() |
Hubert Green |
Ken Brown | ![]() |
Fuzzy Zoeller |
Sandy Lyle | ![]() |
Lee Trevino |
Mark James | halved | Gil Morgan |
21⁄2 | Session | 31⁄2 |
11 | Overall | 17 |
Individual player recordsβ»
Each entry refers to the winβlossβhalf record of the player.
Source:
United Statesβ»
Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Andy Bean | 2 | 2β1β0 | 1β0β0 | 0β1β0 | 1β0β0 |
Lee Elder | 1 | 1β3β0 | 0β1β0 | 0β1β0 | 1β1β0 |
Hubert Green | 1 | 1β1β0 | 1β0β0 | 0β1β0 | 0β0β0 |
Mark Hayes | 1 | 1β2β0 | 1β0β0 | 0β1β0 | 0β1β0 |
Hale Irwin | 3 | 3β1β0 | 1β0β0 | 1β0β0 | 1β1β0 |
Tom Kite | 3 | 3β1β0 | 1β0β0 | 1β1β0 | 1β0β0 |
John Mahaffey | 1 | 1β2β0 | 1β0β0 | 0β1β0 | 0β1β0 |
Gil Morgan | 1 | 0β0β2 | 0β0β1 | 0β0β1 | 0β0β0 |
Larry Nelson | 5 | 5β0β0 | 1β0β0 | 2β0β0 | 2β0β0 |
Lee Trevino | 2.5 | 2β1β1 | 1β0β0 | 0β0β1 | 1β1β0 |
Lanny Wadkins | 4 | 4β1β0 | 0β1β0 | 2β0β0 | 2β0β0 |
Fuzzy Zoeller | 1 | 1β4β0 | 0β1β0 | 0β2β0 | 1β1β0 |
Europeβ»
Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Seve Ballesteros | 1 | 1β4β0 | 0β1β0 | 1β1β0 | 0β2β0 |
Brian Barnes | 3 | 3β2β0 | 0β1β0 | 1β1β0 | 2β0β0 |
Ken Brown | 1 | 1β2β0 | 1β0β0 | 0β1β0 | 0β1β0 |
Nick Faldo | 3 | 3β1β0 | 1β0β0 | 1β0β0 | 1β1β0 |
Bernard Gallacher | 4 | 4β1β0 | 1β0β0 | 1β1β0 | 2β0β0 |
Antonio Garrido | 1 | 1β4β0 | 0β1β0 | 1β1β0 | 0β2β0 |
Tony Jacklin | 1.5 | 1β2β1 | 0β1β0 | 1β0β1 | 0β1β0 |
Mark James | 0.5 | 0β1β1 | 0β0β1 | 0β0β0 | 0β1β0 |
Michael King | 0 | 0β1β0 | 0β1β0 | 0β0β0 | 0β0β0 |
Sandy Lyle | 1.5 | 1β2β1 | 0β1β0 | 1β0β1 | 0β1β0 |
Peter Oosterhuis | 2 | 2β2β0 | 0β1β0 | 1β0β0 | 1β1β0 |
Des Smyth | 0 | 0β2β0 | 0β1β0 | 0β1β0 | 0β0β0 |
Controversy and falloutβ»
On their return to the United Kingdom, Mark James and Ken Brown received the highest fines in professional golf up to this point. James received a Β£1500 fine for "unprofessional conduct" and Brown was fined Β£1000 and banned from international duty for 12 months.β»
Videoβ»
- You Tube: 1979 Ryder Cup Sunday singles
Referencesβ»
- ^ "Ryder Cup goes Continental". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. May 31, 1978. p. 26.
- ^ "British receive help in Ryder Cup change". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. May 30, 1978. p. 19.
- ^ Jenkins, Dan (September 24, 1979). "The U.S. rookies were rough Ryders". Sports Illustrated. p. 26.
- ^ "Not-so-good loser". Miami News. September 17, 1979. p. 1C.
- ^ "Nelson-led Yanks retain Ryder Cup". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. September 17, 1979. p. 19.
- ^ "U.S. minus Watson as Ryder Cup starts". St. Petersburg Times. wire services. September 14, 1979. p. 6C.
- ^ Mark James withdrew. Because of injury. Gil Morgan was also injured, so this match was not actually played.β»
- ^ "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
- "Ryder Cup 2006 Β» History Β» 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.
External linksβ»
- 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
37Β°47β²13β³N 80Β°18β²50β³W / 37.787Β°N 80.314Β°W / 37.787; -80.314