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1973 Ryder Cup

Coordinates: 56°02′35″N 2°49′23″W / 56.043°N 2.823°W / 56.043; -2.823
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20th Ryder Cup Matches
Dates20–22 September 1973
VenueMuirfield
LocationEast Lothian, Scotland
Captains
United Kingdom
Republic of Ireland
13 19 United States
United States wins the Ryder Cup
← 1971
1975 →
Muirfield is located in Scotland
Muirfield
Muirfield

The 20th Ryder Cup Matches were held at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. The United States team won the competition by a score of 19 to 13 points.[1] For the first time, what had previously been the "Great Britain" team was called "Great Britain and Ireland", although golfers from the Republic of Ireland had played since 1953, and from Northern Ireland since 1947.

Muirfield had hosted the Open Championship the previous year, won by American Lee Trevino.

Format

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The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was adjusted slightly in 1973 from the format used from 1963 through 1971:

  • Day 1 — 4 foursomes (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball (better ball) 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 — 16 singles matches, 8 each in morning and afternoon sessions

With a total of 32 points, 1612 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

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Source: [2]

Selection for the Great Britain and Ireland team was based on a points list with points being earned between the 1972 Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf and the same event in 1973. Total points determined the order, with 30 points to the winner, 24 for the runner-up, down to 1 point for the player in 25th place.[3] The leading 8 in the points list were guaranteed places, with the remaining 4 selected by a committee. The top 8 were: Oosterhuis, Coles, Jacklin, Bembridge, Barnes, Butler, O'Connor and Gallacher.[4] The selection committee chose the players lying 9th to 12th in the list: Garner, Polland, Clark and Huggett.[5]

United Kingdom Republic of Ireland Team Great Britain and Ireland
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
England Bernard Hunt 43 Non-playing captain
Scotland Brian Barnes 28 2 6 2–4–0 33.33
England Maurice Bembridge 28 2 7 3–3–1 50.00
England Peter Butler 41 3 11 3–6–2 36.36
England Clive Clark 28 0 Rookie
England Neil Coles 38 6 32 11–15–6 43.75
Scotland Bernard Gallacher 24 2 9 5–3–1 61.11
England John Garner 26 1 1 0–1–0 0.00
Wales Brian Huggett 36 4 19 5–9–5 39.47
England Tony Jacklin 29 3 17 7–6–4 52.94
Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr 48 9 31 10–18–3 37.10
England Peter Oosterhuis 25 1 6 3–3–0 50.00
Northern Ireland Eddie Polland 26 0 Rookie

Due to the rules of the PGA of America in place at the time, players with less than five years as a professional were not eligible for the U.S. team, which included reigning U.S. Open champion Johnny Miller and Lanny Wadkins.[6] (These rules also kept Jack Nicklaus on the sidelines until 1969.) Miller made his Ryder Cup debut in 1975 and Wadkins in 1977.

United States Team USA
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Jack Burke Jr. 50 Non-playing captain
Tommy Aaron 36 1 4 1–2–1 37.50
Homero Blancas 35 0 Rookie
Gay Brewer 41 1 5 3–2–0 60.00
Billy Casper 42 6 27 14–7–6 62.96
Lou Graham 35 0 Rookie
Dave Hill 36 1 6 4–2–0 66.67
Jack Nicklaus 33 2 10 6–3–1 65.00
Arnold Palmer 44 5 27 20–5–2 77.78
Chi-Chi Rodríguez 37 0 Rookie
J. C. Snead 32 1 4 4–0–0 100.00
Lee Trevino 33 2 11 6–3–2 63.64
Tom Weiskopf 30 0 Rookie

Thursday's matches

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Morning foursomes

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[7] [8]

United Kingdom Republic of Ireland Results United States
Barnes/Gallacher United KingdomRepublic of Ireland 1 up Trevino/Casper
O'Connor/Coles United KingdomRepublic of Ireland 3 & 2 Weiskopf/Snead
Jacklin/Oosterhuis halved Rodríguez/Graham
Bembridge/Polland United States 6 & 5 Nicklaus/Palmer
212 Session 112
212 Overall 112

Afternoon four-ball

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United Kingdom Republic of Ireland Results United States
Barnes/Gallacher United KingdomRepublic of Ireland 5 & 4 Aaron/Brewer
Bembridge/Huggett United KingdomRepublic of Ireland 3 & 1 Nicklaus/Palmer
Jacklin/Oosterhuis United KingdomRepublic of Ireland 3 & 1 Weiskopf/Casper
Coles/O'Connor United States 2 & 1 Trevino/Blancas
3 Session 1
512 Overall 212

Friday's matches

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[9]

Morning foursomes

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United Kingdom Republic of Ireland Results United States
Barnes/Butler United States 1 up Nicklaus/Weiskopf
Oosterhuis/Jacklin United KingdomRepublic of Ireland 2 up Palmer/Hill
Bembridge/Huggett United KingdomRepublic of Ireland 5 & 4 Rodríguez/Graham
Coles/O'Connor United States 2 & 1 Trevino/Casper
2 Session 2
712 Overall 412

