1983 Ryder Cup

The 25th Ryder Cup Matches were held October 14–16, 1983 at the PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The United States team won the competition by a score of 14½ to 13½ points, the closest Ryder Cup since the tie in 1969.[1][2][3] In their third competition with players from the continent, Europe showed the ability to realistically challenge the Americans.[4] This was the first of four occasions that Tony Jacklin was the European captain and the sole occasion that his side lost.

25th Ryder Cup Matches
DatesOctober 14–16, 1983
VenuePGA National Golf Club
LocationPalm Beach Gardens, Florida
Captains
14½ 13½
United States wins the Ryder Cup
PGA National 
Location in the United States
PGA National 
Location in Florida

Entering the singles matches on Sunday, the competition was even at 8 points each. Jacklin put his best players out early, while U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus saved his for last.[4] In the first match, Seve Ballesteros was 3 up at the turn but needed an outstanding 3-wood from a fairway bunker on the final hole to salvage par and force a half with Fuzzy Zoeller.[5] With ten matches complete and the score at 13 points each, the outcome depended on the two singles matches remaining on the course, between José María Cañizares and Lanny Wadkins and Bernard Gallacher and Tom Watson. The U.S. victory is generally accredited to Wadkins, who hit a wedge to less than three feet (0.9 m) on the par-5 18th hole to win the hole with a birdie and halve his match against Canizares. Gallacher had trailed all day, but Watson bogeyed 16 and was only 1 up with two holes to play. He had another bogey at the par-3 17th, but Gallacher's three-foot putt for bogey missed and ended the match at 2 & 1 and gave the U.S. the winning point.[2][3]

This was the thirteenth consecutive win at home for the U.S. team, but they have yet to post consecutive home victories since, alternating losses and wins for a 4-4 record through 2016. It was also the last victory for the U.S. in the Ryder Cup for eight years, until 1991.

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format in 1983 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, 14½ points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

The American qualification rules remained unchanged from 1981 with 11 of the team being selected from a points list. The final place in the team was allocated to the winner of the 1983 PGA Championship (which finished on August 7), provided he was not in the top 11, in which case the 12th player in the points list would qualify. Qualification based on the points list finished after the Western Open on July 3. Tom Watson needed to win the final event to guarantee his place but finished second, lifting him from 14th to 12th place in the points list and pushing Hale Irwin out of that position.[6] The PGA Championship was won by Hal Sutton with Jack Nicklaus second.[7] Sutton was only in his third year as a professional and hence ineligible and so Watson retained his place on the team.[8]

 Team USA
Name Age Points
rank		 Previous
Ryder Cups		 Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Jack Nicklaus 43Non-playing captain
Lanny Wadkins 331287–1–087.50
Raymond Floyd 4124155–7–343.33
Tom Kite 333286–1–181.25
Fuzzy Zoeller 314151–4–020.00
Craig Stadler 3050Rookie
Jay Haas 2960Rookie
Gil Morgan 377120–0–250.00
Calvin Peete 4080Rookie
Ben Crenshaw 319121–1–050.00
Bob Gilder 32100Rookie
Curtis Strange 28110Rookie
Tom Watson 3412275–2–071.43

The European team was chosen entirely from the 1983 European Tour money list as at the conclusion of the St. Mellion Timeshare TPC on September 18.[9] Prior to the final event 10 of the players had guaranteed their places with Manuel Piñero in 11th position and Gordon J. Brand in 12th. Brand made sure of his place with fifth place in the TPC but Piñero was overtaken by Paul Way who finished second to lift him to 11th place in the list.[10]

 Team Europe
Name Age Points
rank		 Previous
Ryder Cups		 Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Tony Jacklin 39Non-playing captain
Nick Faldo 2613107–3–070.00
Seve Ballesteros 262151–4–020.00
Bernhard Langer 263141–2–137.50
Sandy Lyle 254293–5–138.89
Ken Brown 265241–3–025.00
José María Cañizares 366131–2–033.33
Brian Waites 4370Rookie
Sam Torrance 308140–3–112.50
Ian Woosnam 2590Rookie
Bernard Gallacher 341072913–11–553.45
Paul Way 20110Rookie
Gordon J. Brand 28120Rookie

Friday's matches

October 14, 1983

Morning foursomes
Results
Gallacher/Lyle 5 & 4 Watson/Crenshaw
Faldo/Langer 4 & 2 Wadkins/Stadler
Cañizares/Torrance 4 & 3 Floyd/Gilder
Ballesteros/Way 2 & 1 Kite/Peete
2 Session 2
2 Overall 2

