The 27th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 25–27, 1987 at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The European team won their second consecutive competition by a score of 15 to 13 points in probably the most historic Ryder Cup. After an unbeaten record of 13–0 spanning sixty years, the U.S. team lost for the first time on home soil.[1][2]

27th Ryder Cup Matches
DatesSeptember 25–27, 1987
VenueMuirfield Village Golf Club
LocationDublin, Ohio
Captains
United States 13 15 Europe
Europe wins the Ryder Cup
← 1985
1989 →
Muirfield Village is located in the United States
Muirfield Village
Muirfield Village
Muirfield Village is located in Ohio
Muirfield Village
Muirfield Village
Muirfield Village Golf Club

Europe took a lead of 5 points into the Sunday singles matches, but the U.S. fought back strongly to narrow the deficit. Eamonn Darcy, who previously had a very poor Ryder Cup record, defeated Ben Crenshaw at the last hole to get Europe to 13 points. Crenshaw had broken his putter in a moment of frustration after the sixth hole and putted with his 1 iron for the last dozen holes. Bernhard Langer then halved his match with Larry Nelson and when Seve Ballesteros defeated Curtis Strange 2 & 1 to total 1412 points, the European victory was secured.[1][2][3]

This was the last Ryder Cup in which the U.S. team did not employ captain's selections.[4] Europe used captain's picks in 1979, 1981, 1985, and this year.[5]

Muirfield Village, founded and designed by U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus, has hosted the Memorial Tournament on the PGA Tour since 1976. The 2013 Presidents Cup was held at the same course.

Format

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The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format in 1987 adjusted slightly from the previous three events, with the order of play on the second day swapped:

  • Day 1 (Friday) — 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session
  • Day 2 (Saturday) — 4 foursome matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball matches in an afternoon session
  • Day 3 (Sunday) — 12 singles matches

With a total of 28 points, 1412 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

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  Team USA
Name Age Points
rank
World
ranking
Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Jack Nicklaus 47 Non-playing captain
Scott Simpson 32 13 0 Rookie
Larry Nelson 40 28 2 9 9–0–0 100.00
Payne Stewart 30 1 5 0 Rookie
Ben Crenshaw 35 2 11 2 6 3–2–1 58.33
Curtis Strange 32 3 4 2 7 3–3–1 50.00
Hal Sutton 29 4 21 1 4 1–2–1 37.50
Larry Mize 29 5 15 0 Rookie
Lanny Wadkins 37 6 9 4 17 12–4–1 73.53
Dan Pohl 32 7 25 0 Rookie
Tom Kite 37 8 17 4 15 8–4–3 63.33
Mark Calcavecchia 27 9 32 0 Rookie
Andy Bean 34 10 36 1 3 2–1–0 66.67

Simpson qualified by virtue of winning the 1987 U.S. Open, while Nelson qualified by winning the 1987 PGA Championship.

The selection process for the European team remained unchanged from 1985, with nine players chosen from the 1987 European Tour money list at the conclusion of the German Open on August 30 and the remaining three team members being chosen immediately afterwards by the team captain, Tony Jacklin.[6] Prior to the final event Eamonn Darcy was in the 9th qualifying place with Mats Lanner in 10th. Lanner finished just one shot ahead of Darcy in the German Open and Darcy retained his qualifying place. Jacklin's choices were Ken Brown, Sandy Lyle and José María Olazábal.[7]

  Team Europe
Name Age Points
rank
World
ranking
Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
  Tony Jacklin 43 Non-playing captain
  Ian Woosnam 29 1 12 2 7 2–4–1 35.71
  Nick Faldo 30 2 20 5 17 11–6–0 64.71
  Howard Clark 33 3 42 3 7 3–3–1 50.00
  Seve Ballesteros 30 4 2 3 15 6–6–3 50.00
  Gordon Brand Jnr 29 5 40 0 Rookie
  Sam Torrance 34 6 54 3 13 3–7–3 34.62
  Bernhard Langer 30 7 3 3 14 7–4–3 60.71
  José Rivero 32 8 68= 1 2 1–1–0 50.00
  Eamonn Darcy 35 9 112 3 9 0–7–2 11.11
  José María Olazábal 21 11 43 0 Rookie
  Sandy Lyle 29 7 4 14 4–8–2 35.71
  Ken Brown 30 77= 4 11 4–7–0 36.36

Captains picks are shown in yellow.[4][5] The world rankings and records are at the start of the 1987 Ryder Cup.

