Ryder Cup
Year1987
DatesSeptember 25–27, 1987
VenueMuirfield Village Golf Club
LocationDublin, Ohio
HomeUSA
AwayEurope
HomecaptainJack Nicklaus
AwaycaptainTony Jacklin
Homescore13
Awayscore15
ResultEurope wins

The 27th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 25–27, 1987 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The European team won their second consecutive competition by a score of 15 to 13 points in probably the most historic Ryder Cup. After an unbeaten record of 13–0 spanning sixty years, the U.S. team lost for the first time on home soil.[1][2]

Europe took a lead of 5 points into the Sunday singles matches, but the U.S. fought back strongly to narrow the deficit. Eamonn Darcy, who previously had a very poor Ryder Cup record, defeated Ben Crenshaw at the last hole to get Europe to 13 points. Crenshaw had broken his putter in a moment of frustration after the sixth hole and putted with his 1 iron for the last dozen holes. Bernhard Langer then halved his match with Larry Nelson and when Seve Ballesteros defeated Curtis Strange 2 & 1 to total 14 points, the European victory was secured.[1][2][3]

This was the last Ryder Cup in which the U.S. team did not employ captain's selections.[4] Europe used captain's picks in 1979, 1981, 1985, and this year.[5]

Muirfield Village, founded and designed by U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus, has hosted the Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour since 1976. The 2013 Presidents Cup was held at the same course.

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format in 1987 adjusted slightly from the previous three events, with the order of play on the second day swapped:

  • Day 1 (Friday) — 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session
  • Day 2 (Saturday) — 4 foursome matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball matches in an afternoon session
  • Day 3 (Sunday) — 12 singles matches

With a total of 28 points, 14 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

 Team USA
NameAgePoints
rank		World
ranking		Previous
Ryder Cups		MatchesW–L–HWinning
percentage
Jack Nicklaus47Non-playing captain
Scott Simpson32–130Rookie
Larry Nelson40–28299–0–0100.00
Payne Stewart30150Rookie
Ben Crenshaw35211263–2–158.33
Curtis Strange3234273–3–150.00
Hal Sutton29421141–2–137.50
Larry Mize295150Rookie
Lanny Wadkins376941712–4–173.53
Dan Pohl327250Rookie
Tom Kite378174158–4–363.33
Mark Calcavecchia279320Rookie
Andy Bean341036132–1–066.67

Simpson qualified by virtue of winning the 1987 U.S. Open, while Nelson qualified by winning the 1987 PGA Championship.

The selection process for the European team remained unchanged from 1985, with nine players chosen from the 1987 European Tour money list at the conclusion of the German Open on August 30 and the remaining three team members being chosen immediately afterwards by the team captain, Tony Jacklin.[6] Prior to the final event Eamonn Darcy was in the 9th qualifying place with Mats Lanner in 10th. Lanner finished just one shot ahead of Darcy in the German Open and Darcy retained his qualifying place. Jacklin's choices were Ken Brown, Sandy Lyle and José María Olazábal.[7]

 Team Europe
NameAgePoints
rank		World
ranking		Previous
Ryder Cups		MatchesW–L–HWinning
percentage
Tony Jacklin43Non-playing captain
Ian Woosnam29112272–4–135.71
Nick Faldo3022051711–6–064.71
Howard Clark33342373–3–150.00
Seve Ballesteros30423156–6–350.00
Gordon Brand Jnr295400Rookie
Sam Torrance346543133–7–334.62
Bernhard Langer30733147–4–360.71
José Rivero32868=121–1–050.00
Eamonn Darcy359112390–7–211.11
José María Olazábal2111430Rookie
Sandy Lyle2974144–8–235.71
Ken Brown3077=4114–7–036.36

Captains picks are shown in yellow.[4][5] The world rankings and records are at the start of the 1987 Ryder Cup.

