# 1967 Ryder Cup

The 17th Ryder Cup Matches were held October 20–22, 1967 at the Champions Golf Club in Houston, Texas. The United States team won the competition by a record score of 231⁄2 to 81⁄2 points. To date, the 15-point victory margin remains the largest at the Ryder Cup.
Ben Hogan was named the captain of the U.S. team in May 1967, five months before the matches. He opted for the U.S. team to use the smaller British golf ball; the same weight, its diameter was .06 inches (1.5 mm) smaller at 1.62 inches (4.11 cm).
The match had originally been arranged for June 9–11, a date that the British P.G.A. had reluctantly agreed to, as it interfered with the British tournament season. In April 1966, it was agreed that the dates be changed to October 20–22.
The course hosted the U.S. Open two years later in 1969.

## Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. From 1963 through 1971 the competition format was as follows:
* Day 1 — Eight foursomes (alternate shot) matches, four each in morning and afternoon sessions
* Day 2 — Eight four-ball (better ball) matches, four each in morning and afternoon sessions
* Day 3 — Sixteen singles matches, eight each in morning and afternoon sessions
With a total of 32 points, 161⁄2 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

## Teams

Source:
Team USA :
| Name | Age | Points rank | Previous Ryder Cups | Matches | W–L–H | Winning percentage |
| Ben Hogan | 55 | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain |
| Billy Casper | 36 | 1 | 3 | 14 | 8–3–3 | 67.86 |
| Arnold Palmer | 38 | 2 | 3 | 16 | 11–4–1 | 71.88 |
| Gay Brewer | 35 | 3 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Doug Sanders | 34 | 4 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Gene Littler | 37 | 5 | 3 | 14 | 5–3–6 | 57.14 |
| Julius Boros | 47 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 7–2–2 | 72.73 |
| Bobby Nichols | 31 | 7 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Al Geiberger | 30 | 8 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Gardner Dickinson | 40 | 9 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Johnny Pott | 31 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 1–2–0 | 33.33 |
The British team was based on a points system using performances in 1966 and 1967, starting with the 1966 Schweppes PGA Close Championship and finishing after the 1967 Open Championship.
Team Great Britain :
| Name | Age | Points rank | Previous Ryder Cups | Matches | W–L–H | Winning percentage |
| Dai Rees | 54 | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain |
| Peter Alliss | 36 | 1 | 6 | 21 | 9–8–4 | 52.38 |
| Hugh Boyle | 31 | 9 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Neil Coles | 33 | 3 | 3 | 16 | 5–8–3 | 40.62 |
| Malcolm Gregson | 24 | 8 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Brian Huggett | 30 | 7 | 1 | 5 | 2–2–1 | 50.00 |
| Bernard Hunt | 37 | 4 | 6 | 21 | 6–12–3 | 35.71 |
| Tony Jacklin | 23 | 5 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Christy O'Connor Snr | 42 | 6 | 6 | 19 | 7–11–1 | 39.47 |
| Dave Thomas | 33 | 2 | 3 | 13 | 1–9–3 | 19.23 |
| George Will | 30 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 2–7–1 | 25.00 |

## Friday matches

October 20, 1967

### Morning foursomes

| | Results | |
| Huggett/Will | halved | Casper/Boros |
| Alliss/O'Connor | 2 & 1 | Palmer/Dickinson |
| Jacklin/Thomas | 4 & 3 | Sanders/Brewer |
| Hunt/Coles | 6 & 5 | Nichols/Pott |
| 11⁄2 | Session | 21⁄2 |
| 11⁄2 | Overall | 21⁄2 |

### Afternoon foursomes

| | Results | |
| Huggett/Will | 1 up | Casper/Boros |
| Gregson/Boyle | 5 & 4 | Dickinson/Palmer |
| Jacklin/Thomas | 3 & 2 | Littler/Geiberger |
| Alliss/O'Connor | 2 & 1 | Nichols/Pott |
| 1 | Session | 3 |
| 21⁄2 | Overall | 51⁄2 |

## Saturday matches

October 21, 1967

### Morning four-ball

| | Results | |
| Alliss/O'Connor | 3 & 2 | Casper/Brewer |
| Hunt/Coles | 1 up | Nichols/Pott |
| Jacklin/Thomas | 1 up | Littler/Geiberger |
| Huggett/Will | 3 & 2 | Dickinson/Sanders |
| 0 | Session | 4 |
| 21⁄2 | Overall | 91⁄2 |

