The 25th Ryder Cup Matches were held October 14–16, 1983 at the PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The United States team won the competition by a score of 14 to 13 points, the closest Ryder Cup since the tie in 1969. In their third competition with players from the continent, Europe showed the ability to realistically challenge the Americans. This was the first of four occasions that Tony Jacklin was the European captain and the sole occasion that his side lost.
Entering the singles matches on Sunday, the competition was even at 8 points each. Jacklin put his best players out early, while U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus saved his for last. In the first match, Seve Ballesteros was 3 up at the turn but needed an outstanding 3-wood from a fairway bunker on the final hole to salvage par and force a half with Fuzzy Zoeller. With ten matches complete and the score at 13 points each, the outcome depended on the two singles matches remaining on the course, between José María Cañizares and Lanny Wadkins and Bernard Gallacher and Tom Watson. The U.S. victory is generally accredited to Wadkins, who hit a wedge to less than three feet (0.9 m) on the par-5 18th hole to win the hole with a birdie and halve his match against Canizares. Gallacher had trailed all day, but Watson bogeyed 16 and was only 1 up with two holes to play. He had another bogey at the par-3 17th, but Gallacher's three-foot putt for bogey missed and ended the match at 2 & 1 and gave the U.S. the winning point.
This was the 13th consecutive win at home for the U.S. team, but they would have to wait until the 2021 Ryder Cup to post consecutive home victories. It was also the last victory for the U.S. in the Ryder Cup for eight years, until 1991.
Format The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format in 1983 was as follows: Day 1 — 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session Day 2 — 4 four-ball matches in a morning session and 4 foursome matches in an afternoon session Day 3 — 12 singles matches With a total of 28 points, 14 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.
Teams The American qualification rules remained unchanged from 1981 with 11 of the team being selected from a points list. The final place in the team was allocated to the winner of the 1983 PGA Championship (which finished on August 7), provided he was not in the top 11, in which case the 12th player in the points list would qualify. Qualification based on the points list finished after the Western Open on July 3. Tom Watson needed to win the final event to guarantee his place but finished second, lifting him from 14th to 12th place in the points list and pushing Hale Irwin out of that position."Unsure Watson teeters on a tightrope". The Times, Tuesday, July 6, 1983; pg. 26; Issue 61577. The PGA Championship was won by Hal Sutton with Jack Nicklaus second."A cub called Sutton follows the tracks of the Golden Bear". The Times, Tuesday, Aug 9, 1983; pg. 18; Issue 61606. Sutton was only in his third year as a professional and hence ineligible and so Watson retained his place on the team."Watson may call off". The Times, Thursday, Aug 4, 1983; pg. 21; Issue 61602.
Team USANameAgePointsrankPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageJack Nicklaus 43 Non-playing captainLanny Wadkins 33 1 2 8 7–1–0 87.50Raymond Floyd 41 2 4 15 5–7–3 43.33Tom Kite 33 3 2 8 6–1–1 81.25Fuzzy Zoeller 31 4 1 5 1–4–0 20.00Craig Stadler 30 5 0 RookieJay Haas 29 6 0 RookieGil Morgan 37 7 1 2 0–0–2 50.00Calvin Peete 40 8 0 RookieBen Crenshaw 31 9 1 2 1–1–0 50.00Bob Gilder 32 10 0 RookieCurtis Strange 28 11 0 RookieTom Watson 34 12 2 7 5–2–0 71.43
The European team was chosen entirely from the 1983 European Tour money list as at the conclusion of the St. Mellion Timeshare TPC on September 18."Money list to decide team for Ryder Cup". The Times, Friday, September 17 1982; pg. 18; Issue 61340. Prior to the final event 10 of the players had guaranteed their places with Manuel Piñero in 11th position and Gordon J. Brand in 12th. Brand made sure of his place with fifth place in the TPC but Piñero was overtaken by Paul Way who finished second to lift him to 11th place in the list."Ample consolation for Way as he is beaten by Langer". The Times, Monday, September 19 1983; pg. 27; Issue 61641.
Team EuropeNameAgePointsrankPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage Tony Jacklin 39 Non-playing captain Nick Faldo 26 1 3 10 7–3–0 70.00 Seve Ballesteros 26 2 1 5 1–4–0 20.00 Bernhard Langer 26 3 1 4 1–2–1 37.50 Sandy Lyle 25 4 2 9 3–5–1 38.89 Ken Brown 26 5 2 4 1–3–0 25.00 José María Cañizares 36 6 1 3 1–2–0 33.33 Brian Waites 43 7 0 Rookie Sam Torrance 30 8 1 4 0–3–1 12.50 Ian Woosnam 25 9 0 Rookie Bernard Gallacher 34 10 7 29 13–11–5 53.45 Paul Way 20 11 0 Rookie Gordon J. Brand 28 12 0 Rookie
Friday's matches October 14, 1983 Morning foursomes Results Gallacher/Lyle 5 & 4Watson/CrenshawFaldo/Langer 4 & 2Wadkins/StadlerCañizares/Torrance 4 & 3Floyd/GilderBallesteros/Way 2 & 1Kite/Peete 2 Session 2 2 Overall 2
Afternoon four-ball Results Waites/Brown 2 & 1Morgan/ZoellerFaldo/Langer 2 & 1Watson/HaasBallesteros/Way 1 upFloyd/StrangeTorrance/WoosnamhalvedCrenshaw/Peete 2 Session 1 4 Overall 3
Saturday's matches October 15, 1983 Morning four-ball Results Waites/Brown 1 upWadkins/StadlerFaldo/Langer 4 & 2Crenshaw/PeeteBallesteros/WayhalvedMorgan/HaasTorrance/Woosnam 5 & 4Watson/Gilder 1 Session 2 6 Overall 6
Afternoon foursomes Results Faldo/Langer 3 & 2Kite/FloydTorrance/Cañizares 7 & 5Morgan/WadkinsBallesteros/Way 2 & 1Watson/GilderWaites/Brown 3 & 2Haas/Strange 2 Session 2 8 Overall 8
Sunday's singles matches October 16, 1983 Results Seve BallesteroshalvedFuzzy ZoellerNick Faldo 2 & 1Jay HaasBernhard Langer 2 upGil MorganGordon J. Brand 2 upBob GilderSandy Lyle 3 & 1Ben CrenshawBrian Waites 1 upCalvin PeetePaul Way 2 & 1Curtis StrangeSam TorrancehalvedTom KiteIan Woosnam 3 & 2Craig StadlerJosé María CañizareshalvedLanny WadkinsKen Brown 4 & 3Raymond FloydBernard Gallacher 2 & 1Tom Watson 5 Session 6 13 Overall 14
Individual player records Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.
Source:
United States Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsBen Crenshaw 2.5 2–1–1 1–0–0 1–0–0 0–1–1Raymond Floyd 0 0–4–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 0–1–0Bob Gilder 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–2–0 1–0–0Jay Haas 2.5 2–1–1 0–1–0 1–0–0 1–0–1Tom Kite 1.5 1–1–1 0–0–1 1–1–0 0–0–0Gil Morgan 1.5 1–2–1 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–1Calvin Peete 2.5 2–1–1 1–0–0 1–0–0 0–1–1Craig Stadler 2 2–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–0–0Curtis Strange 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–0Lanny Wadkins 2.5 2–1–1 0–0–1 1–1–0 1–0–0Tom Watson 4 4–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 2–0–0Fuzzy Zoeller 0.5 0–1–1 0–0–1 0–0–0 0–1–0
Europe Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsSeve Ballesteros 3 2–1–2 0–0–1 1–1–0 1–0–1Gordon J. Brand 0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0Ken Brown 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–1–0José María Cañizares 1.5 1–1–1 0–0–1 1–1–0 0–0–0Nick Faldo 4 4–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–1–0Bernard Gallacher 0 0–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0Bernhard Langer 4 4–1–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–1–0Sandy Lyle 0 0–2–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0Sam Torrance 2 1–2–2 0–0–1 1–1–0 0–1–1Brian Waites 1 1–3–0 0–1–0 0–1–0 1–1–0Paul Way 3.5 3–1–1 1–0–0 1–1–0 1–0–1Ian Woosnam 0.5 0–2–1 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–1–1
Video 2012 Ryder Cup Ryder Cup Flashback: 1983
References
External links PGA of America: 1983 Ryder Cup About.com: 1983 Ryder Cup