Ryder Cup
Year1977
Dates15–17 September 1977
VenueRoyal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
LocationLytham St Annes, England
HomeGB&I
AwayUSA
HomecaptainBrian Huggett
AwaycaptainDow Finsterwald
Homescore7
Awayscore12
ResultUnited States wins

The 22nd Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. The United States team won the competition by a score of 12 to 7 points.[1]

The event was the last time that a Great Britain and Ireland team would compete for the Ryder Cup. During the competition, officials from the PGA of America and the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland discussed the possibility of allowing players from continental Europe to participate in the Cup, and Jack Nicklaus also advocated this change in a meeting with Lord Derby.[2] The Deed of Trust that was struck with the PGA of Great Britain and Samuel Ryder was amended in time for the 1979 matches, and changed the popularity and competitive balance of the Ryder Cup.

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was reduced in scope from the formats used from 1963 through 1975, with only 20 matches played instead of 32. The schedule of play was as follows:

  • Day 1 — 5 foursome (alternate shot) matches
  • Day 2 — 5 four-ball (better ball) matches
  • Day 3 — 10 singles matches

With a total of 20 points, 10 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

Source: [3]

 Team Great Britain and Ireland
NameAgePrevious
Ryder Cups		MatchesW–L–HWinning
percentage
Brian Huggett40Non-playing captain
Brian Barnes324176–10–138.24
Ken Brown200Rookie
Howard Clark230Rookie
Neil Coles4273712–18–741.89
Eamonn Darcy25140–3–112.50
Peter Dawson270Rookie
Nick Faldo200Rookie
Bernard Gallacher284187–7–450.00
Tommy Horton36151–3–130.00
Tony Jacklin3352912–11–651.72
Mark James230Rookie
Peter Oosterhuis293189���6–358.33
 Team USA
NameAgePrevious
Ryder Cups		MatchesW–L–HWinning
percentage
Dow Finsterwald48Non-playing captain
Raymond Floyd35271–3–335.71
Lou Graham39263–2–158.33
Hubert Green300Rookie
Dave Hill40274–3–057.14
Hale Irwin32154–0–190.00
Don January47152–2–150.00
Jerry McGee340Rookie
Jack Nicklaus3742112–6–364.29
Ed Sneed330Rookie
Dave Stockton35131–1–150.00
Lanny Wadkins270Rookie
Tom Watson280Rookie

Thursday's foursome matches

Results
Gallacher/Barnes3 & 1Wadkins/Irwin
Coles/Dawson1 upStockton/McGee
Faldo/Oosterhuis2 & 1Floyd/Graham
Darcy/JacklinhalvedSneed/January
Horton/James5 & 4Nicklaus/Watson
1Session3
1Overall3

Friday's four-ball matches

Results
Barnes/Horton5 & 4Watson/Green
Coles/Dawson5 & 3Sneed/Wadkins
Faldo/Oosterhuis3 & 1Nicklaus/Floyd
Jacklin/Darcy5 & 3Hill/Stockton
James/Brown1 upIrwin/Graham
1Session4
2Overall7

Saturday's singles matches

Results
Howard Clark4 & 3Lanny Wadkins
Neil Coles5 & 3Lou Graham
Peter Dawson5 & 4Don January
Brian Barnes1 upHale Irwin
Tommy Horton5 & 4Dave Hill
Bernard Gallacher1 upJack Nicklaus
Eamonn Darcy1 upHubert Green
Mark James2 & 1Raymond Floyd
Nick Faldo1 upTom Watson
Peter Oosterhuis2 upJerry McGee
5Session5
7Overall12

Individual player records

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

Source: [3]

Great Britain and Ireland

PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Brian Barnes11–2–01–0–00–1–00–1–0
Ken Brown00–1–00–0–00–0–00–1–0
Howard Clark00–1–00–1–00–0–00–0–0
Neil Coles00–3–00–1–00–1–00–1–0
Eamonn Darcy0.50–2–10–1–00–0–10–1–0
Peter Dawson11–2–01–0–00–1–00–1–0
Nick Faldo33–0–01–0–01–0–01–0–0
Bernard Gallacher11–1–01–0–00–1–00–0–0
Tommy Horton00–3–00–1–00–1–00–1–0
Tony Jacklin0.50–1–10–0–00–0–10–1–0
Mark James00–3–00–1–00–1–00–1–0
Peter Oosterhuis33–0–01–0–01–0–01–0–0

United States

PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Raymond Floyd11–2–01–0–00–1–00–1–0
Lou Graham22–1–01–0–00–1–01–0–0
Hubert Green22–0–01–0–00–0–01–0–0
Dave Hill22–0–01–0–00–0–01–0–0
Hale Irwin22–1–00–1–01–0–01–0–0
Don January0.50–1–10–1–00–0–10–0–0
Jerry McGee11–1–00–1–01–0–00–0–0
Jack Nicklaus11–2–00–1–01–0–00–1–0
Ed Sneed1.51–0–10–0–00–0–11–0–0
Dave Stockton22–0–00–0–01–0–01–0–0
Lanny Wadkins33–0–01–0–01–0–01–0–0
Tom Watson22–1–00–1–01–0–01–0–0

References

  1. ^ Jacobs, Raymond (19 September 1977). "Talent gap wide as Atlantic". The Glasgow Herald. p. 18. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Ryder Cup 2006 » History » 1977 Results". The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Limited, and Turner Sports Interactive. Archived from the original on 22 October 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
  3. ^ "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide". Archived from the original on 2015-09-27. Retrieved September 26, 2015.