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1985 Ryder Cup

Coordinates: 52°33′18″N 1°44′02″W / 52.555°N 1.734°W / 52.555; -1.734
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26th Ryder Cup Matches
Dates13–15 September 1985
VenueThe Belfry, Brabazon Course
LocationWishaw, Warwickshire, England
Captains
Europe 1612 1112 United States
Europe wins the Ryder Cup
← 1983
1987 →
The Belfry is located in England
The Belfry
The Belfry

The 26th Ryder Cup Matches were held 13–15 September 1985 at the Brabazon Course of The Belfry in Wishaw, Warwickshire, England. Team Europe won the competition for the first time by a score of 1612 to 1112 points. This marked the first U.S. loss since 1957, previously the sole U.S. loss in fifty years.

A key turning point in the matches came Saturday morning, when Craig Stadler missed a two-foot putt on the 18th hole, which would have earned a win for him and Curtis Strange over Europe's Bernhard Langer and Sandy Lyle. The match was halved, so instead of the U.S. being in the lead through three stages, the overall score was tied at 6-6. Europe went on to win three of the four Saturday afternoon matches. "In the past, it was always us who missed those putts," said European captain Tony Jacklin. "That has to crush them."[1]

Europe took that two-point lead into the Sunday singles and increased their lead throughout Sunday. It fell to Sam Torrance to secure the winning margin when he holed a 22-foot (7 m) putt on the 18th hole to defeat Andy North 1 up and go up 1412 to 812, a six-point margin with five matches on the course.[2][3]

This was the last Ryder Cup played in Europe that was not shown on live television in the United States.[4] The USA Network first televised it in 1989 on cable with video provided by the BBC.[5][6] NBC Sports took over live weekend coverage in 1991 in South Carolina,[7] and 1993 marked the first time a major U.S. network televised it live from Europe.

Format

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The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format in 1985 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, 1412 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

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Nine of the European team were chosen from the 1985 European Tour money list at the conclusion of the Benson & Hedges International Open on 18 August with the remaining three team members being chosen immediately after the final event by the team captain, Tony Jacklin. Prior to the final event Christy O'Connor Jnr was in the 9th qualifying position. However he missed the cut in the Benson & Hedges International Open and was overtaken by José María Cañizares, O'Connor finishing just £115.89 behind Cañizares. Jacklin's choices of Nick Faldo and Ken Brown were widely expected but his choice of José Rivero was a surprise.[8]

Europe Team Europe
Name Age Points
rank
Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
England Tony Jacklin 41 Non-playing captain
Scotland Sandy Lyle 27 1 3 11 3–7–1 31.82
Scotland Sam Torrance 32 2 2 9 1–5–3 27.78
Wales Ian Woosnam 27 3 1 3 0–2–1 16.67
West Germany Bernhard Langer 28 4 2 9 5–3–1 61.11
England Paul Way 22 5 1 5 3–1–1 70.00
England Howard Clark 31 6 2 3 1–1–1 50.00
Spain Seve Ballesteros 28 7 2 10 3–5–2 40.00
Spain Manuel Piñero 33 8 1 4 2–2–0 50.00
Spain José María Cañizares 38 9 2 6 2–3–1 41.67
Spain José Rivero 29 0 Rookie
Scotland Ken Brown 28 3 8 3–5–0 37.50
England Nick Faldo 28 4 15 11–4–0 73.33

Captains picks are shown in yellow.[9]

United States Team USA
Name Age Points
rank
Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Lee Trevino 45 Non-playing captain
Andy North 35 0 Rookie
Hubert Green 38 2 4 3–1–0 75.00
Curtis Strange 30 1 1 3 1–2–0 33.33
Lanny Wadkins 35 2 3 12 9–2–1 79.17
Raymond Floyd 43 3 5 19 5–11–3 34.21
Calvin Peete 42 4 1 4 2–1–1 62.50
Mark O'Meara 28 5 0 Rookie
Craig Stadler 32 6 1 3 2–1–0 66.67
Hal Sutton 27 7 0 Rookie
Peter Jacobsen 31 8 0 Rookie
Tom Kite 35 9 3 11 7–2–2 72.73
Fuzzy Zoeller 33 10 2 7 1–5–1 21.43

North qualified by virtue of winning the 1985 U.S. Open, while Green qualified by winning the 1985 PGA Championship.