Afternoon four-ball

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United Kingdom Republic of Ireland Results United States
Barnes/Butler United States 2 up Snead/Palmer
Jacklin/Oosterhuis United States 3 & 2 Brewer/Casper
Clark/Polland United States 3 & 2 Nicklaus/Weiskopf
Bembridge/Huggett halved Trevino/Blancas
12 Session 312
8 Overall 8

Saturday's matches

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[10]

Morning singles

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United Kingdom Republic of Ireland Results United States
Brian Barnes United States 2 & 1 Billy Casper
Bernard Gallacher United States 3 & 1 Tom Weiskopf
Peter Butler United States 5 & 4 Homero Blancas
Tony Jacklin United KingdomRepublic of Ireland 3 & 1 Tommy Aaron
Neil Coles halved Gay Brewer
Christy O'Connor United States 1 up J. C. Snead
Maurice Bembridge halved Jack Nicklaus
Peter Oosterhuis halved Lee Trevino
212 Session 512
1012 Overall 1312

Afternoon singles

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United Kingdom Republic of Ireland Results United States
Brian Huggett United KingdomRepublic of Ireland 4 & 2 Homero Blancas
Brian Barnes United States 3 & 1 J. C. Snead
Bernard Gallacher United States 6 & 5 Gay Brewer
Tony Jacklin United States 2 & 1 Billy Casper
Neil Coles United States 6 & 5 Lee Trevino
Christy O'Connor halved Tom Weiskopf
Maurice Bembridge United States 2 up Jack Nicklaus
Peter Oosterhuis United KingdomRepublic of Ireland 4 & 2 Arnold Palmer
212 Session 512
13 Overall 19

Individual player records

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

Source: [2]

Great Britain and Ireland

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Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes Fourballs
Brian Barnes 2 2–4–0 0–2–0 1–1–0 1–1–0
Maurice Bembridge 3 2–2–2 0–1–1 1–1–0 1–0–1
Peter Butler 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–1–0
Clive Clark 0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0
Neil Coles 1.5 1–3–1 0–1–1 1–1–0 0–1–0
Bernard Gallacher 2 2–2–0 0–2–0 1–0–0 1–0–0
Brian Huggett 3.5 3–0–1 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–1
Tony Jacklin 3.5 3–2–1 1–1–0 1–0–1 1–1–0
Christy O'Connor 1.5 1–3–1 0–1–1 1–1–0 0–1–0
Peter Oosterhuis 4 3–1–2 1–0–1 1–0–1 1–1–0
Eddie Polland 0 0–2–0 0–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0

John Garner did not play in any matches.

United States

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Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes Fourballs
Tommy Aaron 0 0–2–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–1–0
Homero Blancas 2.5 2–1–1 1–1–0 0–0–0 1–0–1
Gay Brewer 2.5 2–1–1 1–0–1 0–0–0 1–1–0
Billy Casper 4 4–2–0 2–0–0 1–1–0 1–1–0
Lou Graham 0.5 0–1–1 0–0–0 0–1–1 0–0–0
Dave Hill 0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–1–0 0–0–0
Jack Nicklaus 4.5 4–1–1 1–0–1 2–0–0 1–1–0
Arnold Palmer 2 2–3–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 1–1–0
Chi-Chi Rodríguez 0.5 0–1–1 0–0–0 0–1–1 0–0–0
J. C. Snead 3 3–1–0 2–0–0 0–1–0 1–0–0
Lee Trevino 4 3–1–2 1–0–1 1–1–0 1–0–1
Tom Weiskopf 3.5 3–2–1 1–0–1 1–1–0 1–1–0

References

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  1. ^ "U.S. prevails in Ryder Cup". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. 23 September 1973. p. 5D.
  2. ^ a b "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  3. ^ "Change to Ryder Cup team selection". The Glasgow Herald. 3 February 1972. p. 4.
  4. ^ "Garner may miss Ryder Cup". The Glasgow Herald. 20 August 1973. p. 5.
  5. ^ "Selectors stick to Ryder Cup table". The Glasgow Herald. 21 August 1973. p. 4.
  6. ^ Green, Bob (22 June 1973). "Johnny Miller ineligible for Ryder Cup team". Lewiston Evening Journal. Lewiston, Maine. Associated Press. p. 18.
  7. ^ "Ryder cup captains choose predictable partnerships". Glasgow Herald. 20 September 1973. p. 5.
  8. ^ "Scottish pair show the way to British lead". Glasgow Herald. 21 September 1973. p. 4.
  9. ^ "Americans now hold the balance of power". Glasgow Herald. 21 September 1973. p. 2.
  10. ^ "US victory confirms hopeless imbalance of Ryder cup". Glasgow Herald. 24 September 1973. p. 5.
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56°02′35″N 2°49′23″W / 56.043°N 2.823°W / 56.043; -2.823