1959 Ryder Cup

The 13th Ryder Cup Matches were held November 6–7, 1959 at the Eldorado Country Club in Indian Wells, California.[1] The United States team won the competition by a score of 8½ to 3½ points.[2][3]

13th Ryder Cup Matches
DatesNovember 6–7, 1959
VenueEldorado Country Club [1]
LocationIndian Wells, California
Captains
8½ 3½
United States wins the Ryder Cup
Eldorado CC
Location in the United States
Eldorado CC
Location in California

The British were again led by Dai Rees, but were unable to repeat the heroics of two years earlier and were comprehensively beaten on American soil. The Americans took a 2½-1½ lead in the Foursomes before finishing off the British challenge in the singles by winning five matches with two matches finishing all square to win the cup back. The British won just one foursome match with Christy O'Connor and Peter Alliss beating Art Wall and Doug Ford by 3 & 2 and one singles match when Eric Brown beat Cary Middlecoff by 4 & 3 however by the time his match was won the United States had already won the competition.

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. Since the inaugural event in 1927, the format consisted of 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches on the first day and 8 singles matches on the second day, for a total of 12 points. Therefore, 6½ points were required to win the Cup, and all matches were played to a maximum of 36 holes. This was the last Ryder Cup played under this format.

Teams

Source: [4]

 Team USA
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups		 Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Sam Snead – captain 476119–2–081.82
Julius Boros 390Rookie
Jack Burke, Jr. 36487–1–087.50
Dow Finsterwald 30121–1–050.00
Doug Ford 37243–1–075.00
Jay Hebert 360Rookie
Cary Middlecoff 38242–2–050.00
Bob Rosburg 330Rookie
Mike Souchak 320Rookie
Art Wall 35110–1–00.00

Seven members of the British team were chosen using a Ryder Cup points system based on performances during the 1959 season. The first event was the PGA Close Championship starting on 8 April[5] with the final event being the Irish Hospitals Tournament finishing on 12 July. The seven qualifiers were Hunt, Rees, Weetman, Mills, Alliss, Drew and O'Connor.[6] The remaining three, Bousfield, Brown and Thomas, were selected by the P.G.A. tournament committee in late September, after the Dunlop Masters.[7]

The British team sailed from Southampton on 15 October on the Queen Elizabeth.[8] Mills had a back injury while the team was in Washington and was to be replaced by John Panton.[9] However, he recovered enough to attend the event, although he was not chosen to play any matches, Hunt was also not in full health, suffering from some bronchial trouble.[10] The British team had a rough trip on a short flight from Los Angeles to Palm Springs and nearly all the players were ill, with some taking several days to recover.[10]

 Team Great Britain
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups		 Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Dai Rees – captain 467124–7–137.50
Peter Alliss 28240–4–00.00
Ken Bousfield 40443–1–075.00
Eric Brown 34363–3–050.00
Norman Drew 270Rookie
Bernard Hunt 29241–2–137.50
Peter Mills 28111–0–0100.00
Christy O'Connor Snr 34231–2–033.33
Dave Thomas 250Rookie
Harry Weetman 39461–5–016.67

Friday's foursome matches

Two matches went to the last hole. Boros and Finsterwald were 1 up against Rees and Bousfield playing the last. The match ended when the British pair put their second shot in the water and took 4 to reach the green. Weetman and Thomas were 1 up against Snead and Middlecoff at the last. Snead put his second in the water but rather than playing short, Weetman also put his second in the water. Middlecoff then chipped to 8 feet and Snead holed the putt to win the hole and halve the match. Weetman received some criticism for his decision not to lay-up.[11]

Results
Hunt/Brown 5 & 4 Rosburg/Souchak
Rees/Bousfield 2 up Boros/Finsterwald
O'Connor/Alliss 3 & 2 Wall/Ford
Weetman/Thomas halved Snead/Middlecoff
1½ Session 2½
1½ Overall 2½

18 hole scores: Rosburg/Souchak: 6 up, Boros/Finsterwald: 1 up, O'Connor/Alliss: 2 up, Snead/Middlecoff: 1 up.[11]

Saturday's singles matches

The Americans got off to a good start in many of the matches and had large leads in five of the matches at lunch. Eric Brown was the only British winner on the day.[11]

Results
Norman Drew halved Doug Ford
Ken Bousfield 3 & 2 Mike Souchak
Harry Weetman 6 & 5 Bob Rosburg
Dave Thomas 6 & 5 Sam Snead
Christy O'Connor 7 & 6 Art Wall
Dai Rees 1 up Dow Finsterwald
Peter Alliss halved Jay Hebert
Eric Brown 4 & 3 Cary Middlecoff
2 Session 6
3½ Overall 8½

18 hole scores: Ford: 1 up, Souchak: 4 up, Rosburg: 4 up, Snead: 4 up, Wall: 5 up, Finsterwald: 5 up, Alliss: 1 up, Brown: 3 up.[11]

Individual player records

Each entry refers to the Win–Loss–Half record of the player.

Source: [4]

United States
PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomes
Julius Boros11–0–00–0–01–0–0
Dow Finsterwald22–0–01–0–01–0–0
Doug Ford0.50–1–10–0–10–1–0
Jay Hebert0.50–0–10–0–10–0–0
Cary Middlecoff0.50–1–10–1–00–0–1
Bob Rosburg22–0–01–0–01–0–0
Sam Snead1.51–0–11–0–00–0–1
Mike Souchak22–0–01–0–01–0–0
Art Wall11–1–01–0–00–1–0

Jack Burke, Jr. did not play in any matches.

Great Britain
PlayerPointsOverallSinglesFoursomes
Peter Alliss1.51–0–10–0–11–0–0
Ken Bousfield00–2–00–1–00–1–0
Eric Brown11–1–01–0–00–1–0
Norman Drew0.50–0–10–0–10–0–0
Bernard Hunt00–1–00–0–00–1–0
Christy O'Connor11–1–00–1–01–0–0
Dai Rees00–2–00–1–00–1–0
Dave Thomas0.50–1–10–1–00–0–1
Harry Weetman0.50–1–10–1–00–0–1

Peter Mills did not play in any matches.

References
  1. "People, paintbrush palms and mirrored mountains". Sports Illustrated. November 2, 1959. p. 24.
  2. "U.S. regains Ryder crown". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. November 8, 1959. p. 1B.
  3. "Big splash in the Ryder Cup". Sports Illustrated. November 16, 1959. p. 36.
  4. "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  5. "Professional golf gets underway – Playing for Ryder Cup places". The Times. April 8, 1959. p. 16.
  6. "Faulkner four up at finish – Alliss and Thomas in second place". The Times. July 13, 1959. p. 3.
  7. "Ryder Cup side completed – Thomas and Brown dispel doubts". The Times. September 23, 1959. p. 4.
  8. "Ryder Cup captain undismayed – foursomes matches "vital"". The Times. October 16, 1959. p. 18.
  9. "Mills out of Ryder Cup team". The Times. October 29, 1959. p. 16.
  10. "Lake guards four greens on Ryder Cup course". The Times. November 6, 1959. p. 18.
  11. "British Isles golfers crushed in singles - U.S. Ryder Cup putting much superior". The Times. November 9, 1959. p. 15.

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