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Ryder Cup History Valderrama will be the first club outside England or the United States to host the biennial Ryder Cup. Severiano Ballesteros will also become the first �continental� to captain the European team, which is the defending champion after winning 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 at Oak Hill Country Club, Rochester, New York, in 1995. At the beginning... Samuel Ryder, a seed merchant from St Albans, had never played golf until he was into his 50s. But he quickly joined the many millions caught by the golfing bug and was to become the inspiration behind a tournament that now enjoys prominent international status. His place in golfing history dates to 1926, at the Wentworth club, where he was watching the United States play Britain in the second of two official matches between the two countries� respective professionals. He had been invited to attend the match by his coach, Abe Mitchell (at the time considered the best British professional never to have won the British Open), the match having been organised because of the presence of several Americans in the country for the Open at Sunningdale. Speaking to Walter Hagen after the match, Ryder suggested that it be given a more prominent date and offered to provide a £250 gold trophy featuring the figure of Abe Mitchell. The first official match (they were to become biennial, rotating between the US and Great Britain - though Ireland Wales are still to host the event) was held in 1927 at the Worcester Country Club in Massachusetts, where the British team lost all but one of the four 36-hole foursomes and won only two of the eight 36-hole singles matches. Since then, the format has undergone many changes (though the players are still only paid expenses): from 1961 it was decided over two sets of 18-hole foursomes and two sets of 18-hole singles; while today there are sets of four foursomes and four fourball on each of the first two days and 12 singles (with all team members competing) on the final day. However, the most important change came in 1979 when it was decided to open the British and Irish team (Ireland had been added to Great Britain in 1973) to �continental� European players. The idea for this initiative came from the Jack Nicklaus, who believed the matches needed to be more competitive if public interest were to be maintained and, indeed, bolstered. The record by Great Britain (then Ireland) had been less than spectacular. After that first, 9 1/2 to 2 1/2 victory by the Americans, Great Britain won 7-5 at Moortown (Leeds) in 1929, and again in 1933 at Southport and Ainsdale, by one point, but those were the only British victories until the 7 1/2 to 4 1/2 scoreline in 1957 at Lindrick (Sheffield). The losing trend continued to 1969 at Royal Birkdale (Southport), when, with the match level and only Tony Jacklin and Jack Nicklaus out on the course in the final singles match, Nicklaus� made a celebrated gesture. As the U.S. had won two years before in Houston, the Americans only needed to draw the 1969 competition to retain the trophy, and Nicklaus and Jacklin were level coming to the 18th. On that final green, Nicklaus secured his par and conceded a short (albeit intimidating under the circumstances) putt for the draw. The Americans then carried on with the same old plot until, after the 1977 match, agreement was reached to invite the �continentals�, Severiano Ballesteros and fellow Spaniard Antonio Garrido becoming the first to tee up in 1979 at Greenbrier, West Virginia. Europe nevertheless lost, and was comprehensively beaten again at Walton Heath (Surrey) in 1981, when Ballesteros was joined by compatriots Manuel Piñero and Jose Maria Cañizares and German Bernhard Langer, but in 1983 captain Jacklin led his team to within one shot of the Americans at Palm Beach Gardens (Florida). Finally, in 1985 at The Belfry (West Midlands) Europe returned to winning ways (with Jose Rivero making his debut), and went one better in 1987 at Muirfield Village (Ohio), Jose Maria Olazabal joining Ballesteros as Europe won its first-ever Ryder Cup victory on American soil. The Europeans then retained the trophy at The Belfry in 1989, before losing to the Americans at Kiawah Island (South Carolina) in 1991, and again at The Belfry in 1993 (when Joaquin Haegmann became the first Swede and Costantino Rocca the first Italian to make the team). Leading the European team for a third time, Jacklin�s former deputy, Bernard Gallacher, regained the initiative in 1995 at Oak Hill (New York), with a 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 triumph (Costa del Sol-based Swede Per-Ulrik Johansson making his Cup debut). The historic 1997 match at Valderrama marks the 70th anniversary of an event that has become, after the four Grand Slam tournaments, one of the premier events in the world. |
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