The 27th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 25–27, 1987 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The European team won their second consecutive competition by a score of 15 to 13 points in probably the most historic Ryder Cup. After an unbeaten record of 13–0 spanning sixty years, the U.S. team lost for the first time on home soil.

Europe took a lead of 5 points into the Sunday singles matches, but the U.S. fought back strongly to narrow the deficit. Eamonn Darcy, who previously had a very poor Ryder Cup record, defeated Ben Crenshaw at the last hole to get Europe to 13 points. Crenshaw had broken his putter in a moment of frustration after the sixth hole and putted with his 1 iron for the last dozen holes. Bernhard Langer then halved his match with Larry Nelson and when Seve Ballesteros defeated Curtis Strange 2 & 1 to total 14 points, the European victory was secured.

This was the last Ryder Cup in which the U.S. team did not employ captain's selections. Europe used captain's picks in 1979, 1981, 1985, and this year.

Muirfield Village, founded and designed by U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus, has hosted the Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour since 1976. The 2013 Presidents Cup was held at the same course.

Format The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format in 1987 adjusted slightly from the previous three events, with the order of play on the second day swapped: Day 1 (Friday) — 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session Day 2 (Saturday) — 4 foursome matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball 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. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams  Team USANameAgePointsrankWorldrankingPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageJack Nicklaus 47 Non-playing captainScott Simpson 32 – 13 0 RookieLarry Nelson 40 – 28 2 9 9–0–0 100.00Payne Stewart 30 1 5 0 RookieBen Crenshaw 35 2 11 2 6 3–2–1 58.33Curtis Strange 32 3 4 2 7 3–3–1 50.00Hal Sutton 29 4 21 1 4 1–2–1 37.50Larry Mize 29 5 15 0 RookieLanny Wadkins 37 6 9 4 17 12–4–1 73.53Dan Pohl 32 7 25 0 RookieTom Kite 37 8 17 4 15 8–4–3 63.33Mark Calcavecchia 27 9 32 0 RookieAndy Bean 34 10 36 1 3 2–1–0 66.67

Simpson qualified by virtue of winning the 1987 U.S. Open, while Nelson qualified by winning the 1987 PGA Championship.

The selection process for the European team remained unchanged from 1985, with nine players chosen from the 1987 European Tour money list at the conclusion of the German Open on August 30 and the remaining three team members being chosen immediately afterwards by the team captain, Tony Jacklin."Back to the old Belfry spirit". The Times, November 28, 1986; pg. 36; Issue 62627. Prior to the final event Eamonn Darcy was in the 9th qualifying place with Mats Lanner in 10th. Lanner finished just one shot ahead of Darcy in the German Open and Darcy retained his qualifying place. Jacklin's choices were Ken Brown, Sandy Lyle and José María Olazábal."McNulty and Darcy's Rhapsody". The Times, August 31, 1987; pg. 28; Issue 62861.

 Team EuropeNameAgePointsrankWorldrankingPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage Tony Jacklin 43 Non-playing captain Ian Woosnam 29 1 12 2 7 2–4–1 35.71 Nick Faldo 30 2 20 5 17 11–6–0 64.71 Howard Clark 33 3 42 3 7 3–3–1 50.00 Seve Ballesteros 30 4 2 3 15 6–6–3 50.00 Gordon Brand Jnr 29 5 40 0 Rookie Sam Torrance 34 6 54 3 13 3–7–3 34.62 Bernhard Langer 30 7 3 3 14 7–4–3 60.71 José Rivero 32 8 68= 1 2 1–1–0 50.00 Eamonn Darcy 35 9 112 3 9 0–7–2 11.11 José María Olazábal 21 11 43 0 Rookie Sandy Lyle 29 7 4 14 4–8–2 35.71 Ken Brown 30 77= 4 11 4–7–0 36.36

Captains picks are shown in yellow. The world rankings and records are at the start of the 1987 Ryder Cup.

Friday's matches Morning foursomes Results Torrance/Clark 4 & 2Strange/KiteBrown/Langer 2 & 1Sutton/PohlFaldo/Woosnam 2 upWadkins/MizeBallesteros/Olazábal 1 upNelson/Stewart 2 Session 2 2 Overall 2

Afternoon four-ball Results Brand/Rivero 3 & 2Crenshaw/SimpsonLyle/Langer 1 upBean/CalcavecchiaFaldo/Woosnam 2 & 1Sutton/PohlBallesteros/Olazábal 2 & 1Strange/Kite 4 Session 0 6 Overall 2

Saturday's matches Morning foursomes Results Rivero/Brand 3 & 1Strange/KiteFaldo/WoosnamhalvedSutton/MizeLyle/Langer 2 & 1Wadkins/NelsonBallesteros/Olazábal 1 upCrenshaw/Stewart 2 Session 1 8 Overall 3

Afternoon four-ball Results Faldo/Woosnam 5 & 4Strange/KiteDarcy/Brand 3 & 2Bean/StewartBallesteros/Olazábal 2 & 1Sutton/MizeLyle/Langer 2 upWadkins/Nelson 2 Session 2 10 Overall 5

Sunday's singles matches Results Ian Woosnam 1 upAndy BeanHoward Clark 1 upDan PohlSam TorrancehalvedLarry MizeNick Faldo 1 upMark CalcavecchiaJosé María Olazábal 2 upPayne StewartJosé Rivero 2 & 1Scott SimpsonSandy Lyle 3 & 2Tom KiteEamonn Darcy 1 upBen CrenshawBernhard LangerhalvedLarry NelsonSeve Ballesteros 2 & 1Curtis StrangeKen Brown 3 & 2Lanny WadkinsGordon Brand JnrhalvedHal Sutton 4 Session 7 15 Overall 13

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

Source:

United States Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsAndy Bean 2 2–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 1–1–0Mark Calcavecchia 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Ben Crenshaw 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Tom Kite 3 3–2–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 0–2–0Larry Mize 2 1–1–2 0–0–1 0–1–1 1–0–0Larry Nelson 0.5 0–3–1 0–0–1 0–2–0 0–1–0Dan Pohl 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0Scott Simpson 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Payne Stewart 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–2–0 1–0–0Curtis Strange 2 2–3–0 0–1–0 2–0–0 0–2–0Hal Sutton 3 2–1–2 0–0–1 1–0–1 1–1–0Lanny Wadkins 1 1–3–0 1–0–0 0–2–0 0–1–0

Europe Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsSeve Ballesteros 4 4–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–1–0Gordon Brand Jnr 1.5 1–2–1 0–0–1 0–1–0 1–1–0Ken Brown 0 0–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0Howard Clark 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–0–0Eamonn Darcy 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Nick Faldo 3.5 3–1–1 0–1–0 1–0–1 2–0–0Bernhard Langer 3.5 3–1–1 0–0–1 1–1–0 2–0–0Sandy Lyle 3 3–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0José María Olazábal 3 3–2–0 0–1–0 2–0–0 1–1–0José Rivero 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0Sam Torrance 0.5 0–1–1 0–0–1 0–1–0 0–0–0Ian Woosnam 3.5 3–1–1 0–1–0 1–0–1 2–0–0

References