Ryder Cup Captains: The Full List
The list of Ryder Cup captains goes back to 1927, when the biennial tournament began. Every other year, the best male, professional golfers from Europe and the United States face off in this match play tournament, each team led by its captain.
The European Tour selects the captain for Team Europe, the PGA of America chooses Team USA's captain. Each captain then is able to pick his own assistants, as well as several members of the team (the majority of Ryder Cup players are automatic selections via points lists).
The most-frequent Ryder Cup captain was Walter Hagen, who led Team USA in each of the first six tournaments.
The List: Ryder Cup Captains
(Click on a year to view the final score, golf course, team rosters and match scores from that Ryder Cup. A "-w" following the captain's name indicates the winning captain. In the event no "-w" appears next to either name, that Ryder Cup was a draw.)(Related: The history and full list of Ryder Cup assistant captains)
| Year | Europe | USA |
| 2025 | Luke Donald | Keegan Bradley |
| 2023 | Luke Donald-w | Zach Johnson |
| 2021 | Padraig Harrington | Steve Stricker-w |
| 2018 | Thomas Bjorn-w | Jim Furyk |
| 2016 | Darren Clarke | Davis Love III-w |
| 2014 | Paul McGinley-w | Tom Watson |
| 2012 | Jose Maria Olazabal-w | Davis Love III |
| 2010 | Colin Montgomerie-w | Corey Pavin |
| 2008 | Nick Faldo | Paul Azinger-w |
| 2006 | Ian Woosnam-w | Tom Lehman |
| 2004 | Bernhard Langer-w | Hal Sutton |
| 2002 | Sam Torrance-w | Curtis Strange |
| 1999 | Mark James | Ben Crenshaw-w |
| 1997 | Seve Ballesteros-w | Tom Kite |
| 1995 | Bernard Gallacher-w | Lanny Wadkins |
| 1993 | Bernard Gallacher | Tom Watson-w |
| 1991 | Bernard Gallacher | Dave Stockton-w |
| 1989 | Tony Jacklin | Raymond Floyd |
| 1987 | Tony Jacklin-w | Jack Nicklaus |
| 1985 | Tony Jacklin-w | Lee Trevino |
| 1983 | Tony Jacklin | Jack Nicklaus-w |
| 1981 | John Jacobs | Dave Marr-w |
| 1979 | John Jacobs | Billy Casper-w |
Prior to 1979, the teams were the United States and, from 1973-77, Great Britain and Ireland; or, prior to 1973, Great Britain.
| Year | GB&I | USA |
| 1977 | Brian Huggett | Dow Finsterwald-w |
| 1975 | Bernard Hunt | Arnold Palmer-w |
| 1973 | Bernard Hunt | Jack Burke Jr.-w |
| 1971 | Eric Brown | Jay Hebert-w |
| 1969 | Eric Brown | Sam Snead |
| 1967 | Dai Rees | Ben Hogan-w |
| 1965 | Harry Weetman | Byron Nelson-w |
| 1963 | John Fallon | Arnold Palmer-w |
| 1961 | Dai Rees | Jerry Barber-w |
| 1959 | Dai Rees | Sam Snead-w |
| 1957 | Dai Rees-w | Jack Burke Jr. |
| 1955 | Dai Rees | Chick Harbert-w |
| 1953 | Henry Cotton | Lloyd Mangrum-w |
| 1951 | Arthur Lacey | Sam Snead-w |
| 1949 | Charles Whitcombe | Ben Hogan-w |
| 1947 | Henry Cotton | Ben Hogan-w |
| 1937 | Charles Whitcombe | Walter Hagen-w |
| 1935 | Charles Whitcombe | Walter Hagen-w |
| 1933 | J.H. Taylor-w | Walter Hagen |
| 1931 | Charles Whitcombe | Walter Hagen-w |
| 1929 | George Duncan-w | Walter Hagen |
| 1927 | Ted Ray | Walter Hagen-w |
Related articles:
Photo credit: Tony Jacklin, public domain via Wikimedia Commons