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, 16 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 IrelandNameAgePreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage Bernard Hunt 43 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 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

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 USANameAgePreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageJack Burke Jr. 50 Non-playing captainTommy Aaron 36 1 4 1–2–1 37.50Homero Blancas 35 0 RookieGay Brewer 41 1 5 3–2–0 60.00Billy Casper 42 6 27 14–7–6 62.96Lou Graham 35 0 RookieDave Hill 36 1 6 4–2–0 66.67Jack Nicklaus 33 2 10 6–3–1 65.00Arnold Palmer 44 5 27 20–5–2 77.78Chi-Chi Rodríguez 37 0 RookieJ. C. Snead 32 1 4 4–0–0 100.00Lee Trevino 33 2 11 6–3–2 63.64Tom Weiskopf 30 0 Rookie

Thursday's matches Morning foursomes

Results Barnes/Gallacher 1 upTrevino/CasperO'Connor/Coles 3 & 2Weiskopf/SneadJacklin/OosterhuishalvedRodríguez/GrahamBembridge/Polland 6 & 5Nicklaus/Palmer 2 Session 1 2 Overall 1

Afternoon four-ball Results Barnes/Gallacher 5 & 4Aaron/BrewerBembridge/Huggett 3 & 1Nicklaus/PalmerJacklin/Oosterhuis 3 & 1Weiskopf/CasperColes/O'Connor 2 & 1Trevino/Blancas 3 Session 1 5 Overall 2

Friday's matches

Morning foursomes Results Barnes/Butler 1 upNicklaus/WeiskopfOosterhuis/Jacklin 2 upPalmer/HillBembridge/Huggett 5 & 4Rodríguez/GrahamColes/O'Connor 2 & 1Trevino/Casper 2 Session 2 7 Overall 4

Afternoon four-ball Results Barnes/Butler 2 upSnead/PalmerJacklin/Oosterhuis 3 & 2Brewer/CasperClark/Polland 3 & 2Nicklaus/WeiskopfBembridge/HuggetthalvedTrevino/Blancas Session 3 8 Overall 8

Saturday's matches

Morning singles Results Brian Barnes 2 & 1Billy CasperBernard Gallacher 3 & 1Tom WeiskopfPeter Butler 5 & 4Homero BlancasTony Jacklin 3 & 1Tommy AaronNeil ColeshalvedGay BrewerChristy O'Connor 1 upJ. C. SneadMaurice BembridgehalvedJack NicklausPeter OosterhuishalvedLee Trevino 2 Session 5 10 Overall 13

Afternoon singles Results Brian Huggett 4 & 2Homero BlancasBrian Barnes 3 & 1J. C. SneadBernard Gallacher 6 & 5Gay BrewerTony Jacklin 2 & 1Billy CasperNeil Coles 6 & 5Lee TrevinoChristy O'ConnorhalvedTom WeiskopfMaurice Bembridge 2 upJack NicklausPeter Oosterhuis 4 & 2Arnold Palmer 2 Session 5 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 FourballsBrian Barnes 2 2–4–0 0–2–0 1–1–0 1–1–0Maurice Bembridge 3 2–2–2 0–1–1 1–1–0 1–0–1Peter Butler 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Clive Clark 0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Neil Coles 1.5 1–3–1 0–1–1 1–1–0 0–1–0Bernard Gallacher 2 2–2–0 0–2–0 1–0–0 1–0–0Brian Huggett 3.5 3–0–1 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–1Tony Jacklin 3.5 3–2–1 1–1–0 1–0–1 1–1–0Christy O'Connor 1.5 1–3–1 0–1–1 1–1–0 0–1–0Peter Oosterhuis 4 3–1–2 1–0–1 1–0–1 1–1–0Eddie 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 FourballsTommy Aaron 0 0–2–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Homero Blancas 2.5 2–1–1 1–1–0 0–0–0 1–0–1Gay Brewer 2.5 2–1–1 1–0–1 0–0–0 1–1–0Billy Casper 4 4–2–0 2–0–0 1–1–0 1–1–0Lou Graham 0.5 0–1–1 0–0–0 0–1–1 0–0–0Dave Hill 0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–1–0 0–0–0Jack Nicklaus 4.5 4–1–1 1–0–1 2–0–0 1–1–0Arnold Palmer 2 2–3–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 1–1–0Chi-Chi Rodríguez 0.5 0–1–1 0–0–0 0–1–1 0–0–0J. C. Snead 3 3–1–0 2–0–0 0–1–0 1–0–0Lee Trevino 4 3–1–2 1–0–1 1–1–0 1–0–1Tom Weiskopf 3.5 3–2–1 1–0–1 1–1–0 1–1–0

References

External links PGA of America: 1973 Ryder Cup About.com: 1973 Ryder Cup