1979 Ryder Cup

23rd Ryder Cup Matches
Dates	September 14–16, 1979
Venue	The Greenbrier,; The Greenbrier Course
Location	White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
Captains	Billy Casper (USA); John Jacobs (Europe);
	United States wins the Ryder Cup
	← 1977 1981 →

The Greenbrier

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Location in the United States

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

Name	Age	Points rank	Previous Ryder Cups	Matches	W–L–H	Winning percentage
Team USA
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.^[6]

Name	Age	Points rank	Previous Ryder Cups	Matches	W–L–H	Winning percentage
Team Europe
John Jacobs	54	Non-playing captain
Seve Ballesteros	22	1	0	Rookie
Mark James	25	2	1	3	0–3–0	0.00
Brian Barnes	34	3	5	20	7–12–1	37.50
Bernard Gallacher	30	4	5	20	8–8–4	50.00
Sandy Lyle	21	5	0	Rookie
Ken Brown	22	6	1	1	0–1–0	0.00
Antonio Garrido	35	7	0	Rookie
Tony Jacklin	35	8	6	31	12–12–7	50.00
Michael King	29	9	0	Rookie
Nick Faldo	22	10	1	3	3–0–0	100.00
Des Smyth	26	12	0	Rookie
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

	Results
Garrido/Ballesteros	2 & 1	Wadkins/Nelson
Brown/James	3 & 2	Trevino/Zoeller
Oosterhuis/Faldo	2 & 1	Bean/Elder
Gallacher/Barnes	2 & 1	Irwin/Mahaffey
1	Session	3
1	Overall	3

Afternoon foursomes

	Results
Brown/Smyth	7 & 6	Irwin/Kite
Ballesteros/Garrido	3 & 2	Zoeller/Green
Lyle/Jacklin	halved	Trevino/Morgan
Gallacher/Barnes	4 & 3	Wadkins/Nelson
11⁄2	Session	21⁄2
21⁄2	Overall	51⁄2

Saturday's matches

September 15, 1979

Morning foursomes

	Results
Jacklin/Lyle	5 & 4	Elder/Mahaffey
Faldo/Oosterhuis	6 & 5	Bean/Kite
Gallacher/Barnes	2 & 1	Zoeller/Hayes
Ballesteros/Garrido	3 & 2	Wadkins/Nelson
3	Session	1
51⁄2	Overall	61⁄2

Afternoon four-ball

	Results
Ballesteros/Garrido	5 & 4	Wadkins/Nelson
Jacklin/Lyle	1 up	Irwin/Kite
Gallacher/Barnes	3 & 2	Trevino/Zoeller
Faldo/Oosterhuis	1 up	Elder/Hayes
2	Session	2
71⁄2	Overall	81⁄2

Sunday's matches

September 16, 1979

Morning singles

	Results
Bernard Gallacher	3 & 2	Lanny Wadkins
Seve Ballesteros	3 & 2	Larry Nelson
Tony Jacklin	1 up	Tom Kite
Antonio Garrido	1 up	Mark Hayes
Michael King	4 & 3	Andy Bean
Brian Barnes	1 up	John Mahaffey
1	Session	5
81⁄2	Overall	131⁄2

Afternoon singles

	Results
Nick Faldo	3 & 2	Lee Elder
Des Smyth	5 & 3	Hale Irwin
Peter Oosterhuis	2 up	Hubert Green
Ken Brown	1 up	Fuzzy Zoeller
Sandy Lyle	2 & 1	Lee Trevino
Mark James	halved^[7]	Gil Morgan
21⁄2	Session	31⁄2
11	Overall	17

Individual player records

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

Source: ^[8]

United States

Player	Points	Overall	Singles	Foursomes	Fourballs
Andy Bean	2	2–1–0	1–0–0	0–1–0	1–0–0
Lee Elder	1	1–3–0	0–1–0	0–1–0	1–1–0
Hubert Green	1	1–1–0	1–0–0	0–1–0	0–0–0
Mark Hayes	1	1–2–0	1–0–0	0–1–0	0–1–0
Hale Irwin	3	3–1–0	1–0–0	1–0–0	1–1–0
Tom Kite	3	3–1–0	1–0–0	1–1–0	1–0–0
John Mahaffey	1	1–2–0	1–0–0	0–1–0	0–1–0
Gil Morgan	1	0–0–2	0–0–1	0–0–1	0–0–0
Larry Nelson	5	5–0–0	1–0–0	2–0–0	2–0–0
Lee Trevino	2.5	2–1–1	1–0–0	0–0–1	1–1–0
Lanny Wadkins	4	4–1–0	0–1–0	2–0–0	2–0–0
Fuzzy Zoeller	1	1–4–0	0–1–0	0–2–0	1–1–0

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.^[9]^[10]

Video

You Tube: 1979 Ryder Cup Sunday singles

References

^ "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. Archived from the original on August 14, 2013.
^ "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.
^ ^a ^b "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.[1]
^ "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.
^ "Brown and James pay heavy penalty". The Times. November 29, 1979. p. 20. Retrieved September 25, 2025 – via newspapers.com.
^ 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.

External links

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

[rycpgc-1] "Ryder Cup goes Continental". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. May 31, 1978. p. 26.

[brhircc-2] "British receive help in Ryder Cup change". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. May 30, 1978. p. 19.

[tusrkwrr-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.

[nsgdlsr-4] "Not-so-good loser". Miami News. September 17, 1979. p. 1C.

[nlyrrcp-5] "Nelson-led Yanks retain Ryder Cup". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. September 17, 1979. p. 19.

[usmwarcs-6] "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.

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