# 1973 Ryder Cup

The 20th Ryder Cup Matches were held at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. The United States team won the competition by a score of 19 to 13 points. For the first time, what had previously been the "Great Britain" team was called "Great Britain and Ireland", although golfers from the Republic of Ireland had played since 1953, and from Northern Ireland since 1947.
Muirfield had hosted the Open Championship the previous year, won by American Lee Trevino.

## Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was adjusted slightly in 1973 from the format used from 1963 through 1971:
* Day 1 — 4 foursomes (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session
* Day 2 — 4 foursome matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball matches in an afternoon session
* Day 3 — 16 singles matches, 8 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:
Selection for the Great Britain and Ireland team was based on a points list with points being earned between the 1972 Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf and the same event in 1973. Total points determined the order, with 30 points to the winner, 24 for the runner-up, down to 1 point for the player in 25th place. The leading 8 in the points list were guaranteed places, with the remaining 4 selected by a committee. The top 8 were: Oosterhuis, Coles, Jacklin, Bembridge, Barnes, Butler, O'Connor and Gallacher. The selection committee chose the players lying 9th to 12th in the list: Garner, Polland, Clark and Huggett.
Team Great Britain and Ireland :
| Name | Age | Previous Ryder Cups | Matches | W–L–H | Winning percentage |
| Bernard Hunt | 43 | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain |
| Brian Barnes | 28 | 2 | 6 | 2–4–0 | 33.33 |
| Maurice Bembridge | 28 | 2 | 7 | 3–3–1 | 50.00 |
| Peter Butler | 41 | 3 | 11 | 3–6–2 | 36.36 |
| Clive Clark | 28 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Neil Coles | 38 | 6 | 32 | 11–15–6 | 43.75 |
| Bernard Gallacher | 24 | 2 | 9 | 5–3–1 | 61.11 |
| John Garner | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0–1–0 | 0.00 |
| Brian Huggett | 36 | 4 | 19 | 5–9–5 | 39.47 |
| Tony Jacklin | 29 | 3 | 17 | 7–6–4 | 52.94 |
| Christy O'Connor Snr | 48 | 9 | 31 | 10–18–3 | 37.10 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 25 | 1 | 6 | 3–3–0 | 50.00 |
| Eddie Polland | 26 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
Due to the rules of the PGA of America in place at the time, players with less than five years as a professional were not eligible for the U.S. team, which included reigning U.S. Open champion Johnny Miller and Lanny Wadkins. (These rules also kept Jack Nicklaus on the sidelines until 1969.) Miller made his Ryder Cup debut in 1975 and Wadkins in 1977.
Team USA :
| Name | Age | Previous Ryder Cups | Matches | W–L–H | Winning percentage |
| Jack Burke Jr. | 50 | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain |
| Tommy Aaron | 36 | 1 | 4 | 1–2–1 | 37.50 |
| Homero Blancas | 35 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Gay Brewer | 41 | 1 | 5 | 3–2–0 | 60.00 |
| Billy Casper | 42 | 6 | 27 | 14–7–6 | 62.96 |
| Lou Graham | 35 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Dave Hill | 36 | 1 | 6 | 4–2–0 | 66.67 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 33 | 2 | 10 | 6–3–1 | 65.00 |
| Arnold Palmer | 44 | 5 | 27 | 20–5–2 | 77.78 |
| Chi-Chi Rodríguez | 37 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| J. C. Snead | 32 | 1 | 4 | 4–0–0 | 100.00 |
| Lee Trevino | 33 | 2 | 11 | 6–3–2 | 63.64 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 30 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |

## Thursday's matches
### Morning foursomes

| | Results | |
| Barnes/Gallacher | 1 up | Trevino/Casper |
| O'Connor/Coles | 3 & 2 | Weiskopf/Snead |
| Jacklin/Oosterhuis | halved | Rodríguez/Graham |
| Bembridge/Polland | 6 & 5 | Nicklaus/Palmer |
| 21⁄2 | Session | 11⁄2 |
| 21⁄2 | Overall | 11⁄2 |

