1981 Ryder Cup

The 24th Ryder Cup Matches were held 18–20 September 1981 at the Walton Heath Golf Club in Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, England, southwest of London. The United States team won the competition by a score of 181⁄2 to 91⁄2 points.[1] It was the largest margin of defeat for a European team (since 1979) at the Ryder Cup until 2021. It is also the largest margin of defeat for the host team on European soil.

24th Ryder Cup Matches
Dates18–20 September 1981
VenueWalton Heath Golf Club
LocationSurrey, England
Captains
Europe 91⁄2 181⁄2 United States
United States wins the Ryder Cup
Walton Heath Golf Club is located in England
Walton Heath Golf Club
Walton Heath Golf Club
Location in England

Seve Ballesteros was not selected for the European team after an ongoing dispute with the European Tour concerning appearance money.[2] Tony Jacklin was also left off the team.[3][4]

It was the sixth and final Ryder Cup for Jack Nicklaus as a competitor and he won all four of his matches. He had failed to make the team for the first time in 1979. Bernhard Langer made his Ryder Cup debut in 1981 and was 1–2 in pairs and halved his singles match.

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was adjusted slightly from the 1979 event, with the order of play swapped on the first two days and the third day singles matches held in a single session:

  • 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, 141⁄2 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

Ten of the European team were selected using a points list based on money earned in European Tour Events. The final event was the Benson & Hedges International Open which finished on 24 August. Eamonn Darcy finished in a tie for second place in this tournament, lifting him from 12th to 7th in the list and relegating Mark James to 11th place.[5][6] The two remaining places were chosen immediately after the Benson & Hedges International by a selection committee consisting of John Jacobs (the captain), Neil Coles and Bernhard Langer. They chose Mark James and Peter Oosterhuis, who was playing on the PGA Tour and had recently won the Canadian Open.[7]

Europe Team Europe
Name Age Points
rank		 Previous
Ryder Cups		 Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
England John Jacobs 56Non-playing captain
West Germany Bernhard Langer 2410Rookie
England Nick Faldo 242276–1–085.71
Scotland Sandy Lyle 233141–2–137.50
Spain José María Cañizares 3440Rookie
Scotland Sam Torrance 2850Rookie
Spain Manuel Piñero 2960Rookie
Republic of Ireland Eamonn Darcy 297270–5–214.29
Republic of Ireland Des Smyth 288120–2–00.00
England Howard Clark 279110–1–00.00
Scotland Bernard Gallacher 321062512–9–456.00
England Mark James 2711250–4–110.00
England Peter Oosterhuis 33–52514–8–362.00

Players chosen by the selection committee are shown in yellow.

11 of the American team were selected from a points list. Qualification based on the points list finished after the Western Open on July 5. Bill Rogers earned his place by finishing 5th in this final event, while Jack Nicklaus only assured his place in the team after a final round 69 and a tie for 7th place.[8] The final place in the team was allocated to the winner of the 1981 PGA Championship (which finished on August 9), provided he was not in the top 11, in which case the 12th player in the points list would qualify (Howard Twitty). With his victory in the PGA Championship, Larry Nelson gained the last slot. Nelson had finished 17th in the points list.[9] The team is considered to be one of the strongest ever seen in the Ryder Cup - the players had won a total of 36 major championships.[10]

United States Team USA
Name Age Points
rank		 Previous
Ryder Cups		 Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Dave Marr 47Non-playing captain
Tom Watson 321132–1–066.67
Raymond Floyd 3923102–5–335.00
Bruce Lietzke 3030Rookie
Tom Kite 314143–1–075.00
Hale Irwin 3653129–2–179.17
Lee Trevino 41652613–7–661.54
Jerry Pate 2870Rookie
Ben Crenshaw 2980Rookie
Johnny Miller 349142–1–162.50
Bill Rogers 30100Rookie
Jack Nicklaus 411152413–8–360.42
Larry Nelson 3417155–0–0100.00

Nelson qualified by virtue of winning the 1981 PGA Championship.