### Afternoon four-ball

| | Results | |
| Hunt/Coles | 5 & 3 | Casper/Brewer |
| Alliss/Gregson | 3 & 2 | Dickinson/Sanders |
| Will/Boyle | 1 up | Palmer/Boros |
| Jacklin/Thomas | halved | Littler/Geiberger |
| 1⁄2 | Session | 31⁄2 |
| 3 | Overall | 13 |

## Sunday matches

October 22, 1967

### Morning singles

| | Results | |
| Hugh Boyle | 4 & 3 | Gay Brewer |
| Peter Alliss | 2 & 1 | Billy Casper |
| Tony Jacklin | 3 & 2 | Arnold Palmer |
| Brian Huggett | 1 up | Julius Boros |
| Neil Coles | 2 & 1 | Doug Sanders |
| Malcolm Gregson | 4 & 2 | Al Geiberger |
| Dave Thomas | halved | Gene Littler |
| Bernard Hunt | halved | Bobby Nichols |
| 3 | Session | 5 |
| 6 | Overall | 18 |

### Afternoon singles

| | Results | |
| Brian Huggett | 5 & 3 | Arnold Palmer |
| Peter Alliss | 2 & 1 | Gay Brewer |
| Tony Jacklin | 3 & 2 | Gardner Dickinson |
| Christy O'Connor | 3 & 2 | Bobby Nichols |
| George Will | 3 & 1 | Johnny Pott |
| Malcolm Gregson | 2 & 1 | Al Geiberger |
| Bernard Hunt | halved | Julius Boros |
| Neil Coles | 2 & 1 | Doug Sanders |
| 21⁄2 | Session | 51⁄2 |
| 81⁄2 | Overall | 231⁄2 |

## Individual player records

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

### United States

| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
| Julius Boros | 3 | 2–1–2 | 0–1–1 | 1–0–1 | 1–0–0 |
| Gay Brewer | 3 | 3–2–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 2–0–0 |
| Billy Casper | 4.5 | 4–0–1 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–1 | 2–0–0 |
| Gardner Dickinson | 5 | 5–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 2–0–0 |
| Al Geiberger | 3.5 | 3–1–1 | 2–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–0–1 |
| Gene Littler | 2 | 1–1–2 | 0–0–1 | 0–1–0 | 1–0–1 |
| Bobby Nichols | 4.5 | 4–0–1 | 1–0–1 | 2–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Arnold Palmer | 5 | 5–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Johnny Pott | 4 | 4–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Doug Sanders | 2 | 2–3–0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 2–0–0 |

### Great Britain

| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
| Peter Alliss | 1 | 1–5–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 0–2–0 |
| Hugh Boyle | 0 | 0–3–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Neil Coles | 2 | 2–3–0 | 2–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 |
| Malcolm Gregson | 0 | 0–4–0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Brian Huggett | 1.5 | 1–3–1 | 1–1–0 | 0–1–1 | 0–1–0 |
| Bernard Hunt | 1 | 0–3–2 | 0–0–2 | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 |
| Tony Jacklin | 2.5 | 2–3–1 | 0–2–0 | 2–0–0 | 0–1–1 |
| Christy O'Connor | 0 | 0–4–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Dave Thomas | 3 | 2–1–2 | 0–0–1 | 2–0–0 | 0–1–1 |
| George Will | 0.5 | 0–4–1 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–1 | 0–2–0 |

## Nicklaus absence

Despite having won his seventh major title as a professional at the U.S. Open in June, 27-year-old Jack Nicklaus was not a member of the U.S. team. At the time, a five-year apprenticeship as a professional was required before Ryder Cup points could be earned. Nicklaus turned pro in November 1961 and was granted tournament status at the end of that year. He expedited his status by passing PGA business classes in February 1966, and was granted full membership that June. Only then was he eligible to accumulate Ryder Cup points, which ended with the Masters in April. Captain's selections did not exist in 1967 and Nicklaus was in a slump following his win at the Masters in 1966; entering the Masters in 1967 as the two-time defending champion, he was in 13th place in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings. Also just off the team were Dave Marr and Bob Goalby. Nicklaus and Goalby missed the cut at Augusta and Marr's T-16 finish was not enough to pass Johnny Pott for the tenth and final spot on the team. Pott was 4–0–0 in the competition.
The outmoded five-year rule had similarly kept Arnold Palmer off the teams in 1957 and 1959. Don January won the PGA Championship in 1967 in July, but was also at home; the only reigning major champion on either team in 1967 was Masters champion Gay Brewer.
Nicklaus competed in the Ryder Cup as a player from 1969 through 1981, missing only in 1979. He was the non-playing captain in 1983 and 1987.