### Afternoon four-ball

| | Results | |
| Barnes/Gallacher | 5 & 4 | Aaron/Brewer |
| Bembridge/Huggett | 3 & 1 | Nicklaus/Palmer |
| Jacklin/Oosterhuis | 3 & 1 | Weiskopf/Casper |
| Coles/O'Connor | 2 & 1 | Trevino/Blancas |
| 3 | Session | 1 |
| 51⁄2 | Overall | 21⁄2 |

## Friday's matches
### Morning foursomes

| | Results | |
| Barnes/Butler | 1 up | Nicklaus/Weiskopf |
| Oosterhuis/Jacklin | 2 up | Palmer/Hill |
| Bembridge/Huggett | 5 & 4 | Rodríguez/Graham |
| Coles/O'Connor | 2 & 1 | Trevino/Casper |
| 2 | Session | 2 |
| 71⁄2 | Overall | 41⁄2 |

### Afternoon four-ball

| | Results | |
| Barnes/Butler | 2 up | Snead/Palmer |
| Jacklin/Oosterhuis | 3 & 2 | Brewer/Casper |
| Clark/Polland | 3 & 2 | Nicklaus/Weiskopf |
| Bembridge/Huggett | halved | Trevino/Blancas |
| 1⁄2 | Session | 31⁄2 |
| 8 | Overall | 8 |

## Saturday's matches
### Morning singles

| | Results | |
| Brian Barnes | 2 & 1 | Billy Casper |
| Bernard Gallacher | 3 & 1 | Tom Weiskopf |
| Peter Butler | 5 & 4 | Homero Blancas |
| Tony Jacklin | 3 & 1 | Tommy Aaron |
| Neil Coles | halved | Gay Brewer |
| Christy O'Connor | 1 up | J. C. Snead |
| Maurice Bembridge | halved | Jack Nicklaus |
| Peter Oosterhuis | halved | Lee Trevino |
| 21⁄2 | Session | 51⁄2 |
| 101⁄2 | Overall | 131⁄2 |

### Afternoon singles

| | Results | |
| Brian Huggett | 4 & 2 | Homero Blancas |
| Brian Barnes | 3 & 1 | J. C. Snead |
| Bernard Gallacher | 6 & 5 | Gay Brewer |
| Tony Jacklin | 2 & 1 | Billy Casper |
| Neil Coles | 6 & 5 | Lee Trevino |
| Christy O'Connor | halved | Tom Weiskopf |
| Maurice Bembridge | 2 up | Jack Nicklaus |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 4 & 2 | Arnold Palmer |
| 21⁄2 | Session | 51⁄2 |
| 13 | Overall | 19 |

## Individual player records

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

### Great Britain and Ireland

| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
| Brian Barnes | 2 | 2–4–0 | 0–2–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Maurice Bembridge | 3 | 2–2–2 | 0–1–1 | 1–1–0 | 1–0–1 |
| Peter Butler | 0 | 0–3–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Clive Clark | 0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Neil Coles | 1.5 | 1–3–1 | 0–1–1 | 1–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Bernard Gallacher | 2 | 2–2–0 | 0–2–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Brian Huggett | 3.5 | 3–0–1 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–1 |
| Tony Jacklin | 3.5 | 3–2–1 | 1–1–0 | 1–0–1 | 1–1–0 |
| Christy O'Connor | 1.5 | 1–3–1 | 0–1–1 | 1–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | 4 | 3–1–2 | 1–0–1 | 1–0–1 | 1–1–0 |
| Eddie Polland | 0 | 0–2–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
John Garner did not play in any matches.

### United States

| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
| Tommy Aaron | 0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Homero Blancas | 2.5 | 2–1–1 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–0–1 |
| Gay Brewer | 2.5 | 2–1–1 | 1–0–1 | 0–0–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Billy Casper | 4 | 4–2–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Lou Graham | 0.5 | 0–1–1 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–1 | 0–0–0 |
| Dave Hill | 0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Jack Nicklaus | 4.5 | 4–1–1 | 1–0–1 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Arnold Palmer | 2 | 2–3–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Chi-Chi Rodríguez | 0.5 | 0–1–1 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–1 | 0–0–0 |
| J. C. Snead | 3 | 3–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Lee Trevino | 4 | 3–1–2 | 1–0–1 | 1–1–0 | 1–0–1 |
| Tom Weiskopf | 3.5 | 3–2–1 | 1–0–1 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |