1973 Ryder Cup Winner, Match Scores, Player Records

The 1973 Ryder Cup was the 20th time this tournament was played, but the first time the USA's opponent was known as Great Britain & Ireland. Following Team USA's victory, the all-time standings to this point were 16 wins for the United States, three wins for GB&I, and one tie.

Final Score: United States 19, Great Britain & Ireland 13

Dates Played: September 20-22, 1973

Golf Course: Muirfield in East Lothian, Scotland

Team Captains: Jack Burke Jr. for the United States, Bernard Hunt for Great Britain & Ireland.

Team Rosters:

• USA — Tommy Aaron, Homero Blancas, Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, Lou Graham, Dave Hill, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Chi Chi Rodriguez, J.C. Snead, Lee Trevino, Tom Weiskopf
• GB&I — Brian Barnes, Maurice Bembridge, Peter Butler, Clive Clark, Neil Coles, Bernard Gallacher, John Garner, Brian Huggett, Tony Jacklin, Christy O'Connor Sr., Peter Oosterhuis, Eddie Polland

Match Notes: This was the first Ryder Cup that included a Team Great Britain & Ireland. In all previous Cups, that side was known only as Great Britain. This was simply a name change, however, not an expansion of the team: A golfer from Northern Ireland first played in 1947, and from the Republic of Ireland in 1953.

Did a case of food poisoning influence the outcome of the 1973 Ryder Cup? Bernard Gallacher, playing in his third Ryder Cup at the age of 24, was part of two winning sides in the Day 1 matches, after which GB&I held a 3-point lead. Scheduled to go off early on Day 2, however, Gallacher was unable to play due to a case of food poisoning.

With its young firebrand sidelined, GB&I couldn't hold up to the USA on Day 2: The American side won the afternoon fourballs 3.5 to 0.5 and evened the match at 8-8.

And on the final day of singles play, Team USA pulled away to the five-point win. (Gallacher did return in singles, but lost both his matches.)

The 1973 tournament was the first time the Ryder Cup was played in Scotland.

Another first at this Cup: The first Ryder Cup hole-in-one. Peter Butler of GB&I aced the 188-yard, 16th hole in the morning foursomes on Day 2.

This was the last Ryder Cup played by Christy O'Connor (who became known as a Sr. after his nephew, also named Christy O'Connor, arrived on tour), who first appeared on Team Great Britain in the 1955 Ryder Cup. At the time, he held the all-time Ryder Cup record (since bettered) for most playing appearances with 10. At nearly 49 years old, he also was the oldest player to this point in Ryder Cup history.

1973 Ryder Cup Results

Day 1

Morning Foursomes

• Brian Barnes/Bernard Gallacher, GB&I, def. Lee Trevino/Billy Casper, USA, 1-up
• Christy O'Connor/Neil Coles, GB&I, def. Tom Weiskopf/J.C. Snead, USA, 3 and 2
• Chi Chi Rodriguez/Lou Graham, USA, halved with Tony Jacklin/Peter Oosterhuis, GB&I, halved
• Jack Nicklaus/Arnold Palmer, USA, def. Maurice Bembridge/Eddie Polland, GB&I, 6 and 5

Score after first session: GB&I 2.5, USA 1.5

Afternoon Fourballs

• Brian Barnes/Bernard Gallacher, GB&I, def. Tommy Aaron/Gay Brewer, USA, 5 and 4
• Maurice Bembridge/Brian Huggett, GB&I, def. Jack Nicklaus/Arnold Palmer, USA, 3 and 1
• Tony Jacklin/Peter Oosterhuis, GB&I, def. Tom Weiskopf/Billy Casper, USA, 3 and 1
• Lee Trevino/Homero Blancas, USA, def. Neil Coles/Christy O'Connor Sr., GB&I, 2 and 1

Score of second session: GB&I 3, USA 1
Cumulative score after two sessions: GB&I 5.5, USA 2.5

