1961 Ryder Cup

The 14th Ryder Cup Matches were held 13–14 October 1961 at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. The United States team won the competition by a score of 14½ to 9½ points.[1][2]

14th Ryder Cup Matches
Dates13–14 October 1961
VenueRoyal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
LocationLytham St Annes, England
Captains
9½ 14½
United States wins the Ryder Cup
Royal Lytham
& St Annes
Location in England

At the 1959 Ryder Cup there had been informal discussions between the US and British PGAs about changing the format of the contest. In April 1960 the British PGA made a formal proposal. The suggestion was that, for 1961, matches would be reduced to 18 holes and that there would be two sets of matches each day; two sets of foursomes on the first day and two sets of singles on the second. The pairings for the foursomes and the order of play in the foursomes and singles could be changed for the second set of matches. They also proposed that, for 1963, the match should be extended to three days with two set of four-ball matches on the extra day.[3] By August 1960 the US PGA had agreed to the proposal as it related to the 1961 event,[4] the change being formalised later that year.[5]

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The format used in 1961 was the first change from that used since the inaugural event in 1927. Instead of 12 matches of 36 holes, there were 24 matches of 18 holes. The schedule of play in 1961 was as follows:

  • Day 1 (Friday) — 8 foursomes (alternate shot) matches, 4 each in morning and afternoon sessions
  • Day 2 (Saturday) — 16 singles matches, 8 each in morning and afternoon sessions

With a total of 24 points, 12½ points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

Source: [6]

The British team was determined using the 1961 Order of Merit with the 1961 Open Championship and News of the World Match Play winners receiving automatic places.[7] The first qualifying event was the Schweppes PGA Close Championship in early April with the Carling-Caledonian Tournament in early August being the final one. With Arnold Palmer winning the Open, nine players qualified after the Carling-Caledonian Tournament: O'Connor, Hunt, Alliss, Bousfield, Coles, Rees, Panton, Moffitt and Haliburton. Weetman was in tenth place.[8] Weetman gained his place when three of the four semi-finalists in the News of the World Match Play were already in the team and the fourth (Peter Thomson, an Australian) was ineligible.[9] Rees was chosen as the captain.[10]

 Team Great Britain
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups		 Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Dai Rees – captain 488144–9–132.14
Peter Alliss 30361–4–125.00
Ken Bousfield 42563–3–050.00
Neil Coles 270Rookie
Tom Haliburton 460Rookie
Bernard Hunt 31351–3–130.00
Ralph Moffitt 290Rookie
Christy O'Connor Snr 36352–3–040.00
John Panton 45230–3–00.00
Harry Weetman 40581–6–118.75

Arnold Palmer, age 32, competed in his first Ryder Cup. He recorded two wins in pairs and a win and a half in singles.[1]

 Team USA
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups		 Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Jerry Barber – captain 45120–2–00.00
Billy Casper 300Rookie
Bill Collins 330Rookie
Dow Finsterwald 32243–1–075.00
Doug Ford 39363–2–158.33
Jay Hebert 38110–0–150.00
Gene Littler 310Rookie
Arnold Palmer 320Rookie
Mike Souchak 34122–0–0100.00
Art Wall 37231–2–033.33

Friday's matches

Morning foursomes
Results
O'Connor/Alliss 4 & 3 Ford/Littler
Panton/Hunt 4 & 3 Wall/Hebert
Rees/Bousfield 2 & 1 Casper/Palmer
Haliburton/Coles 1 up Collins/Souchak
1 Session 3
1 Overall 3

Afternoon foursomes
Results
O'Connor/Alliss 1 up Wall/Hebert
Panton/Hunt 5 & 4 Casper/Palmer
Rees/Bousfield 4 & 2 Collins/Souchak
Haliburton/Coles 1 up Barber/Finsterwald
1 Session 3
2 Overall 6

Saturday's matches

Morning singles
Results
Harry Weetman 1 up Doug Ford
Ralph Moffitt 5 & 4 Mike Souchak
Peter Alliss halved Arnold Palmer
Ken Bousfield 5 & 3 Billy Casper
Dai Rees 2 & 1 Jay Hebert
Neil Coles halved Gene Littler
Bernard Hunt 5 & 4 Jerry Barber
Christy O'Connor 2 & 1 Dow Finsterwald
3 Session 5
5 Overall 11

Afternoon singles
Results
Harry Weetman 1 up Art Wall
Peter Alliss 3 & 2 Bill Collins
Bernard Hunt 2 & 1 Mike Souchak
Tom Haliburton 2 & 1 Arnold Palmer
Dai Rees 4 & 3 Doug Ford
Ken Bousfield 1 up Jerry Barber
Neil Coles 1 up Dow Finsterwald
Christy O'Connor halved Gene Littler
4½ Session 3½
9½ Overall 14½

Individual player records

Each entry refers to the Win–Loss–Half record of the player.

Source: [6]

Great Britain
PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomes
Peter Alliss2.52–1–11–0–11–1–0
Ken Bousfield22–2–01–1–01–1–0
Neil Coles1.51–2–11–0–10–2–0
Tom Haliburton00–3–00–1–00–2–0
Bernard Hunt11–3–01–1–00–2–0
Ralph Moffitt00–1–00–1–00–0–0
Christy O'Connor1.51–2–10–1–11–1–0
John Panton00–2–00–0–00–2–0
Dai Rees33–1–02–0–01–1–0
Harry Weetman00–2–00–2–00–0–0

United States
PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomes
Jerry Barber11–2–00–2–01–0–0
Billy Casper33–0–01–0–02–0–0
Bill Collins11–2–00–1–01–1–0
Dow Finsterwald22–1–01–1–01–0–0
Doug Ford11–2–01–1–00–1–0
Jay Hebert22–1–00–1–02–0–0
Gene Littler10–1–20–0–20–1–0
Arnold Palmer3.53–0–11–0–12–0–0
Mike Souchak33–1–02–0–01–1–0
Art Wall33–0–01–0–02–0–0

References
  1. Longhurst, Henry (23 October 1961). "Ryder: A Cup we brought home". Sports Illustrated. p. 20.
  2. "U.S. defeats Britain in Ryder Cup golf play". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. 15 October 1961. p. 3-sec. 3.
  3. "Changes in the Ryder Cup – P.G.A. suggestions to U.S. – Matches of 18 holes". The Times. 12 April 1960. p. 16.
  4. "Professionals on golf committee". The Times. 16 August 1960. p. 3.
  5. "Ryder Cup over 18 holes – New plan approved by U.S.". The Times. 19 November 1960. p. 3.
  6. "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  7. "P.G.A. alter Ryder Cup selection – Order of Merit to be used". The Times. 26 November 1959. p. 16.
  8. "Ryder Cup places earned at Longniddry". The Times. 5 August 1961. p. 3.
  9. "Rees again captains Ryder Cup team". The Times. 15 August 1961. p. 3.
  10. "Weetman fills last Ryder Cup place". The Times. 9 September 1961. p. 2.

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