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). 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. 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.

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.

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, 14 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams  Team USANameAgePointsrankPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageBilly Casper 48 Non-playing captainGil Morgan 32 0 RookieHubert Green 32 1 2 2–0–0 100.00Larry Nelson 32 0 RookieJohn Mahaffey 31 0 RookieTom Kite 29 0 RookieLee Trevino 39 4 22 11–6–5 61.36Hale Irwin 34 2 8 6–1–1 81.25Lanny Wadkins 29 1 3 3–0–0 100.00Andy Bean 26 0 RookieFuzzy Zoeller 27 0 RookieLee Elder 45 0 RookieMark Hayes 30 0 Rookie

Mark Hayes replaced Tom Watson.

 Team EuropeNameAgePointsrankPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage 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 & 1Wadkins/NelsonBrown/James 3 & 2Trevino/ZoellerOosterhuis/Faldo 2 & 1Bean/ElderGallacher/Barnes 2 & 1Irwin/Mahaffey 1 Session 3 1 Overall 3

Afternoon foursomes Results Brown/Smyth 7 & 6Irwin/KiteBallesteros/Garrido 3 & 2Zoeller/GreenLyle/JacklinhalvedTrevino/MorganGallacher/Barnes 4 & 3Wadkins/Nelson 1 Session 2 2 Overall 5

Saturday's matches September 15, 1979 Morning foursomes Results Jacklin/Lyle 5 & 4Elder/MahaffeyFaldo/Oosterhuis 6 & 5Bean/KiteGallacher/Barnes 2 & 1Zoeller/HayesBallesteros/Garrido 3 & 2Wadkins/Nelson 3 Session 1 5 Overall 6

Afternoon four-ball Results Ballesteros/Garrido 5 & 4Wadkins/NelsonJacklin/Lyle 1 upIrwin/KiteGallacher/Barnes 3 & 2Trevino/ZoellerFaldo/Oosterhuis 1 upElder/Hayes 2 Session 2 7 Overall 8

Sunday's matches September 16, 1979 Morning singles Results Bernard Gallacher 3 & 2Lanny WadkinsSeve Ballesteros 3 & 2Larry NelsonTony Jacklin 1 upTom KiteAntonio Garrido 1 upMark HayesMichael King 4 & 3Andy BeanBrian Barnes 1 upJohn Mahaffey 1 Session 5 8 Overall 13

Afternoon singles Results Nick Faldo 3 & 2Lee ElderDes Smyth 5 & 3Hale IrwinPeter Oosterhuis 2 upHubert GreenKen Brown 1 upFuzzy ZoellerSandy Lyle 2 & 1Lee TrevinoMark JameshalvedMark James withdrew because of injury. Gil Morgan was also injured, so this match was not actually played.Gil Morgan 2 Session 3 11 Overall 17

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 0–1–0 1–0–0Lee Elder 1 1–3–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 1–1–0Hubert Green 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–0–0Mark Hayes 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Hale Irwin 3 3–1–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–1–0Tom Kite 3 3–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 1–0–0John Mahaffey 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Gil Morgan 1 0–0–2 0–0–1 0–0–1 0–0–0Larry Nelson 5 5–0–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 2–0–0Lee Trevino 2.5 2–1–1 1–0–0 0–0–1 1–1–0Lanny Wadkins 4 4–1–0 0–1–0 2–0–0 2–0–0Fuzzy Zoeller 1 1–4–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 1–1–0

Europe Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsSeve Ballesteros 1 1–4–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 0–2–0Brian Barnes 3 3–2–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 2–0–0Ken Brown 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Nick Faldo 3 3–1–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–1–0Bernard Gallacher 4 4–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 2–0–0Antonio Garrido 1 1–4–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 0–2–0Tony Jacklin 1.5 1–2–1 0–1–0 1–0–1 0–1–0Mark James 0.5 0–1–1 0–0–1 0–0–0 0–1–0Michael King 0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0Sandy Lyle 1.5 1–2–1 0–1–0 1–0–1 0–1–0Peter Oosterhuis 2 2–2–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0Des 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.

Video You Tube: 1979 Ryder Cup   Sunday singles

References

External links PGA of America: 1979 Ryder Cup About.com: 1979 Ryder Cup