1961 Ryder Cup

14th Ryder Cup Matches
Dates 13–14 October 1961
Venue Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
Location Lytham St Annes, England
Captains
United Kingdom 9½ 14½ United States
United States wins the Ryder Cup
Royal Lytham
& St Annes
Location in England

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]

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]

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

United States 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

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

Afternoon foursomes

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

Saturday's matches

Morning singles

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

Afternoon singles

United Kingdom Results United States
Harry Weetman United States 1 up Art Wall
Peter Alliss United Kingdom 3 & 2 Bill Collins
Bernard Hunt United States 2 & 1 Mike Souchak
Tom Haliburton United States 2 & 1 Arnold Palmer
Dai Rees United Kingdom 4 & 3 Doug Ford
Ken Bousfield United Kingdom 1 up Jerry Barber
Neil Coles United Kingdom 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. 1 2 Longhurst, Henry (October 23, 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. October 15, 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. 1 2 "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved September 26, 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.

  • "Ryder Cup 2006 » History » 1961 Results". The PGA of America. Retrieved March 15, 2007.

Coordinates: 53°44′58″N 3°01′05″W / 53.7495°N 3.018°W / 53.7495; -3.018

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