The 22nd Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. The United States team won the competition by a score of 12 to 7 points.
The event was the last time that a Great Britain and Ireland team would compete for the Ryder Cup. During the competition, officials from the PGA of America and the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland discussed the possibility of allowing players from continental Europe to participate in the Cup, and Jack Nicklaus also advocated this change in a meeting with Lord Derby. The Deed of Trust that was struck with the PGA of Great Britain and Samuel Ryder was amended in time for the 1979 matches, and changed the popularity and competitive balance of the Ryder Cup.
Format The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was reduced in scope from the formats used from 1963 through 1975, with only 20 matches played instead of 32. The schedule of play was as follows: Day 1 — 5 foursome (alternate shot) matches Day 2 — 5 four-ball (better ball) matches Day 3 — 10 singles matches With a total of 20 points, 10 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.
Teams Source:
Team Great Britain and IrelandNameAgePreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage Brian Huggett 40 Non-playing captain Brian Barnes 32 4 17 6–10–1 38.24 Ken Brown 20 0 Rookie Howard Clark 23 0 Rookie Neil Coles 42 7 37 12–18–7 41.89 Eamonn Darcy 25 1 4 0–3–1 12.50 Peter Dawson 27 0 Rookie Nick Faldo 20 0 Rookie Bernard Gallacher 28 4 18 7–7–4 50.00 Tommy Horton 36 1 5 1–3–1 30.00 Tony Jacklin 33 5 29 12–11–6 51.72 Mark James 23 0 Rookie Peter Oosterhuis 29 3 18 9–6–3 58.33
Team USANameAgePreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageDow Finsterwald 48 Non-playing captainRaymond Floyd 35 2 7 1–3–3 35.71Lou Graham 39 2 6 3–2–1 58.33Hubert Green 30 0 RookieDave Hill 40 2 7 4–3–0 57.14Hale Irwin 32 1 5 4–0–1 90.00Don January 47 1 5 2–2–1 50.00Jerry McGee 34 0 RookieJack Nicklaus 37 4 21 12–6–3 64.29Ed Sneed 33 0 RookieDave Stockton 35 1 3 1–1–1 50.00Lanny Wadkins 27 0 RookieTom Watson 28 0 Rookie
Thursday's foursome matches Results Gallacher/Barnes 3 & 1Wadkins/IrwinColes/Dawson 1 upStockton/McGeeFaldo/Oosterhuis 2 & 1Floyd/GrahamDarcy/JacklinhalvedSneed/JanuaryHorton/James 5 & 4Nicklaus/Watson 1 Session 3 1 Overall 3
Friday's four-ball matches Results Barnes/Horton 5 & 4Watson/GreenColes/Dawson 5 & 3Sneed/WadkinsFaldo/Oosterhuis 3 & 1Nicklaus/FloydJacklin/Darcy 5 & 3Hill/StocktonJames/Brown 1 upIrwin/Graham 1 Session 4 2 Overall 7
Saturday's singles matches Results Howard Clark 4 & 3Lanny WadkinsNeil Coles 5 & 3Lou GrahamPeter Dawson 5 & 4Don JanuaryBrian Barnes 1 upHale IrwinTommy Horton 5 & 4Dave HillBernard Gallacher 1 upJack NicklausEamonn Darcy 1 upHubert GreenMark James 2 & 1Raymond FloydNick Faldo 1 upTom WatsonPeter Oosterhuis 2 upJerry McGee 5 Session 5 7 Overall 12
Individual player records Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.
Source:
Great Britain and Ireland Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsBrian Barnes 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Ken Brown 0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Howard Clark 0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0Neil Coles 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Eamonn Darcy 0.5 0–2–1 0–1–0 0–0–1 0–1–0Peter Dawson 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Nick Faldo 3 3–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0Bernard Gallacher 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–0–0Tommy Horton 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Tony Jacklin 0.5 0–1–1 0–0–0 0–0–1 0–1–0Mark James 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Peter Oosterhuis 3 3–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0
United States Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsRaymond Floyd 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Lou Graham 2 2–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–0–0Hubert Green 2 2–0–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 1–0–0Dave Hill 2 2–0–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 1–0–0Hale Irwin 2 2–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 1–0–0Don January 0.5 0–1–1 0–1–0 0–0–1 0–0–0Jerry McGee 1 1–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0Jack Nicklaus 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0Ed Sneed 1.5 1–0–1 0–0–0 0–0–1 1–0–0Dave Stockton 2 2–0–0 0–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0Lanny Wadkins 3 3–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0Tom Watson 2 2–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 1–0–0
References