1999 Ryder Cup Winner, Match Scores, Player Records
The 1999 Ryder Cup was the 33rd time this tournament was played. Following the Team USA victory, the all-time standings were 24 wins for the United States, seven wins for Europe, and two draws.
Final Score: United States 14.5, Europe 13.5
Dates Played: September 24-26, 1999
Golf Course: The Country Club (composite course) in Brookline, Massachusetts
Team Captains: Mark James for Europe, Ben Crenshaw for the United States
Team Rosters:
- Europe — Colin Montgomerie, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke, Paul Lawrie, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia, Jarmo Sandelin, Jean van de Velde, Padraig Harrington, Andrew Coltart, Jesper Parnevik
- USA — Tiger Woods, David Duval, Payne Stewart, Davis Love III, Mark O'Meara, Hal Sutton, Justin Leonard, Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson, Jeff Maggert, Tom Lehman, Steve Pate
What Happened at the 1999 Ryder Cup
Europe was on a two-match winning streak entering the 1999 Ryder Cup, and after the first two days of competition it appeared Europe would make it three wins in a row. Team Europe led Team USA 10-6 following Day 2's matches. No team had ever come back from a 4-point deficit entering singles matches to win.But Team USA did just that, winning 8.5 of the available 12 singles points, claiming the 1-point victory.
Europe captain Mark James kept three of his players — Jean van de Velde, Andrew Coltart and Jarmo Sandelin — on the bench the first two days. They didn't play until the Sunday singles session. All three were among the first six players in Team Europe's singles matches, along with Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and Jesper Parnevik.
All six lost their singles matches. Davis Love III beat Van de Velde 6 and 5; Phil Mickelson beat Sandelin 4 and 3; and Tiger Woods beat Coltart 3 and 2.
Still, the teams neared the end of the singles session with Team USA still needing a crucial half-point to secure the necessary 14.5 points to win. (Had the score ended in a 14-14 draw, Europe, as the defending champion, would have retained the Cup.)
That half-point came in Justin Leonard's match against Jose Maria Olazabal, which ended with the players halving the match. Leonard secured that half-point with a long, snaking putt he made on the 17th hole, setting off a wild American celebration that was a bit premature since Olazabal still had a putt. But when the scene on that green quieted down, Olazabal missed that putt, and Team USA was officially assured of winning back the Cup.
The behavior of the American team and American fans was the subject of much criticism during and after the 1999 Ryder Cup, and not just the celebratory scrum by Team USA following Leonard's putt. Several American players made disparaging comments about Team Europe prior to the start of the 1997 Ryder Cup. (Payne Stewart, for example, suggested that the European players ought to be the Americans' caddies.)
And the American fans at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., were heard throughout the match berating European players, particularly Colin Montgomerie. During the Montgomerie-Stewart singles match, Stewart tried multiple times to scold the rowdier, ruder fans, and at the conclusion apologized to Montgomerie for the invective directed at him by fans.
The 1999 Ryder Cup was the last tournament Stewart played before his death in a plane crash one month later. Team Europe's rookies included Sergio Garcia and Padraig Harrington. Garcia, 19 years old, became the first teenager in the competition, setting a record for youngest Ryder Cup golfer.
1999 Ryder Cup Results
Day 1
Foursomes- Paul Lawrie/Colin Montgomerie, Europe, def. David Duval/Phil Mickelson, USA, 3 and 2
- Sergio Garcia/Jesper Parnevik, Europe, def. Tom Lehman/Tiger Woods, USA, 2 and 1
- Davis Love III/Payne Stewart, USA, halved with Padraig Harrington/Miguel Angel Jimenez, Europe
- Jeff Maggert/Hal Sutton, USA, def. Darren Clarke, Lee Westwood, Europe, 3 and 2
Fourballs
- Sergio Garcia/Jesper Parnevik, Europe, def. Jim Furyk/Phil Mickelson, USA
- Justin Leonard/Davis Love III, USA, halved with Colin Montgomerie/Paul Lawrie, Europe
- Miguel Angel Jimenez/Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, def. Jeff Maggert/Hal Sutton, USA, 2 and 1
- Darren Clarke/Lee Westwood, Europe, def. David Duval/Tiger Woods, USA
Cumulative score after two sessions: Europe 6, USA 2
Day 2
Foursomes- Jeff Maggert/Hal Sutton, USA, def. Colin Montgomerie/Paul Lawrie, Europe, 1-up
- Darren Clarke/Lee Westwood, Europe, def. Jim Furyk/Mark O'Meara, USA, 3 and 2
- Steve Pate/Tiger Woods, USA, def. Miguel Angel Jimenez/Padraig Harrington, Europe, 1-up
- Sergio Garcia/Jesper Parnevik, Europe, def. Justin Leonard/Payne Stewart, USA, 3 and 2
Cumulative score after three sessions: Europe 8, USA 4
Foursomes
- Phil Mickelson/Tom Lehman, USA, def. Darren Clarke/Lee Westwood, Europe, 2 and 1
- Sergio Garcia/Jesper Parnevik, Europe, halved with Davis Love III/David Duval, USA
- Justin Leonard/Hal Sutton, USA, halved with Miguel Angel Jimenez/Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe
- Paul Lawrie/Colin Montgomerie, Europe, def. Steve Pate/Tiger Woods, USA, 2 and 1
Cumulative score after four sessions: Europe 10, USA 6
Day 3
Singles- Tom Lehman, USA, def. Lee Westwood, Europe, 3 and 2
- Hal Sutton, USA, def. Darren Clarke, Europe, 4 and 2
- Phil Mickelson, USA, def. Jarmo Sandelin, Europe, 4 and 3
- Davis Love III, USA, def. Jean Van de Velde, Europe, 6 and 5
- Tiger Woods, USA, def. Andrew Coltart, Europe, 3 and 2
- David Duval, USA, def. Jesper Parnevik, Europe, 5 and 4
- Padraig Harrington, Europe, def. Mark O'Meara, USA, 1-up
- Steve Pate, USA, def. Miguel Angel Jimenez, Europe, 2 and 1
- Justin Leonard, USA, vs. Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, halved
- Colin Montgomerie, Europe, def. Payne Stewart, USA, 1-up
- Jim Furyk, USA, def. Sergio Garcia, Europe, 4 and 3
- Paul Lawrie, Europe def. Jeff Maggert, USA, 4 and 3
Overall and final score: USA 14.5, Europe 13.5
1999 Ryder Cup Player Records
(Records are listed as wins-losses-halves.)
Europe
Darren Clarke, 2-3-0
Andrew Coltart, 0-1-0
Sergio Garcia, 3-1-1
Padraig Harrington, 1-1-1
Miguel Angel Jimenez, 1-2-2
Paul Lawrie, 3-1-1
Colin Montgomerie, 3-1-1
Jose Maria Olazabal, 1-0-2
Jesper Parnevik, 3-1-1
Jarmo Sandelin, 0-1-0
Jean van de Velde, 0-1-0
Lee Westwood, 2-3-0
United States
David Duval, 1-2-1
Jim Furyk, 1-2-0
Tom Lehman, 2-1-0
Justin Leonard, 0-1-3
Davis Love III, 1-0-3
Jeff Maggert, 2-2-0
Phil Mickelson, 2-2-0
Mark O'Meara, 0-2-0
Steve Pate, 2-1-0
Payne Stewart, 0-2-1
Hal Sutton, 3-1-1
Tiger Woods, 2-3-0
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1997 Ryder Cup | 2002 Ryder Cup