Friday's matches

Morning foursomes

Results
Torrance/Clark4 & 2Strange/Kite
Brown/Langer2 & 1Sutton/Pohl
Faldo/Woosnam2 upWadkins/Mize
Ballesteros/Olazábal1 upNelson/Stewart
2Session2
2Overall2

Afternoon four-ball

Results
Brand/Rivero3 & 2Crenshaw/Simpson
Lyle/Langer1 upBean/Calcavecchia
Faldo/Woosnam2 & 1Sutton/Pohl
Ballesteros/Olazábal2 & 1Strange/Kite
4Session0
6Overall2

Saturday's matches

Morning foursomes

Results
Rivero/Brand3 & 1Strange/Kite
Faldo/WoosnamhalvedSutton/Mize
Lyle/Langer2 & 1Wadkins/Nelson
Ballesteros/Olazábal1 upCrenshaw/Stewart
2Session1
8Overall3

Afternoon four-ball

Results
Faldo/Woosnam5 & 4Strange/Kite
Darcy/Brand3 & 2Bean/Stewart
Ballesteros/Olazábal2 & 1Sutton/Mize
Lyle/Langer2 upWadkins/Nelson
2Session2
10Overall5

Sunday's singles matches

Results
Ian Woosnam1 upAndy Bean
Howard Clark1 upDan Pohl
Sam TorrancehalvedLarry Mize
Nick Faldo1 upMark Calcavecchia
José María Olazábal2 upPayne Stewart
José Rivero2 & 1Scott Simpson
Sandy Lyle3 & 2Tom Kite
Eamonn Darcy1 upBen Crenshaw
Bernhard LangerhalvedLarry Nelson
Seve Ballesteros2 & 1Curtis Strange
Ken Brown3 & 2Lanny Wadkins
Gordon Brand JnrhalvedHal Sutton
4Session7
15Overall13

Individual player records

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

Source: [8]

United States

PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Andy Bean22–1–01–0–00–0–01–1–0
Mark Calcavecchia11–1–01–0–00–0–00–1–0
Ben Crenshaw00–3–00–1–00–1–00–1–0
Tom Kite33–2–01–0–02–0–00–2–0
Larry Mize21–1–20–0–10–1–11–0–0
Larry Nelson0.50–3–10–0–10–2–00–1–0
Dan Pohl11–2–00–1–01–0–00–1–0
Scott Simpson11–1–01–0–00–0–00–1–0
Payne Stewart22–2–01–0–00–2–01–0–0
Curtis Strange22–3–00–1–02–0–00–2–0
Hal Sutton32–1–20–0–11–0–11–1–0
Lanny Wadkins11–3–01–0–00–2–00–1–0

Europe

PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomesFourballs
Seve Ballesteros44–1–01–0–02–0–01–1–0
Gordon Brand Jnr1.51–2–10–0–10–1–01–1–0
Ken Brown00–2–00–1–00–1–00–0–0
Howard Clark11–1–01–0–00–1–00–0–0
Eamonn Darcy11–1–01–0–00–0–00–1–0
Nick Faldo3.53–1–10–1–01–0–12–0–0
Bernhard Langer3.53–1–10–0–11–1–02–0–0
Sandy Lyle33–1–00–1–01–0–02–0–0
José María Olazábal33–2–00–1–02–0–01–1–0
José Rivero11–2–00–1–00–1–01–0–0
Sam Torrance0.50–1–10–0–10–1–00–0–0
Ian Woosnam3.53–1–10–1–01–0–12–0–0

References

  1. ^ Diaz, Jaime (October 5, 1987). "A Cup for the Old World". Sports Illustrated. p. 58. Archived from the original on August 14, 2013.
  2. ^ "Europeans use crucial 18th hole to win Ryder Cup". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. September 28, 1987. p. 2C.
  3. ^ "Ryder Cup 1987". Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  4. ^ "Ryder Cup squad set". Reading Eagle. wire services. August 10, 1987. p. 27.
  5. ^ Kelley, Brent. "Ryder Cup captain's picks and how they've fared". About.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "Back to the old Belfry spirit". The Times, November 28, 1986; pg. 36; Issue 62627.
  7. ^ "McNulty and Darcy's Rhapsody". The Times, August 31, 1987; pg. 28; Issue 62861.
  8. ^ "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.