The 26th Ryder Cup Matches were held 13–15 September 1985 at the Brabazon Course of The Belfry in Wishaw, Warwickshire, England. Team Europe won the competition for the first time by a score of 16 to 11 points. This marked the first U.S. loss since 1957, previously the sole U.S. loss in fifty years.

A key turning point in the matches came Saturday morning, when Craig Stadler missed a two-foot putt on the 18th hole, which would have earned a win for him and Curtis Strange over Europe's Bernhard Langer and Sandy Lyle. The match was halved, so instead of the U.S. being in the lead through three stages, the overall score was tied at 6-6. Europe went on to win three of the four Saturday afternoon matches. "In the past, it was always us who missed those putts," said European captain Tony Jacklin. "That has to crush them."

Europe took that two-point lead into the Sunday singles and increased their lead throughout Sunday. It fell to Sam Torrance to secure the winning margin when he holed a putt on the 18th hole to defeat Andy North 1 up and go up 14 to 8, a six-point margin with five matches on the course.

This was the last Ryder Cup played in Europe that was not shown on live television in the United States. The USA Network first televised it in 1989 on cable with video provided by the BBC. NBC Sports took over live weekend coverage in 1991 in South Carolina, and 1993 marked the first time a major U.S. network televised it live from Europe.

Format The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format in 1985 was as follows: Day 1 — 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session Day 2 — 4 four-ball matches in a morning session and 4 foursome matches in an afternoon session Day 3 — 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 Nine of the European team were chosen from the 1985 European Tour money list at the conclusion of the Benson & Hedges International Open on 18 August with the remaining three team members being chosen immediately after the final event by the team captain, Tony Jacklin. Prior to the final event Christy O'Connor Jnr was in the 9th qualifying position. However he missed the cut in the Benson & Hedges International Open and was overtaken by José María Cañizares, O'Connor finishing just £115.89 behind Cañizares. Jacklin's choices of Nick Faldo and Ken Brown were widely expected but his choice of José Rivero was a surprise."Jacklin's surprise choice". The Times, 19 August 1985; p. 19; Issue 62220.

 Team EuropeNameAgePointsrankPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage Tony Jacklin 41 Non-playing captain Sandy Lyle 27 1 3 11 3–7–1 31.82 Sam Torrance 32 2 2 9 1–5–3 27.78 Ian Woosnam 27 3 1 3 0–2–1 16.67 Bernhard Langer 28 4 2 9 5–3–1 61.11 Paul Way 22 5 1 5 3–1–1 70.00 Howard Clark 31 6 2 3 1–1–1 50.00 Seve Ballesteros 28 7 2 10 3–5–2 40.00 Manuel Piñero 33 8 1 4 2–2–0 50.00 José María Cañizares 38 9 2 6 2–3–1 41.67 José Rivero 29 0 Rookie Ken Brown 28 3 8 3–5–0 37.50 Nick Faldo 28 4 15 11–4–0 73.33

Captains picks are shown in yellow.

 Team USANameAgePointsrankPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageLee Trevino 45 Non-playing captainAndy North 35 – 0 RookieHubert Green 38 – 2 4 3–1–0 75.00Curtis Strange 30 1 1 3 1–2–0 33.33Lanny Wadkins 35 2 3 12 9–2–1 79.17Raymond Floyd 43 3 5 19 5–11–3 34.21Calvin Peete 42 4 1 4 2–1–1 62.50Mark O'Meara 28 5 0 RookieCraig Stadler 32 6 1 3 2–1–0 66.67Hal Sutton 27 7 0 RookiePeter Jacobsen 31 8 0 RookieTom Kite 35 9 3 11 7–2–2 72.73Fuzzy Zoeller 33 10 2 7 1–5–1 21.43

North qualified by virtue of winning the 1985 U.S. Open, while Green qualified by winning the 1985 PGA Championship.

Friday's matches Morning foursomes Results Ballesteros/Piñero 2 & 1Strange/O'MearaLanger/Faldo 3 & 2Peete/KiteLyle/Brown 4 & 3Wadkins/FloydClark/Torrance 3 & 2Stadler/Sutton 1 Session 3 1 Overall 3

Afternoon four-ball Results Way/Woosnam 1 upZoeller/GreenBallesteros/Piñero 2 & 1North/JacobsenLanger/CañizareshalvedStadler/SuttonTorrance/Clark 1 upFloyd/Wadkins 2 Session 1 3 Overall 4

Saturday's matches Morning four-ball Results Torrance/Clark 2 & 1Kite/NorthWay/Woosnam 4 & 3Green/ZoellerBallesteros/Piñero 3 & 2O'Meara/WadkinsLanger/LylehalvedStadler/Strange 2 Session 1 6 Overall 6

Afternoon foursomes Results Cañizares/Rivero 7 & 5Kite/PeeteBallesteros/Piñero 5 & 4Stadler/SuttonWay/Woosnam 4 & 2Strange/JacobsenLanger/Brown 3 & 2Floyd/Wadkins 3 Session 1 9 Overall 7

Sunday's singles matches Results Manuel Piñero 3 & 1Lanny WadkinsIan Woosnam 2 & 1Craig StadlerPaul Way 2 upRaymond FloydSeve BallesteroshalvedTom KiteSandy Lyle 3 & 2Peter JacobsenBernhard Langer 5 & 4Hal SuttonSam Torrance 1 upAndy NorthHoward Clark 1 upMark O'MearaJosé Rivero 1 upCalvin PeeteNick Faldo 3 & 1Hubert GreenJosé María Cañizares 2 upFuzzy ZoellerKen Brown 4 & 2Curtis Strange 7 Session 4 16 Overall 11

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

Source:

Europe Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsSeve Ballesteros 3.5 3–1–1 0–0–1 2–0–0 1–1–0Ken Brown 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 0–0–0José María Cañizares 2.5 2–0–1 1–0–0 1–0–0 0–0–1Howard Clark 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–1–0Nick Faldo 0 0–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0Bernhard Langer 3 2–1–2 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–2Sandy Lyle 1.5 1–1–1 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–0–1Manuel Piñero 4 4–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–1–0José Rivero 1 1–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0Sam Torrance 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–1–0Paul Way 3 3–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 2–0–0Ian Woosnam 2 2–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 2–0–0

United States Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsRaymond Floyd 2 2–2–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 1–0–0Hubert Green 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–2–0Peter Jacobsen 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0Tom Kite 1.5 1–2–1 0–0–1 1–1–0 0–1–0Andy North 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–2–0Mark O'Meara 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0Calvin Peete 2 2–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–0Craig Stadler 3 2–1–2 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–2Curtis Strange 2.5 2–1–1 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–1Hal Sutton 1.5 1–2–1 0–1–0 1–1–0 0–0–1Lanny Wadkins 3 3–2–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 2–0–0Fuzzy Zoeller 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–2–0

References

External links PGA of America: 1985 Ryder Cup About.com: 1985 Ryder Cup