The 32nd Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain, marking the first time the event was contested in continental Europe. The European team won the competition by a margin of 14 to 13 and retained the Ryder Cup.

The Europeans held a 10–5 lead heading into the final day, but the Americans mounted a comeback by winning the singles matches 8–4 but fell just short. Colin Montgomerie halved the final match with Scott Hoch (conceding a par putt on the final hole) to seal the outright victory for the Europeans.

This was the first of seven consecutive victories at home by Europe, a streak that remains intact through 2023.

Format The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format used in 1997 was as follows: Day 1 (Friday) – 4 fourball (better ball) matches in a morning session and 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in an afternoon session Day 2 (Saturday) – 4 fourball matches in a morning session and 4 foursome matches in an afternoon session Day 3 (Sunday) – 12 singles matches With a total of 28 points, 14 points were required to win the Cup, and 14 points were required for the defending champion to retain the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams The selection process for the European team remained largely unchanged from that used in 1995 with two captain's picks. If captain Ballesteros qualified automatically, he had the choice of standing down and selecting a third player."Ballesteros at home in captain's role". The Times, 23 February 1996; p. 40; Issue 65510. The qualifying period remained the same, starting with the Canon European Masters in Switzerland at the beginning of September 1996 and ending with the BMW International Open on 31 August, the remaining two team members being chosen soon afterwards by the team captain. Prior to the final event Miguel Ángel Martín was in 10th place in the points list. He had, however, not played since The Open Championship because of a wrist injury. In the final event both José María Olazábal and Pádraig Harrington had chances to overtake Martin but neither succeeded. Olazábal finished 11th in the final points list with Harrington 12th. Because of uncertainty about Martin's fitness, the announcement of the two captain's picks, which was to have been immediately after the BMW International Open, was cancelled."Ballesteros is forced to play waiting game". The Times, 1 September 1997; p. 56; Issue 65983. On the Tuesday Martin was given an ultimatum that he was required to play 18 holes the following day to demonstrate that he would be fit to play in the Ryder Cup. Martin refused and was replaced by Olazábal, who had finished in the next qualifying place."Europe rule out Martin". The Times, 3 September 1997; p. 48; Issue 65985. Ballesteros announced his wildcards on the Thursday, choosing Nick Faldo and Jesper Parnevik."Ryder Cup call goes to Faldo and Parnevik". The Times, 5 September 1997; p. 44; Issue 65987. Miguel Ángel Martín had a world ranking of 79 at the time of the Ryder Cup.

 Team EuropeNameAgePointsrankWorldrankingPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage Seve Ballesteros 40 Non-playing captain Colin Montgomerie 34 1 5 3 13 6–5–2 53.85 Darren Clarke 29 2 33 0 Rookie Bernhard Langer 40 3 20 8 34 15–14–5 51.47 Ian Woosnam 39 4 25 7 29 13–11–5 53.45 Per-Ulrik Johansson 30 5 42 1 3 1–2–0 33.33 Lee Westwood 24 6 32 0 Rookie Ignacio Garrido 25 7 78 0 Rookie Thomas Bjørn 26 8 73 0 Rookie Costantino Rocca 40 9 43 2 7 3–4–0 42.86 José María Olazábal 31 11 57 4 20 12–6–2 65.00 Nick Faldo 40 27 15 10 41 21–16–4 56.10 Jesper Parnevik 32 – 18 0 Rookie

Captains picks are shown in yellow; the world rankings and records are at the start of the 1997 Ryder Cup.

 Team USANameAgePointsrankWorldrankingPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageTom Kite 47 Non-playing captainTiger Woods 21 1 2 0 RookieJustin Leonard 25 2 11 0 RookieTom Lehman 38 3 6 1 3 2–1–0 66.67Davis Love III 33 4 10 2 9 5–4–0 55.56Jim Furyk 27 5 21 0 RookiePhil Mickelson 27 6 8 1 3 3–0–0 100.00Jeff Maggert 33 7 28 1 4 2–2–0 50.00Mark O'Meara 40 8 9 3 8 2–5–1 31.25Scott Hoch 41 9 13 0 RookieBrad Faxon 36 10 16 1 3 1–2–0 33.33Lee Janzen 33 15 39 1 2 0–2–0 0.00Fred Couples 37 17 12 4 16 5–7–4 43.75

Captains picks are shown in yellow; the world rankings and records are at the start of the 1997 Ryder Cup.

Friday's matches Morning four-ball Results Olazábal/Rocca 1 upLove III/MickelsonFaldo/Westwood 1 upCouples/FaxonParnevik/Johansson 1 upLehman/FurykMontgomerie/Langer 3 & 2Woods/O'Meara 2 Session 2 2 Overall 2

Afternoon foursomes Results Rocca/Olazábal 1 upHoch/JanzenLanger/Montgomerie 5 & 3O'Meara/WoodsFaldo/Westwood 3 & 2Leonard/MaggertParnevik/GarridohalvedLehman/Mickelson 2 Session 1 4 Overall 3

Saturday's matches Morning four-ball Results Montgomerie/Clarke 1 upCouples/Love IIIWoosnam/Bjørn 2 & 1Leonard/FaxonFaldo/Westwood 2 & 1Woods/O'MearaOlazábal/GarridohalvedMickelson/Lehman 3 Session 8 Overall 4

Afternoon foursomes Results Montgomerie/Langer 1 upJanzen/FurykFaldo/Westwood 2 & 1Hoch/MaggertParnevik/GarridohalvedLeonard/WoodsOlazábal/Rocca 5 & 4Love III/Couples 2 Session 1 10 Overall 5

Sunday's singles matches Results Ian Woosnam 8 & 7Fred CouplesPer-Ulrik Johansson 3 & 2Davis Love IIIJesper Parnevik 5 & 4Mark O'MearaDarren Clarke 2 & 1Phil MickelsonCostantino Rocca 4 & 2Tiger WoodsThomas BjørnhalvedJustin LeonardIgnacio Garrido 7 & 6Tom LehmanBernhard Langer 2 & 1Brad FaxonLee Westwood 3 & 2Jeff MaggertJosé María Olazábal 1 upLee JanzenNick Faldo 3 & 2Jim FurykColin MontgomeriehalvedScott Hoch 4 Session 8 14 Overall 13

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

Source:

Europe Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsThomas Bjørn 1.5 1–0–1 0–0–1 0–0–0 1–0–0Darren Clarke 1 1–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 1–0–0Nick Faldo 2 2–3–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 1–1–0Ignacio Garrido 1.5 0–1–3 0–1–0 0–0–2 0–0–1Per-Ulrik Johansson 2 2–0–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 1–0–0Bernhard Langer 3 3–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 0–1–0Colin Montgomerie 3.5 3–1–1 0–0–1 2–0–0 1–1–0José María Olazábal 2.5 2–2–1 0–1–0 1–1–0 1–0–1Jesper Parnevik 2 1–1–2 0–1–0 0–0–2 1–0–0Costantino Rocca 3 3–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 1–0–0Lee Westwood 2 2–3–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 1–1–0Ian Woosnam 1 1–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 1–0–0

United States Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsFred Couples 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–1–0Brad Faxon 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 1–1–0Jim Furyk 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Scott Hoch 2.5 2–0–1 0–0–1 2–0–0 0–0–0Lee Janzen 2 2–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–0Tom Lehman 2 1–1–2 1–0–0 0–0–1 0–1–1Justin Leonard 1 0–2–2 0–0–1 0–1–1 0–1–0Davis Love III 0 0–4–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–2–0Jeff Maggert 2 2–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–0Phil Mickelson 2 1–1–2 1–0–0 0–0–1 0–1–1Mark O'Meara 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–1–0Tiger Woods 1.5 1–3–1 0–1–0 0–1–1 1–1–0

References