1933 Ryder Cup: Winner, Match Scores, Player Records

The 1933 Ryder Cup was the fourth time this competition was played. Following the Great Britain team's victory, the all-time standings were two wins for Team GB, two wins for the United States.

Final Score: Great Britain 6.5, United States 5.5

Dates Played: June 26-27, 1933

Golf Course: Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club in Southport, England

Team Captains: Walter Hagen for the United States, J.H. Taylor for Great Britain

Team Rosters:

• Great Britain — Percy Alliss, Allan Dailey, Bill Davies, Syd Easterbrook, Arthur Havers, Arthur Lacey, Abe Mitchell, Alf Padgham, Alf Perry, Charles Whitcombe
• USA — Billy Burke, Leo Diegel, Ed Dudley, Olin Dutra, Paul Runyan, Gene Sarazen, Denny Shute, Horton Smith, Craig Wood, Walter Hagen (playing captain)

Match Notes: Formats in the 1933 Ryder Cup were four foursomes on Day 1 and eight singles on Day 2, a total of 12 points at stake. All matches were scheduled for 36 holes. Team USA golfers were chosen by a vote of PGA Executive Committee and PGA section presidents; a selection committee chose the Team GB golfers.

This was one of the most closely contested Ryder Cups of all-time, coming down not just to the final match but to the final hole and final putt. The match was between Great Britain's Syd Easterbrook and America's Denny Shute.

They reached the final hole with their match all square and the teams tied at 5.5 points each. If they halved the hole, the Cup would stay with the defending champions, Team USA.

With both players on the green, each faced par putts of around 30 feet. Easterbrook putted first and left himself with about three feet for bogey. Shute's first putt ran four feet past the hole. When he tried to make the comebacker to keep the Cup in American hands, he missed. A three-putt double bogey. Easterbrook then sank his putt and the Ryder Cup belonged to Team Great Britain. In the major international team tournaments, it wasn't until the 2019 Solheim Cup that another player won the cup for their side by making a putt with the final stroke of the tournament, on the last hole of a match, in the last match on the course.

This was the last Ryder Cup win for Great Britain for 24 years, until the 1957 Ryder Cup. It was also the last Ryder Cup attended by the event's namesake, Samuel Ryder, who died in 1936.

And don't feel too bad for Shute. One week later, he won the 1933 Open Championship, beating his Ryder Cup teammate Craig Wood in a 36-hole playoff.

One other singles game here deserves mention. Abe Mitchell defeated Olin Dutra by a 9-and-8 score. Four years earlier, in the 1929 Ryder Cup, Mitchell had lost by that same score to Leo Diegel. Those two 9-and-8 matches are still tied for second-largest margins of victory/defeat in Ryder Cup singles history.

Great Britain's captain, J.H. Taylor, was 62 years old. He remains the oldest-ever Ryder Cup captain. It was also the only time a member of the "Great Triumvirate" participated in a Ryder Cup.

1933 Ryder Cup Results

Day 1

Foursomes

• Percy Alliss/Charles Whitcombe, Great Britain, halved with Gene Sarazen/Walter Hagen, USA
• Abe Mitchell/Arthur Havers, Great Britain, def. Olin Dutra/Denny Shute, USA, 3 and 2
• Bill Davies/Syd Easterbrook, Great Britain, def. Craig Wood/Paul Runyan, USA, 1-up
• Ed Dudley/Billy Burke, USA, def. Alf Padgham/Alf Perry, Great Britain, 1-up

Score after Day 1: Great Britain 2.5, USA 1.5

Day 2

Singles

• Gene Sarazen, USA, def. Alf Padgham, Great Britain, 6 and 4
• Abe Mitchell, Great Britain, def. Olin Dutra, USA, 9 and 8
• Walter Hagen, USA, def. Arthur Lacey, Great Britain, 2 and 1
• Craig Wood, USA, def. Bill Davies, Great Britain, 4 and 3
• Percy Alliss, Great Britain, def. Paul Runyan, USA, 2 and 1
• Arthur Havers, Great Britain, def. Leo Diegel, USA, 4 and 3
• Syd Easterbrook, Great Britain, def. Denny Shute, USA, 1-up
• Horton Smith, USA, def. Charles Whitcombe, Great Britain, 2 and 1

Score of Day 2 session: Great Britain 4, USA 4
Overall and final score: Great Britain 6.5, USA 1.5

1933 Ryder Cup Player Records

(Records are listed as wins-losses-halves.)

United States
Billy Burke, 1-0-0
Leo Diegel, 0-1-0
Ed Dudley, 1-0-0
Olin Dutra, 0-2-0
Walter Hagen, 1-0-1
Paul Runyan, 0-2-0
Gene Sarazen, 1-0-1
Denny Shute, 0-2-0
Horton Smith, 1-0-0
Craig Wood, 1-1-0

Great Britain
Percy Alliss, 1-0-1
Allan Dailey, did not play
Bill Davies, 1-1-0
Syd Esterbrook, 2-0-0
Arthur Havers, 2-0-0
Arthur Lacey, 0-1-0
Abe Mitchell, 2-0-0
Alf Padgham, 0-2-0
Alf Perry, 0-1-0
Charles Whitcombe, 0-1-1

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