Friday's matches

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Morning foursomes

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  Results  
Torrance/Clark   4 & 2 Strange/Kite
Brown/Langer   2 & 1 Sutton/Pohl
Faldo/Woosnam   2 up Wadkins/Mize
Ballesteros/Olazábal   1 up Nelson/Stewart
2 Session 2
2 Overall 2

Afternoon four-ball

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  Results  
Brand/Rivero   3 & 2 Crenshaw/Simpson
Lyle/Langer   1 up Bean/Calcavecchia
Faldo/Woosnam   2 & 1 Sutton/Pohl
Ballesteros/Olazábal   2 & 1 Strange/Kite
4 Session 0
6 Overall 2

Saturday's matches

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Morning foursomes

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  Results  
Rivero/Brand   3 & 1 Strange/Kite
Faldo/Woosnam halved Sutton/Mize
Lyle/Langer   2 & 1 Wadkins/Nelson
Ballesteros/Olazábal   1 up Crenshaw/Stewart
212 Session 112
812 Overall 312

Afternoon four-ball

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  Results  
Faldo/Woosnam   5 & 4 Strange/Kite
Darcy/Brand   3 & 2 Bean/Stewart
Ballesteros/Olazábal   2 & 1 Sutton/Mize
Lyle/Langer   1 up Wadkins/Nelson
2 Session 2
1012 Overall 512

Sunday's singles matches

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  Results  
Ian Woosnam   1 up Andy Bean
Howard Clark   1 up Dan Pohl
Sam Torrance halved Larry Mize
Nick Faldo   1 up Mark Calcavecchia
José María Olazábal   2 up Payne Stewart
José Rivero   2 & 1 Scott Simpson
Sandy Lyle   3 & 2 Tom Kite
Eamonn Darcy   1 up Ben Crenshaw
Bernhard Langer halved Larry Nelson
Seve Ballesteros   2 & 1 Curtis Strange
Ken Brown   3 & 2 Lanny Wadkins
Gordon Brand Jnr halved Hal Sutton
412 Session 712
15 Overall 13

Individual player records

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

Source: [8]

United States

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Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes Fourballs
Andy Bean 2 2–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 1–1–0
Mark Calcavecchia 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0
Ben Crenshaw 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–1–0
Tom Kite 3 3–2–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 0–2–0
Larry Mize 2 1–1–2 0–0–1 0–1–1 1–0–0
Larry Nelson 0.5 0–3–1 0–0–1 0–2–0 0–1–0
Dan Pohl 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0
Scott Simpson 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0
Payne Stewart 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–2–0 1–0–0
Curtis Strange 2 2–3–0 0–1–0 2–0–0 0–2–0
Hal Sutton 3 2–1–2 0–0–1 1–0–1 1–1–0
Lanny Wadkins 1 1–3–0 1–0–0 0–2–0 0–1–0

Europe

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Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes Fourballs
Seve Ballesteros 4 4–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–1–0
Gordon Brand Jnr 1.5 1–2–1 0–0–1 0–1–0 1–1–0
Ken Brown 0 0–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0
Howard Clark 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–0–0
Eamonn Darcy 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0
Nick Faldo 3.5 3–1–1 0–1–0 1–0–1 2–0–0
Bernhard Langer 3.5 3–1–1 0–0–1 1–1–0 2–0–0
Sandy Lyle 3 3–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0
José María Olazábal 3 3–2–0 0–1–0 2–0–0 1–1–0
José Rivero 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 1–0–0
Sam Torrance 0.5 0–1–1 0–0–1 0–1–0 0–0–0
Ian Woosnam 3.5 3–1–1 0–1–0 1–0–1 2–0–0

References

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  1. ^ a b Diaz, Jaime (October 5, 1987). "A Cup for the Old World". Sports Illustrated. p. 58. Archived from the original on August 14, 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Europeans use crucial 18th hole to win Ryder Cup". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. September 28, 1987. p. 2C.
  3. ^ "Ryder Cup 1987". Retrieved October 1, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Ryder Cup squad set". Reading Eagle. wire services. August 10, 1987. p. 27.
  5. ^ a b Kelley, Brent. "Ryder Cup captain's picks and how they've fared". About.com. Archived from the original on September 4, 2014. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "Back to the old Belfry spirit". The Times, November 28, 1986; pg. 36; Issue 62627.
  7. ^ "McNulty and Darcy's Rhapsody". The Times, August 31, 1987; pg. 28; Issue 62861.
  8. ^ "2014 Ryder Cup Media and Players' Guide". Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Retrieved October 5, 2014.

40°08′24″N 83°08′28″W / 40.140°N 83.141°W / 40.140; -83.141