Afternoon four-ball
Results
Waites/Brown 2 & 1 Morgan/Zoeller
Faldo/Langer 2 & 1 Watson/Haas
Ballesteros/Way 1 up Floyd/Strange
Torrance/Woosnam halved Crenshaw/Peete
2½ Session 1½
4½ Overall 3½

Saturday's matches

October 15, 1983

Morning four-ball
Results
Waites/Brown 1 up Wadkins/Stadler
Faldo/Langer 4 & 2 Crenshaw/Peete
Ballesteros/Way halved Morgan/Haas
Torrance/Woosnam 5 & 4 Watson/Gilder
1½ Session 2½
6 Overall 6

Afternoon foursomes
Results
Faldo/Langer 3 & 2 Kite/Floyd
Torrance/Cañizares 7 & 5 Morgan/Wadkins
Ballesteros/Way 2 & 1 Watson/Gilder
Waites/Brown 3 & 2 Haas/Strange
2 Session 2
8 Overall 8

Sunday's singles matches

October 16, 1983

Results
Seve Ballesteros halved Fuzzy Zoeller
Nick Faldo 2 & 1 Jay Haas
Bernhard Langer 2 up Gil Morgan
Gordon J. Brand 2 up Bob Gilder
Sandy Lyle 3 & 1 Ben Crenshaw
Brian Waites 1 up Calvin Peete
Paul Way 2 & 1 Curtis Strange
Sam Torrance halved Tom Kite
Ian Woosnam 3 & 2 Craig Stadler
José María Cañizares halved Lanny Wadkins
Ken Brown 4 & 3 Raymond Floyd
Bernard Gallacher 2 & 1 Tom Watson
5½ Session 6½
13½ Overall 14½

Individual player records

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

Source: [11]

United States
PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Ben Crenshaw2.52–1–11–0–01–0–00–1–1
Raymond Floyd00–4–00–1–00–2–00–1–0
Bob Gilder22–2–01–0–00–2–01–0–0
Jay Haas2.52–1–10–1–01–0–01–0–1
Tom Kite1.51–1–10–0–11–1–00–0–0
Gil Morgan1.51–2–10–1–01–0–00–1–1
Calvin Peete2.52–1–11–0–01–0–00–1–1
Craig Stadler22–1–01–0–00–1–01–0–0
Curtis Strange11–2–00–1–01–0–00–1–0
Lanny Wadkins2.52–1–10–0–11–1–01–0–0
Tom Watson44–1–01–0–01–1–02–0–0
Fuzzy Zoeller0.50–1–10–0–10–0–00–1–0

Europe
PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Seve Ballesteros32–1–20–0–11–1–01–0–1
Gordon J. Brand00–1–00–1–00–0–00–0–0
Ken Brown22–2–01–0–00–1–01–1–0
José María Cañizares1.51–1–10–0–11–1–00–0–0
Nick Faldo44–1–01–0–02–0–01–1–0
Bernard Gallacher00–2–00–1–00–1–00–0–0
Bernhard Langer44–1–01–0–02–0–01–1–0
Sandy Lyle00–2–00–1–00–1–00–0–0
Sam Torrance21–2–20–0–11–1–00–1–1
Brian Waites11–3–00–1–00–1–01–1–0
Paul Way3.53–1–11–0–01–1–01–0–1
Ian Woosnam0.50–2–10–1–00–0–00–1–1

Video

References
  • "Ryder Cup 2006 » History » 1983 Results". The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Limited, and Turner Sports Interactive. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  • "Ryder Cup history: 1983". BBC Sport. September 13, 2004. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  1. "Nicklaus 'thrilled' with U.S. victory". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. October 17, 1983. p. 4B.
  2. Jenkins, Dan (October 25, 1983). "A close call for Captain Jack". Sports Illustrated. p. 38.
  3. Moffett, Dan (October 17, 1983). "Americans' Cup victory is no easy Ryder". Palm Beach Post. p. D1.
  4. Moffett, Dan (October 17, 1983). "Jacklin's strategy almost paid off while Nicklaus saved best for last". Palm Beach Post. p. D7.
  5. "Ballesteros' Bunker Shot Among Best From Ryder Cup". TSN. September 26, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  6. "Unsure Watson teeters on a tightrope". The Times, Tuesday, July 6, 1983; pg. 26; Issue 61577.
  7. "A cub called Sutton follows the tracks of the Golden Bear". The Times, Tuesday, Aug 9, 1983; pg. 18; Issue 61606.
  8. "Watson may call off". The Times, Thursday, Aug 4, 1983; pg. 21; Issue 61602.
  9. "Money list to decide team for Ryder Cup". The Times, Friday, September 17 1982; pg. 18; Issue 61340.
  10. "Ample consolation for Way as he is beaten by Langer". The Times, Monday, September 19 1983; pg. 27; Issue 61641.
  11. "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.

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