The 24th Ryder Cup Matches were held 18–20 September 1981 at the Walton Heath Golf Club in Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, England, southwest of London. The United States team won the competition by a score of 18 to 9 points. It was the largest margin of defeat for a European team (since 1979) at the Ryder Cup until 2021. It is also the largest margin of defeat for the host team on European soil.

Seve Ballesteros was not selected for the European team after an ongoing dispute with the European Tour concerning appearance money. Tony Jacklin was also left off the team.

It was the sixth and final Ryder Cup for Jack Nicklaus as a competitor and he won all four of his matches. He had failed to make the team for the first time in 1979. Bernhard Langer made his Ryder Cup debut in 1981 and was 1–2 in pairs and halved his singles match.

Format The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format was adjusted slightly from the 1979 event, with the order of play swapped on the first two days and the third day singles matches held in a single session: 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

Ten of the European team were selected using a points list based on money earned in European Tour Events. The final event was the Benson & Hedges International Open which finished on 24 August. Eamonn Darcy finished in a tie for second place in this tournament, lifting him from 12th to 7th in the list and relegating Mark James to 11th place."Golf - Ryder Cup Standing". The Times, Tuesday, August 18 1981; pg. 9; Issue 61009."Early birdies give Weiskopf a rewarding performance". The Times, Monday, August 24 1981; pg. 12; Issue 61014. The two remaining places were chosen immediately after the Benson & Hedges International by a selection committee consisting of John Jacobs (the captain), Neil Coles and Bernhard Langer. They chose Mark James and Peter Oosterhuis, who was playing on the PGA Tour and had recently won the Canadian Open."Ryder Cup place for matchwinner James". The Times, Monday, August 24 1981; pg. 12; Issue 61014.

 Team EuropeNameAgePointsrankPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage John Jacobs 56 Non-playing captain Bernhard Langer 24 1 0 Rookie Nick Faldo 24 2 2 7 6–1–0 85.71 Sandy Lyle 23 3 1 4 1–2–1 37.50 José María Cañizares 34 4 0 Rookie Sam Torrance 28 5 0 Rookie Manuel Piñero 29 6 0 Rookie Eamonn Darcy 29 7 2 7 0–5–2 14.29 Des Smyth 28 8 1 2 0–2–0 0.00 Howard Clark 27 9 1 1 0–1–0 0.00 Bernard Gallacher 32 10 6 25 12–9–4 56.00 Mark James 27 11 2 5 0–4–1 10.00 Peter Oosterhuis 33 – 5 25 14–8–3 62.00

Players chosen by the selection committee are shown in yellow.

11 of the American team were selected from a points list. Qualification based on the points list finished after the Western Open on July 5. Bill Rogers earned his place by finishing 5th in this final event, while Jack Nicklaus only assured his place in the team after a final round 69 and a tie for 7th place."Rogers falls back but still earns cup place". The Times, Tuesday, July 7, 1981; pg. 8; Issue 60973. The final place in the team was allocated to the winner of the 1981 PGA Championship (which finished on August 9), provided he was not in the top 11, in which case the 12th player in the points list would qualify (Howard Twitty). With his victory in the PGA Championship, Larry Nelson gained the last slot. Nelson had finished 17th in the points list."The Nelson touch earns place in Ryder Cup team". The Times, Monday, August 10, 1981; pg. 12; Issue 61012. The team is considered to be one of the strongest ever seen in the Ryder Cup - the players had won a total of 36 major championships.

 Team USANameAgePointsrankPreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageDave Marr 47 Non-playing captainTom Watson 32 1 1 3 2–1–0 66.67Raymond Floyd 39 2 3 10 2–5–3 35.00Bruce Lietzke 30 3 0 RookieTom Kite 31 4 1 4 3–1–0 75.00Hale Irwin 36 5 3 12 9–2–1 79.17Lee Trevino 41 6 5 26 13–7–6 61.54Jerry Pate 28 7 0 RookieBen Crenshaw 29 8 0 RookieJohnny Miller 34 9 1 4 2–1–1 62.50Bill Rogers 30 10 0 RookieJack Nicklaus 41 11 5 24 13–8–3 60.42Larry Nelson 34 17 1 5 5–0–0 100.00

Nelson qualified by virtue of winning the 1981 PGA Championship.