Friday's matches

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Morning foursomes

[edit]
Europe Results United States
Ballesteros/Piñero Europe 2 & 1 Strange/O'Meara
Langer/Faldo United States 3 & 2 Peete/Kite
Lyle/Brown United States 4 & 3 Wadkins/Floyd
Clark/Torrance United States 3 & 2 Stadler/Sutton
1 Session 3
1 Overall 3

Afternoon four-ball

[edit]
Europe Results United States
Way/Woosnam Europe 1 up Zoeller/Green
Ballesteros/Piñero Europe 2 & 1 North/Jacobsen
Langer/Cañizares halved Stadler/Sutton
Torrance/Clark United States 1 up Floyd/Wadkins
212 Session 112
312 Overall 412

Saturday's matches

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Morning four-ball

[edit]
Europe Results United States
Torrance/Clark Europe 2 & 1 Kite/North
Way/Woosnam Europe 4 & 3 Green/Zoeller
Ballesteros/Piñero United States 3 & 2 O'Meara/Wadkins
Langer/Lyle halved Stadler/Strange
212 Session 112
6 Overall 6

Afternoon foursomes

[edit]
Europe Results United States
Cañizares/Rivero Europe 7 & 5 Kite/Peete
Ballesteros/Piñero Europe 5 & 4 Stadler/Sutton
Way/Woosnam United States 4 & 2 Strange/Jacobsen
Langer/Brown Europe 3 & 2 Floyd/Wadkins
3 Session 1
9 Overall 7

Sunday's singles matches

[edit]
Europe Results United States
Manuel Piñero Europe 3 & 1 Lanny Wadkins
Ian Woosnam United States 2 & 1 Craig Stadler
Paul Way Europe 2 up Raymond Floyd
Seve Ballesteros halved Tom Kite
Sandy Lyle Europe 3 & 2 Peter Jacobsen
Bernhard Langer Europe 5 & 4 Hal Sutton
Sam Torrance Europe 1 up Andy North
Howard Clark Europe 1 up Mark O'Meara
José Rivero United States 1 up Calvin Peete
Nick Faldo United States 3 & 1 Hubert Green
José María Cañizares Europe 2 up Fuzzy Zoeller
Ken Brown United States 4 & 2 Curtis Strange
712 Session 412
1612 Overall 1112

Individual player records

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

Source: [10]

Europe

[edit]
Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes Fourballs
Seve Ballesteros 3.5 3–1–1 0–0–1 2–0–0 1–1–0
Ken Brown 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 0–0–0
José María Cañizares 2.5 2–0–1 1–0–0 1–0–0 0–0–1
Howard Clark 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–1–0
Nick Faldo 0 0–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0
Bernhard Langer 3 2–1–2 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–2
Sandy Lyle 1.5 1–1–1 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–0–1
Manuel Piñero 4 4–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–1–0
José Rivero 1 1–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0
Sam Torrance 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–1–0
Paul Way 3 3–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 2–0–0
Ian Woosnam 2 2–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 2–0–0

United States

[edit]
Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes Fourballs
Raymond Floyd 2 2–2–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 1–0–0
Hubert Green 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–2–0
Peter Jacobsen 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0
Tom Kite 1.5 1–2–1 0–0–1 1–1–0 0–1–0
Andy North 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–2–0
Mark O'Meara 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0
Calvin Peete 2 2–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–0
Craig Stadler 3 2–1–2 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–2
Curtis Strange 2.5 2–1–1 1–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–1
Hal Sutton 1.5 1–2–1 0–1–0 1–1–0 0–0–1
Lanny Wadkins 3 3–2–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 2–0–0
Fuzzy Zoeller 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–2–0

References

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  1. ^ MCDERMOTT, BARRY (23 September 1985). "The Empire Strikes Back". vault.si.com.
  2. ^ McDermott, Barry (23 September 1985). "The Empire Strikes Back". Sports Illustrated. p. 44.
  3. ^ "North falls as US loses Ryder Cup". Milwaukee Sentinel. wire services. 16 September 1985. p. 6, part 2.
  4. ^ "Ryder Cup matches scheduled for TV". Palm Beach Daily News. 3 October 1985. p. 7.
  5. ^ "Ryder Cup will be televised". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. 31 January 1989. p. 3C.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ Modoono, Bill (21 September 1989). "Ryder Cup play creates fuzzy picture". Pittsburgh Press. p. C3.
  7. ^ Sandomir, Richard (26 September 1991). "U.S. losses put Ryder Cup golf back on network". Eugene Register-Guard. (New York Times). p. 8D.
  8. ^ "Jacklin's surprise choice". The Times, 19 August 1985; p. 19; Issue 62220.
  9. ^ Kelley, Brent. "Ryder Cup captain's picks and how they've fared". About.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  10. ^ "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
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52°33′18″N 1°44′02″W / 52.555°N 1.734°W / 52.555; -1.734