Friday's matches

18 September 1981

Morning foursomes
Europe Results United States
Langer/Piñero United States 1 up Trevino/Nelson
Lyle/James Europe 2 & 1 Rogers/Lietzke
Gallacher/Smyth Europe 3 & 2 Irwin/Floyd
Oosterhuis/Faldo United States 4 & 3 Watson/Nicklaus
2 Session 2
2 Overall 2

Afternoon four-ball
Europe Results United States
Torrance/Clark halved Kite/Miller
Lyle/James Europe 3 & 2 Crenshaw/Pate
Smyth/Cañizares Europe 6 & 5 Rogers/Lietzke
Gallacher/Darcy United States 2 & 1 Irwin/Floyd
21⁄2 Session 11⁄2
41⁄2 Overall 31⁄2

Saturday's matches

19 September 1981

Morning four-ball
Europe Results United States
Faldo/Torrance United States 7 & 5 Trevino/Pate
Lyle/James United States 1 up Nelson/Kite
Langer/Piñero Europe 2 & 1 Floyd/Irwin
Cañizares/Smyth United States 3 & 2 Nicklaus/Watson
1 Session 3
51⁄2 Overall 61⁄2

Afternoon foursomes
Europe Results United States
Oosterhuis/Torrance United States 2 & 1 Trevino/Pate
Langer/Piñero United States 3 & 2 Nicklaus/Watson
Lyle/James United States 3 & 2 Rogers/Floyd
Smyth/Gallacher United States 3 & 2 Kite/Nelson
0 Session 4
51⁄2 Overall 101⁄2

Sunday's singles matches

20 September 1981

Europe Results United States
Sam Torrance United States 5 & 3 Lee Trevino
Sandy Lyle United States 3 & 2 Tom Kite
Bernard Gallacher halved Bill Rogers
Mark James United States 2 up Larry Nelson
Des Smyth United States 6 & 4 Ben Crenshaw
Bernhard Langer halved Bruce Lietzke
Manuel Piñero Europe 4 & 2 Jerry Pate
José María Cañizares United States 1 up Hale Irwin
Nick Faldo Europe 2 & 1 Johnny Miller
Howard Clark Europe 4 & 3 Tom Watson
Peter Oosterhuis United States 1 up Raymond Floyd
Eamonn Darcy United States 5 & 3 Jack Nicklaus
4 Session 8
91⁄2 Overall 181⁄2

Individual player records

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

Source: [11]

Europe
PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
José María Cañizares11–2–00–1–00–0–01–1–0
Howard Clark1.51–0–11–0–00–0–00–0–1
Eamonn Darcy00–2–00–1–00–0–00–1–0
Nick Faldo11–2–01–0–00–1–00–1–0
Bernard Gallacher1.51–2–10–0–11–1–00–1–0
Mark James22–3–00–1–01–1–01–1–0
Bernhard Langer1.51–2–10–0–10–2–01–0–0
Sandy Lyle22–3–00–1–01–1–01–1–0
Peter Oosterhuis00–3–00–1–00–2–00–0–0
Manuel Piñero22–2–01–0–00–2–01–0–0
Des Smyth22–3–00–1–01–1–01–1–0
Sam Torrance0.50–3–10–1–00–1–00–1–1

United States
PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Ben Crenshaw11–1–01–0–00–0–00–1–0
Raymond Floyd33–2–01–0–01–1–01–1–0
Hale Irwin22–2–01–0–00–1–01–1–0
Tom Kite3.53–0–11–0–01–0–01–0–1
Bruce Lietzke0.50–2–10–0–10–1–00–1–0
Johnny Miller0.50–1–10–1–00–0–00–0–1
Larry Nelson44–0–01–0–02–0–01–0–0
Jack Nicklaus44–0–01–0–02–0–01–0–0
Jerry Pate22–2–00–1–01–0–01–1–0
Bill Rogers1.51–2–10–0–11–1–00–1–0
Lee Trevino44–0–01–0–02–0–01–0–0
Tom Watson33–1–00–1–02–0–01–0–0

Video

References
  1. "Nelson, U.S. clinch Ryder Cup victory". Palm Beach Post. wire services. 21 September 1981. p. D7.
  2. "Win puts Seve back in the big time". The Age. Melbourne. 13 October 1981. p. 46.
  3. "Captain defends Ryder Cup team". Palm Beach Post. 25 August 1981. p. D4.
  4. "Jacklin and Seve Axed". New Straits Times. Malaysia. 25 August 1981. p. 34.
  5. "Golf - Ryder Cup Standing". The Times, Tuesday, August 18 1981; pg. 9; Issue 61009.
  6. "Early birdies give Weiskopf a rewarding performance". The Times, Monday, August 24 1981; pg. 12; Issue 61014.
  7. "Ryder Cup place for matchwinner James". The Times, Monday, August 24 1981; pg. 12; Issue 61014.
  8. "Rogers falls back but still earns cup place". The Times, Tuesday, July 7, 1981; pg. 8; Issue 60973.
  9. "The Nelson touch earns place in Ryder Cup team". The Times, Monday, August 10, 1981; pg. 12; Issue 61012.
  10. "Ryder Cup history: 1981". BBC Sport. 13 September 2004. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
  11. "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014.

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