1947 Ryder Cup Winner, Match Scores, Player Records
Final Score: United States 11, Great Britain 1
Dates Played: November 1-2, 1947
Golf Course: Portland Golf Club in Portland, Oregon
Team Captains: Henry Cotton for Great Britain, Ben Hogan for the United States
Team Rosters:
- Great Britain — Jimmy Adams, Fred Daly, Max Faulkner, Eric Green, Reg Horne, Sam King, Arthur Lees, Dai Rees, Charlie Ward, Henry Cotton (playing captain)
- USA — Herman Barron, Jimmy Demaret, Dutch Harrison, Herman Keiser, Lloyd Mangrum, Byron Nelson, Ed "Porky" Oliver, Sam Snead, Lew Worsham, Ben Hogan (playing captain)
The competition almost didn't take place at all. It's conceivable the Ryder Cup might have ended had not a wealthy Oregonian, fruit grower and canner Robert Hudson, offered his club (Portland Golf Club) as the site and paid for the Great Britain team's travel to America.
Team GB sailed on the Queen Mary to New York, where Hudson was waiting for them. Then they all embarked on a nearly four-day train ride across the United States to Oregon.
In a sign of the way things were going to go for Great Britain, their opening foursomes pairing of Captain Henry Cotton and Arthur Lees suffered a 10-and-9 drubbing at the hands of Lew Worsham and Ed Oliver. That tied the all-time record (a record it still shares) for largest margin of victory in a Ryder Cup foursomes match.
Team USA went on to win all four foursomes games, the first time in tournament history one side swept all the matches in a single session.
And on Day 2, the U.S. side won seven of eight singles — a total of 11 wins out of 12 matches played. For Great Britain, only Sam King managed a victory, and it was in the final game of the tournament.
For Team USA, the 1947 U.S. Open and 1947 PGA Championship winners were automatic selections; the remainder of the team was chosen by committee based on a points list. For Great Britain, the British Match Play Championship winner earned an automatic berth; the remaining players were selected by a committee.
That British Match Play winner was Fred Daly, who thereby became the first Ryder Cup player from Ireland. (It wasn't until the 1970s, though, that "& Ireland" was officially added to the Great Britain team's name.)
Cotton did something in this Ryder Cup that spilled over to the next one: He asked that Hogan's clubs be inspected, suspecting they might have non-conforming grooves. They didn't. But at the 1949 Ryder Cup, Hogan returned the favor, requesting an inspection of the British players' grooves. Those grooves were found non-conforming, and the players' clubs had to be repaired prior to play.
1947 Ryder Cup Results
Day 1
Foursomes- Ed Oliver/Lew Worsham, USA, def. Henry Cotton/Arthur Lees, Great Britain, 10 and 9
- Sam Snead/Lloyd Mangrum, USA, def. Fred Daly/Charlie Ward, Great Britain, 6 and 5
- Ben Hogan/Jimmy Demaret, USA, def. Jimmy Adams/Max Faulkner, Great Britain, 2-up
- Byron Nelson/Herman Barron, USA, def. Dai Rees/Sam King, Great Britain, 2 and 1
Day 2
Singles- Dutch Harrison, USA, def. Fred Daly, Great Britain, 5 and 4
- Lew Worsham, USA, def. Jimmy Adams, Great Britain, 3 and 2
- Lloyd Mangrum, USA, def. Max Faulkner, Great Britain, 6 and 5
- Ed Oliver, USA, def. Charlie Ward, Great Britain, 4 and 3
- Byron Nelson, USA, def. Arthur Lees, Great Britain, 2 and 1
- Sam Snead, USA, def Henry Cotton, Great Britain, 5 and 4
- Jimmy Demaret, USA, def. Dai Rees, Great Britain, 3 and 2
- Sam King, Great Britain, def. Herman Keiser, USA, 4 and 3
Overall and final score: USA 11, Great Britain 1
1947 Ryder Cup Player Records
(Records are listed as wins-losses-halves.)
Great Britain
Jimmy Adams, 0-2-0
Henry Cotton, 0-2-0
Fred Daly, 0-2-0
Max Faulkner, 0-2-0
Eric Green, did not play
Reg Horne, did not play
Sam King, 1-1-0
Arthur Lees, 0-2-0
Dai Rees, 0-2-0
Charles Ward, 0-2-0
United States
Herman Barron, 1-0-0
Jimmy Demaret, 2-0-0
Dutch Harrison, 1-0-0
Ben Hogan, 1-0-0
Herman Keiser, 0-1-0
Lloyd Mangrum, 2-0-0
Byron Nelson, 2-0-0
Ed Oliver, 2-0-0
Sam Snead, 2-0-0
Lew Worsham, 2-0-0
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1937 Ryder Cup | 1949 Ryder Cup
