1977 Ryder Cup

Infobox Ryder Cup
year = 1977
logo =
dates = 15–17 September
venue = Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
location = Lytham St Annes, England
home = GB
away = US
homecaptain = Brian Huggett
awaycaptain = Dow Finsterwald
homescore = 7½
awayscore = 12½
result = United States retainsThe 22nd Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England.The United States team won the competition by a score of 12½ to 7½ points. The event was the last time that a Great Britain and Ireland team would compete for the Ryder Cup. During the competition, officials from the Professional Golfers' Association of America and the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland discussed the possibility of allowing players from continental Europe to participate in the Cup, and Jack Nicklaus also advocated this change in a meeting with Lord Derby. [cite web |url=http://www.rydercup.com/2006/europe/history/results/1977.html |title=Ryder Cup 2006 » History » 1977 Results |publisher=The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Limited, and Turner Sports Interactive |accessdate=2007-03-14] The Deed of Trust that was struck with the PGA of Great Britain and Samuel Ryder was amended in time for the 1979 matches, and would change the future popularity and competitive balance of the Ryder Cup.

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was reduced in scope from the formats used from 1963 through 1975, with only 20 matches played instead of 32. The schedule of play was as follows:
*Day 1 — 5 foursome (alternate shot) matches
*Day 2 — 5 four-ball (better ball) matches
*Day 3 — 10 singles matchesWith a total of 20 points, 10½ points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

;flagicon|GBR|size=50px flagicon|IRL|size=50px Team Great Britain and IrelandCaptain: flagicon|Wales Brian Huggett
*flagicon|England Howard Clark
*flagicon|England Neil Coles
*flagicon|England Peter Dawson
*flagicon|Scotland Brian Barnes
*flagicon|Jersey Tommy Horton
*flagicon|Scotland Bernard Gallacher
*flagicon|Ireland Eamonn Darcy
*flagicon|England Mark James
*flagicon|England Nick Faldo
*flagicon|England Peter Oosterhuis
*flagicon|England Tony Jacklin
*flagicon|Scotland Ken Brown;flagicon|USA|size=50px Team United StatesCaptain: Dow Finsterwald
*Lanny Wadkins
*Lou Graham
*Don January
*Hale Irwin
*Dave Hill
*Jack Nicklaus
*Hubert Green
*Raymond Floyd
*Tom Watson
*Jerry McGee
*Dave Stockton
*Ed Sneed

Thursday's foursome matches

References

*cite web |url=http://golf.about.com/od/teamcompetitions/p/rydercup1977.htm |title=Ryder Cup – 1977 |publisher=About:Golf |accessdate=2007-03-14
*cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/golf/3911409.stm |title=Ryder Cup history: 1977 |publisher=BBC Sport |accessdate=2007-03-14