The 21st Ryder Cup Matches were held September 19–21 at Laurel Valley Golf Club in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. The United States team won the competition by a score of 21 to 11 points. After the competition, questions started to be asked about the future of the event, as Britain and Ireland had once again failed to seriously challenge the United States team. The next time the competition was held in the U.S. in 1979, the visiting team included players from continental Europe.

Laurel Valley was co-founded by U.S. captain Arnold Palmer and had hosted the PGA Championship a decade earlier, in 1965.

Format The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was adjusted slightly from the 1973 Ryder Cup, with the second day sessions being swapped: Day 1 — 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session Day 2 — 4 four-ball matches in a morning session and 4 foursome matches in an afternoon session Day 3 — 16 singles matches, 8 each in morning and afternoon sessions With a total of 32 points, 16 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams Source:

 Team USANameAgePreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageArnold Palmer 46 Non-playing captainBilly Casper 44 7 33 18–9–6 63.64Raymond Floyd 33 1 4 0–2–2 25.00Al Geiberger 38 1 5 3–1–1 70.00Lou Graham 37 1 2 0–1–1 25.00Hale Irwin 30 0 RookieGene Littler 45 6 24 11–5–8 62.50Johnny Miller 28 0 RookieBob Murphy 32 0 RookieJack Nicklaus 35 3 16 10–4–2 68.75J. C. Snead 34 2 8 7–1–0 87.50Lee Trevino 35 3 17 9–4–4 64.71Tom Weiskopf 32 1 6 3–2–1 58.33

Eight members of the Great Britain and Ireland team were chosen from the money leaders in 1975 European Tour events after the Benson & Hedges Festival on 16 August, with the remaining four members of the 12-man team selected by a committee. The eight automatic selections were: Eamonn Darcy, Maurice Bembridge, Brian Barnes, Bernard Gallacher, Norman Wood, John O'Leary, Guy Hunt and Brian Huggett. The committee chose two US-based players, Tony Jacklin and Peter Oosterhuis, together with Christy O'Connor Jnr and Tommy Horton. Horton was selected despite finishing 15th in the points list, making his debut at the age of 34.

Neil Coles withdrew from consideration because of his fear of flying and because it was impractical to travel by sea.

 Team Great Britain and IrelandNameAgePreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage Bernard Hunt 45 Non-playing captain Brian Barnes 30 3 12 4–8–0 33.33 Maurice Bembridge 30 3 13 5–5–3 50.00 Eamonn Darcy 23 0 Rookie Bernard Gallacher 26 3 13 7–5–1 57.69 Tommy Horton 34 0 Rookie Brian Huggett 38 5 23 8–9–6 47.83 Guy Hunt 28 0 Rookie Tony Jacklin 31 4 23 10–8–5 54.35 Christy O'Connor Jnr 27 0 Rookie John O'Leary 26 0 Rookie Peter Oosterhuis 27 2 12 6–4–2 58.33 Norman Wood 28 0 Rookie

Friday's matches Morning foursomes Results Barnes/Gallacher 5 & 4Nicklaus/WeiskopfWood/Bembridge 4 & 3Littler/IrwinJacklin/Oosterhuis 3 & 1Geiberger/MillerHorton/O'Leary 2 & 1Trevino/Snead 0 Session 4 0 Overall 4

Afternoon four-ball Results Oosterhuis/Jacklin 2 & 1Casper/FloydDarcy/O'Connor 3 & 2Weiskopf/GrahamBarnes/GallacherhalvedNicklaus/MurphyHorton/O'Leary 2 & 1Trevino/Irwin 1 Session 2 1 Overall 6

Saturday's matches Morning four-ball Results Oosterhuis/JacklinhalvedCasper/MillerHorton/Wood 4 & 2Nicklaus/SneadBarnes/Gallacher 5 & 3Littler/GrahamDarcy/HunthalvedGeiberger/Floyd 1 Session 3 2 Overall 9

Afternoon foursomes Results Jacklin/Huggett 3 & 2Trevino/MurphyO'Connor/O'Leary 5 & 3Weiskopf/MillerOosterhuis/Bembridge 3 & 2Irwin/CasperDarcy/Hunt 3 & 2Geiberger/Graham 1 Session 3 3 Overall 12

Sunday's matches Morning singles Results Tony Jacklin 2 & 1Bob MurphyPeter Oosterhuis 2 upJohnny MillerBernard GallacherhalvedLee TrevinoTommy HortonhalvedHale IrwinBrian Huggett 4 & 2Gene LittlerEamonn Darcy 3 & 2Billy CasperGuy Hunt 5 & 3Tom WeiskopfBrian Barnes 4 & 2Jack Nicklaus 3 Session 5 6 Overall 17

Afternoon singles Results Tony Jacklin 1 upRaymond FloydPeter Oosterhuis 3 & 2J. C. SneadBernard GallacherhalvedAl GeibergerTommy Horton 2 & 1Lou GrahamJohn O'Leary 2 & 1Hale IrwinMaurice Bembridge 2 & 1Bob MurphyNorman Wood 2 & 1Lee TrevinoBrian Barnes 2 & 1Jack Nicklaus 4 Session 3 11 Overall 21

Individual player records Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.

Source:

United States Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsBilly Casper 2.5 2–1–1 1–0–0 1–0–0 0–1–1Raymond Floyd 1.5 1–1–1 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–1Al Geiberger 3 2–0–2 0–0–1 2–0–0 0–0–1Lou Graham 3 3–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0Hale Irwin 4.5 4–0–1 1–0–1 2–0–0 1–0–0Gene Littler 3 3–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0Johnny Miller 2.5 2–1–1 0–1–0 2–0–0 0–0–1Bob Murphy 2.5 2–1–1 2–0–0 0–1–0 0–0–1Jack Nicklaus 2.5 2–2–1 0–2–0 1–0–0 1–0–1J. C. Snead 2 2–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 1–0–0Lee Trevino 2.5 2–2–1 0–1–1 1–1–0 1–0–0Tom Weiskopf 4 4–0–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–0–0

Great Britain and Ireland Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsBrian Barnes 2.5 2–2–1 2–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–1Maurice Bembridge 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 0–0–0Eamonn Darcy 0.5 0–3–1 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–1–1Bernard Gallacher 1.5 0–2–3 0–0–2 0–1–0 0–1–1Tommy Horton 1.5 1–3–1 1–0–1 0–1–0 0–2–0Brian Huggett 1 1–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0Guy Hunt 0.5 0–2–1 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–1Tony Jacklin 2.5 2–3–1 0–2–0 1–1–0 1–0–1Christy O'Connor 0 0–2–0 0–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0John O'Leary 0 0–4–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 0–1–0Peter Oosterhuis 3.5 3–2–1 2–0–0 0–2–0 1–0–1Norman Wood 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0

References

External links

About.com: 1975 Ryder Cup