# 1965 Ryder Cup

The 16th Ryder Cup Matches were held 7–9 October 1965 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England. For the first time commercialisation started to make a presence on site. The United States team won the competition by a score of 191⁄2 to 121⁄2 points.

## 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 — 8 foursomes (alternate shot) matches, 4 each in morning and afternoon sessions
* Day 2 — 8 four-ball (better ball) matches, 4 each in morning and afternoon sessions
* 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:
The British team was determined using a points system. Compared to the system used in 1963, there was more emphasis on high finishes, points only being allocated to the leading 20 rather than the leading 40. Points were based on the actual finishing position, whereas previously non-eligible players had been excluded in determining positions. In addition, points were earned in a number of invitation events, including the Dunlop Masters, the Martini International and the Esso Golden Tournament. The Open champion remained an automatic choice but the News of the World Match Play champion was no longer guaranteed a place. Counting tournaments started with the 1964 Carroll Sweet Afton Tournament and finished with the 1965 Esso Golden Tournament. For the 1965 event the British PGA reduced the period that a tournament professional had to wait before becoming eligible for the Ryder Cup team from five years to three. This meant that ex-amateur golfers like Guy Wolstenholme (who turned professional in late 1960) and Doug Sewell (1961) became eligible. The field for the 1965 Esso Golden Tournament were the first 15 in the Ryder Cup points list. Before the event the leading seven were guaranteed their place in the team; the remaining eight being in contention for the three remaining places. Jimmy Hitchcock and Dave Thomas who were 8th and 9th before the event retained their places in the top 10 but Wolstenholme, who started 10th, was passed by George Will, the winner of the tournament.
Team Great Britain :
| Name | Age | Points rank | Previous Ryder Cups | Matches | W–L–H | Winning percentage |
| Harry Weetman | 44 | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain |
| Peter Alliss | 34 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 4–7–4 | 40.00 |
| Peter Butler | 33 | 3 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Neil Coles | 31 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 2–5–3 | 35.00 |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 35 | 10 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Bernard Hunt | 35 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 3–9–3 | 30.00 |
| Jimmy Martin | 41 | 7 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Christy O'Connor Snr | 40 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 4–9–1 | 32.14 |
| Lionel Platts | 30 | 6 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Dave Thomas | 31 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 0–5–3 | 18.75 |
| George Will | 28 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 1–3–0 | 25.00 |
Despite having won his fourth major title as a professional at the Masters Tournament in April, 25-year-old Jack Nicklaus was not a member of the U.S. team. Eligibility rules set by the PGA prevented him from participating in the Ryder Cup until 1969. He competed as a player through 1981, missing only the 1979 edition, and was the non-playing captain of the U.S. team in 1983 and 1987.
Pott did not play due to a back injury.
Team USA :
| Name | Age | Previous Ryder Cups | Matches | W–L–H | Winning percentage |
| Byron Nelson | 53 | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain | Non-playing captain |
| Julius Boros | 45 | 2 | 6 | 3–1–2 | 66.67 |
| Billy Casper | 34 | 2 | 8 | 7–0–1 | 93.75 |
| Tommy Jacobs | 30 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Don January | 35 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Tony Lema | 31 | 1 | 5 | 3–0–2 | 80.00 |
| Gene Littler | 35 | 2 | 8 | 3–1–4 | 62.50 |
| Dave Marr | 31 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |
| Arnold Palmer | 36 | 2 | 10 | 7–2–1 | 75.00 |
| Johnny Pott | 29 | 1 | 3 | 1–2–0 | 33.33 |
| Ken Venturi | 34 | 0 | Rookie | Rookie | Rookie |

## Thursday's matches
### Morning foursomes

| | Results | |
| Platts/Butler | 1 up | Boros/Lema |
| Thomas/Will | 6 & 5 | Palmer/Marr |
| Hunt/Coles | 2 & 1 | Casper/Littler |
| Alliss/O'Connor | 5 & 4 | Venturi/January |
| 2 | Session | 2 |
| 2 | Overall | 2 |

### Afternoon foursomes

| | Results | |
| Thomas/Will | 6 & 5 | Palmer/Marr |
| Alliss/O'Connor | 2 & 1 | Casper/Littler |
| Martin/Hitchcock | 5 & 4 | Boros/Lema |
| Hunt/Coles | 3 & 2 | Venturi/January |
| 2 | Session | 2 |
| 4 | Overall | 4 |

## Friday's matches
### Morning four-ball

| | Results | |
| Thomas/Will | 1 up | January/Jacobs |
| Platts/Butler | halved | Casper/Littler |
| Alliss/O'Connor | 6 & 4 | Palmer/Marr |
| Hunt/Coles | 1 up | Boros/Lema |
| 11⁄2 | Session | 21⁄2 |
| 51⁄2 | Overall | 61⁄2 |

### Afternoon four-ball

| | Results | |
| Alliss/O'Connor | 2 up | Palmer/Marr |
| Thomas/Will | 1 up | January/Jacobs |
| Platts/Butler | halved | Casper/Littler |
| Hunt/Coles | 1 up | Venturi/Lema |
| 11⁄2 | Session | 21⁄2 |
| 7 | Overall | 9 |

## Saturday's matches
### Morning singles

| | Results | |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 3 & 2 | Arnold Palmer |
| Lionel Platts | 4 & 2 | Julius Boros |
| Peter Butler | 1 up | Tony Lema |
| Neil Coles | 2 up | Dave Marr |
| Bernard Hunt | 2 up | Gene Littler |
| Dave Thomas | 2 & 1 | Tommy Jacobs |
| Peter Alliss | 1 up | Billy Casper |
| George Will | halved | Don January |
| 21⁄2 | Session | 51⁄2 |
| 91⁄2 | Overall | 141⁄2 |

### Afternoon singles

| | Results | |
| Christy O'Connor | 6 & 4 | Tony Lema |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 2 & 1 | Julius Boros |
| Peter Butler | 2 up | Arnold Palmer |
| Peter Alliss | 3 & 1 | Ken Venturi |
| Neil Coles | 3 & 2 | Billy Casper |
| George Will | 2 & 1 | Gene Littler |
| Bernard Hunt | 1 up | Dave Marr |
| Lionel Platts | 1 up | Tommy Jacobs |
| 3 | Session | 5 |
| 121⁄2 | Overall | 191⁄2 |

## Individual player records

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

### Great Britain

| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
| Peter Alliss | 5 | 5–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Peter Butler | 1 | 0–3–2 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–2 |
| Neil Coles | 3 | 3–3–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 0 | 0–3–0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Bernard Hunt | 3 | 3–3–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Jimmy Martin | 0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Christy O'Connor | 3 | 3–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Lionel Platts | 2 | 1–2–2 | 1–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–2 |
| Dave Thomas | 1 | 1–4–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–2–0 |
| George Will | 1.5 | 1–4–1 | 0–1–1 | 1–1–0 | 0–2–0 |

### United States

| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
| Julius Boros | 4 | 4–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Billy Casper | 2 | 1–3–2 | 0–2–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–2 |
| Tommy Jacobs | 3 | 3–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 2–0–0 |
| Don January | 2.5 | 2–2–1 | 0–0–1 | 0–2–0 | 2–0–0 |
| Tony Lema | 5 | 5–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Gene Littler | 3 | 2–2–2 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–2 |
| Dave Marr | 4 | 4–2–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Arnold Palmer | 4 | 4–2–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Ken Venturi | 1 | 1–3–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 1–0–0 |
Johnny Pott did not play in any matches.