The Ryder Cup

In 1921, teams of British and American golfers played a series of matches at Gleneagles in Scotland, prior to the British Open at St Andrews. This first match was won by the British team. The following year saw the arrival of the Walker Cup, an event between British and American amateur golfers in match play competition. Many people expressed the desire to see a similar event, with golf professionals taking part.

Samuel Ryder, a keen golfer and a businessmen who had made his fortune by selling packaged seeds, proposed an annual competition between British and American professionals golfers. By the following year, the idea had been developed and Ryder commissioned a trophy to be presented to the winners of the competition. This came to be the actual Ryder Cup itself. A team of American golfers arrived a few weeks early for the 1926 British Open in order to play against the British team at Wentworth. The British team, captained by Ted Ray, met an American team, captained by Walter Hagan. The British team won the matches by a score of 13 1/2 to 1 1/2.

The trophy was not actually presented following the 1926 matches due to delays in producing the trophy. However, the 1926 matches came to be regarded as "unofficial” because several of the players on the American team were not actually American.

After completion of play, the two captains and Samual Ryder met and determined that team members would, in the future, be native-born and that the matches would take place every other year. However, the first official match was scheduled for the following year, to be played at Worcester Country Club in Worcester, Massachusetts. Ted Ray and Walter Hagen again captained the teams. The competition was won by the American team, 9 1/2 to 2 1/2. The Cup was presented to the American team, and the first official competition was born.

The formats and the teams have changed through the years, and so has the level of competition. From the first official competition, in 1927, until the 1971 competition, the Ryder Cup was fought between the United States and Great Britain. In 1973, Ireland joined the British team to create a new team, Great Britain & Ireland. The GB&I team competed in three Ryder Cups, 1973, 1975 and 1977.

However adding the Irish didn't do much to help against the strong United States teams of that era. Following the 1977 matches, the PGA of America and PGA of Great Britain met to discuss ways of increasing competitiveness in the Ryder Cup matches.

The two PGA’s agreed to open the matches to all of Europe and announced that in the 1979 Ryder Cup the United States would play against Europe. The matches soon became more competitive and interest from the public increased. See Ryder Cup Results for a complete listing of results, dating back to 1927.

The Ryder Cup is now seen as one of the most popular team events in the world.

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