Day 2

Morning Foursomes

• Jack Nicklaus/Tom Weiskopf, USA, def. Brian Barnes/Peter Butler, GB&I, 1-up
• Peter Oosterhuis/Tony Jacklin, GB&I, def. Arnold Palmer/Dave Hill, USA, 2-up
• Maurice Bembridge/Brian Huggett, GB&I, def. Chi Chi Rodriguez/Lou Graham, USA, 5 and 4
• Lee Trevino/Billy Casper, USA, def. Neil Coles/Christy O'Connor Sr., GB&I, 2 and 1

Score of third session: GB&I 2, USA 2
Cumulative score after three sessions: GB&I 7.5, USA 4.5

Fourballs

• J.C. Snead/Arnold Palmer, USA, def. Brian Barnes/Peter Butler, GB&I, 2-up
• Gay Brewer/Billy Casper, USA, def. Tony Jacklin/Peter Oosterhuis, GB&I, 3 and 2
• Jack Nicklaus/Tom Weiskopf, USA, def. Clive Clark/Eddie Polland, GB&I, 3 and 2
• Lee Trevino/Homero Blancas, USA, halved with Maurice Bembridge/Brian Huggett, GB&I

Score of fourth session: USA 3.5, GB&I 0.5
Cumulative score after four sessions: GB&I 8, USA 8

Day 3

Morning Singles

• Billy Casper, USA, def. Brian Barnes, GB&I, 2 and 1
• Tom Weiskopf, USA, def. Bernard Gallacher, GB&I, 3 and 1
• Homero Blancas, USA, def. Peter Butler, GB&I, 5 and 4
• Tony Jacklin, GB&I, def. Tommy Aaron, USA, 3 and 1
• Gay Brewer, USA, halved with Neil Coles, GB&I
• J.C. Snead, USA, def. Christy O'Connor Sr., GB&I, 1-up
• Jack Nicklaus, USA, halved with Maurice Bembridge, GB&I
• Lee Trevino, USA, halved with Peter Oosterhuis, GB&I

Score of fifth session: USA 5.5, GB&I 2.5
Cumulative score after five sessions: USA 13.5, USA 10.5

Afternoon Singles

• Brian Huggett, GB&I, def. Homero Blancas, USA, 4 and 2
• J.C. Snead, USA, def. Brian Barnes, GB&I, 3 and 1
• Gay Brewer, USA, def. Bernard Gallacher, GB&I, 6 and 5
• Billy Casper, USA, def. Tony Jacklin, GB&I, 2 and 1
• Lee Trevino, USA, def. Neil Coles, GB&I, 6 and 5
• Tom Weiskopf, USA, halved with Christy O'Connor Sr., GB&I
• Jack Nicklaus, USA, def. Maurice Bembridge, GB&I, 2-up
• Peter Oosterhuis, GB&I, def. Arnold Palmer, USA, 4 and 2

Score of sixth session: USA 5.5, GB&I 2.5
Overall and final score: USA 19, GB&I 13

1973 Ryder Cup Player Records

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

United States
Tommy Aaron, 0-2-0
Homero Blancas, 2-1-1
Gay Brewer, 2-1-1
Billy Casper, 4-2-0
Lou Graham, 0-1-1
Dave Hill, 0-1-0
Jack Nicklaus, 4-1-1
Arnold Palmer, 2-3-0
Chi Chi Rodriguez, 0-1-1
J.C. Snead, 3-1-0
Lee Trevino, 3-1-2
Tom Weiskopf, 3-2-1

Great Britain & Ireland
Brian Barnes, 2-4-0
Maurice Bembridge, 2-2-2
Peter Butler, 0-3-0
Clive Clark, 0-1-0
Neil Coles, 1-3-1
Bernard Gallacher, 2-2-0
John Garner, did not play
Brian Huggett, 3-0-1
Tony Jacklin, 3-2-1
Christy O'Connor Sr., 1-3-1
Peter Oosterhuis, 3-1-2
Eddie Polland, 0-2-0

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