Friday's matches 18 September 1981 Morning foursomes Results Langer/Piñero 1 upTrevino/NelsonLyle/James 2 & 1Rogers/LietzkeGallacher/Smyth 3 & 2Irwin/FloydOosterhuis/Faldo 4 & 3Watson/Nicklaus 2 Session 2 2 Overall 2

Afternoon four-ball Results Torrance/ClarkhalvedKite/MillerLyle/James 3 & 2Crenshaw/PateSmyth/Cañizares 6 & 5Rogers/LietzkeGallacher/Darcy 2 & 1Irwin/Floyd 2 Session 1 4 Overall 3

Saturday's matches 19 September 1981 Morning four-ball Results Faldo/Torrance 7 & 5Trevino/PateLyle/James 1 upNelson/KiteLanger/Piñero 2 & 1Floyd/IrwinCañizares/Smyth 3 & 2Nicklaus/Watson 1 Session 3 5 Overall 6

Afternoon foursomes Results Oosterhuis/Torrance 2 & 1Trevino/PateLanger/Piñero 3 & 2Nicklaus/WatsonLyle/James 3 & 2Rogers/FloydSmyth/Gallacher 3 & 2Kite/Nelson 0 Session 4 5 Overall 10

Sunday's singles matches 20 September 1981 Results Sam Torrance 5 & 3Lee TrevinoSandy Lyle 3 & 2Tom KiteBernard GallacherhalvedBill RogersMark James 2 upLarry NelsonDes Smyth 6 & 4Ben CrenshawBernhard LangerhalvedBruce LietzkeManuel Piñero 4 & 2Jerry PateJosé María Cañizares 1 upHale IrwinNick Faldo 2 & 1Johnny MillerHoward Clark 4 & 3Tom WatsonPeter Oosterhuis 1 upRaymond FloydEamonn Darcy 5 & 3Jack Nicklaus 4 Session 8 9 Overall 18

Individual player records Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.

Source:

Europe Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsJosé María Cañizares 1 1–2–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 1–1–0Howard Clark 1.5 1–0–1 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–0–1Eamonn Darcy 0 0–2–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Nick Faldo 1 1–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 0–1–0Bernard Gallacher 1.5 1–2–1 0–0–1 1–1–0 0–1–0Mark James 2 2–3–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 1–1–0Bernhard Langer 1.5 1–2–1 0–0–1 0–2–0 1–0–0Sandy Lyle 2 2–3–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 1–1–0Peter Oosterhuis 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 0–0–0Manuel Piñero 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–2–0 1–0–0Des Smyth 2 2–3–0 0–1–0 1–1–0 1–1–0Sam Torrance 0.5 0–3–1 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–1–1

United States Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsBen Crenshaw 1 1–1–0 1–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Raymond Floyd 3 3–2–0 1–0–0 1–1–0 1–1–0Hale Irwin 2 2–2–0 1–0–0 0–1–0 1–1–0Tom Kite 3.5 3–0–1 1–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–1Bruce Lietzke 0.5 0–2–1 0–0–1 0–1–0 0–1–0Johnny Miller 0.5 0–1–1 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–1Larry Nelson 4 4–0–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–0–0Jack Nicklaus 4 4–0–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–0–0Jerry Pate 2 2–2–0 0–1–0 1–0–0 1–1–0Bill Rogers 1.5 1–2–1 0–0–1 1–1–0 0–1–0Lee Trevino 4 4–0–0 1–0–0 2–0–0 1–0–0Tom Watson 3 3–1–0 0–1–0 2–0–0 1–0–0

Video 2012 Ryder Cup   Ryder Cup Flashback: 1981 1981 Ryder Cup   British broadcast

References

External links PGA of America: 1981 Ryder Cup About.com: 1981 Ryder Cup Walton Heath Golf Club: 1981 Ryder Cup