1983 Ryder Cup Winner, Match Scores, Player Records

The 1983 Ryder Cup was the 25th time this tournament was played. Following the Team USA victory, the all-time standings to this point were 21 wins for the United States, three wins for Europe, and one draw.

Final Score: United States 14.5, Europe 13.5

Dates Played: October 14-16, 1983

Golf Course: PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

Team Captains: Tony Jacklin for Europe, Jack Nicklaus for the United States

Team Rosters:

• Europe — Seve Ballesteros, Gordon J. Brand, Ken Brown, Jose Maria Canizares, Nick Faldo, Bernard Gallacher, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Sam Torrance, Brian Waites, Paul Way, Ian Woosnam
• USA — Ben Crenshaw, Raymond Floyd, Bob Gilder, Jay Haas, Tom Kite, Gil Morgan, Calvin Peete, Craig Stadler, Curtis Strange, Lanny Wadkins, Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zoeller

Match Notes: Europe came close to handing Team USA its first-ever home loss in the Ryder Cup. But while the European side fell one point short, the very tightly contested 1983 Ryder Cup signalled that a change was coming: Soon, Team Europe, which had only three wins in Cup history to this point, began reeling off victories.

This one came down to the last two matches on the golf course. The teams were tied at the end of Day 2, 8-8. And with 10 of the 12 singles matches completed on Day 3, they were still tied, 13-13.

But Lanny Wadkins knocked his pitching wedge on the 18th hole to within one foot and won the hole to halve his match against Jose Maria Canizares. That made the score 13.5 each. Then, in the anchor match, Tom Watson beat Bernard Gallacher, 2-and-1, to secure the win for the American side.

One of the great shots in Ryder Cup history happened in the first singles game, which was Seve Ballesteros vs. Fuzzy Zoeller. Ballesteros' drive found a bunker 240 yards short of the green. But he hit a 3-wood out of the bunker onto the fringe of the green. The shot helped him halved the hole and save a halve in the match.

This was first time captaining for both Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin, who were involved in "The Concession" at the 1969 Ryder Cup. They faced each other as captains again in 1987, when Jacklin's side did earn its first-ever road victory. Nicklaus captained twice overall, Jacklin four times.

This was the last time neither captain made wildcard selections, also known as captain's picks. Team USA didn't use captain's picks until 1989. Europe first did it in 1979, but this year picked its players entirely off the Order of Merit list.

Two future captains made their debuts as players this year: For Europe, Ian Woosnam went on to play eight times total; for the USA, Curtis Strange went on to play five times total. Jay Haas also played for the first time for Team USA. His uncle, Bob Goalby, was on the 1963 American team; they were the second uncle-and-nephew pair to both play for Team USA.

1983 Ryder Cup Results

Day 1

Foursomes

• Tom Watson/Ben Crenshaw, USA, def. Bernard Gallacher/Sandy Lyle, Europe, 5 and 4
• Nick Faldo/Bernhard Langer, Europe, def. Lanny Wadkins/Craig Stadler, USA, 4 and 2
• Jose Maria Canizares/Sam Torrance, Europe, def. Raymond Floyd/Bob Gilder, USA, 4 and 3
• Tom Kite/Calvin Peete, USA, def. Seve Ballesteros/Paul Way, Europe, 2 and 1

Score after first session: Europe 2, USA 2

Fourballs

• Brian Waites/Ken Brown, Europe, def. Gil Morgan/Fuzzy Zoeller, USA, 2 and 1
• Tom Watson/Jay Haas, USA, def. Nick Faldo/Bernhard Langer, Europe, 2 and 1
• Seve Ballesteros/Paul Way, Europe, def. Raymond Floyd/Curtis Strange, USA, 1-up
• Sam Torrance/Ian Woosnam, Europe, halved with Ben Crenshaw/Calvin Peete, USA

Score of second session: Europe 2.5, USA 1.5
Cumulative score after two sessions: Europe 4.5, USA 3.5

Day 2

Fourballs

• Lanny Wadkins/Craig Stadler, USA, def. Brian Waites/Ken Brown, Europe, 1-up
• Nick Faldo/Bernhard Langer, Europe, def. Ben Crenshaw/Calvin Peete, USA, 4 and 2
• Gil Morgan/Jay Haas, USA, halved with Seve Ballesteros/Paul Way, Europe
• Tom Watson/Bob Gilder, USA, def. Sam Torrance/Ian Woosnam, Europe, 5 and 4

Score of third session: USA 2.5, Europe 1.5
Cumulative score after three sessions: Europe 6, USA 6

Foursomes

• Nick Faldo/Bernhard Langer, Europe, def. Tom Kite/Raymond Floyd, USA, 3 and 2
• Gil Morgan/Lanny Wadkins, U.S, def. Sam Torrance/Jose Maria Canizares, Europe, 7 and 5
• Seve Ballesteros/Paul Way, Europe, def. Tom Watson/Bob Gilder, USA, 2 and 1
• Jay Haas/Curtis Strange, USA, def. Brian Waites/Ken Brown, Europe, 3 and 2

Score of fourth session: USA 2, Europe 2
Cumulative score after four sessions: Europe 8, USA 8

Day 3

Singles

• Seve Ballesteros, Europe, halved with Fuzzy Zoeller, USA
• Nick Faldo, Europe, def. Jay Haas, USA, 2 and 1
• Bernhard Langer, Europe, def. Gil Morgan, USA, 2-up
• Bob Gilder, USA, def. Gordan J. Brand, Europe, 2-up
• Ben Crenshaw, USA, def. Sandy Lyle, Europe, 3 and 1
• Calvin Peete, USA, def. Brian Waites, Europe, 1-up
• Paul Way, Europe, def. Curtis Strange, USA, 2 and 1
• Tom Kite, USA, halved with Sam Torrance, Europe
• Craig Stadler, USA, def. Ian Woosnam, Europe, 3 and 2
• Jose Maria Canizares, Europe, halved with Lanny Wadkins, USA
• Ken Brown, Europe, def. Raymond Floyd, USA, 4 and 3
• Tom Watson, USA, def. Bernard Gallacher, Europe, 2 and 1

Score of fifth session: USA 6.5, Europe 5.5
Overall and final score: USA 14.5, Europe 13.5

1983 Ryder Cup Player Records

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

Europe
Seve Ballesteros, 2-1-2
Gordon J. Brand, 0-1-0
Ken Brown, 2-2-0
Jose Maria Canizares, 1-1-1
Nick Faldo, 4-1-0
Bernard Gallacher, 0-2-0
Bernhard Langer, 4-1-0
Sandy Lyle, 0-2-0
Sam Torrance, 1-2-2
Brian Waites, 1-3-0
Paul Way, 3-1-1
Ian Woosnam, 0-2-1

United States
Ben Crenshaw, 2-1-1
Raymond Floyd, 0-4-0
Bob Gilder, 2-2-0
Jay Haas, 2-1-1
Tom Kite, 1-1-1
Gil Morgan, 1-2-1
Calvin Peete, 2-1-1
Craig Stadler, 2-1-0
Curtis Strange, 1-2-0
Lanny Wadkins, 2-1-1
Tom Watson, 4-1-0
Fuzzy Zoeller, 0-1-1

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