The 11th Ryder Cup Matches were held November 5–6, 1955, at Thunderbird Country Club in Rancho Mirage, California. The United States team won its seventh consecutive competition by a score of 8 to 4 points.[1][2][3]
| Dates | November 5–6, 1955 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Thunderbird Country Club | ||||
| Location | Rancho Mirage, California | ||||
| Captains |
| ||||
| |||||
| United States wins the Ryder Cup | |||||
Format edit
The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. From 1927 through 1959, the format consisted of 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches on the first day and 8 singles matches on the second day, for a total of 12 points. Therefore, 61⁄2 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 36 holes.
Teams edit
Source: [4]
 Team USA
| |||||
| Name | Age | Previous Ryder Cups |
Matches | W–L–H | Winning percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chick Harbert – captain | 40 | 1 | 1 | 1–0–0 | 100.00 |
| Jerry Barber | 39 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Tommy Bolt | 39 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Jack Burke Jr. | 32 | 2 | 4 | 4–0–0 | 100.00 |
| Doug Ford | 33 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Marty Furgol | 39 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Chandler Harper | 41 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Ted Kroll | 36 | 1 | 2 | 1–1–0 | 50.00 |
| Cary Middlecoff | 34 | 1 | 2 | 1–1–0 | 50.00 |
| Sam Snead | 43 | 5 | 9 | 7–2–0 | 77.78 |
Seven members of the British team were chosen from the Order of Merit after the 1955 Open Championship. To qualify players had to play in 5 of the 6 qualifying events. The qualifying events were all stroke-play tournaments played in Great Britain from the Spalding Tournament ending on 22 April to the Open Championship ending on 8 July. The last three places were chosen by the seven players already selected and the four members of the PGA tournament sub-committee.[5][6] The seven who qualified after the Open were: Rees, Bradshaw, Scott, Weetman, O'Connor, Bousfield and Jacobs.[7] Later in July, Rees was chosen as captain.[8] The three remaining players, Brown, Lees and Fallon, were chosen at the end of the Dunlop Masters in September. Brown had recently lost in the final of the News of the World Match Play where Lees was a losing semi-finalist. Fallon was runner-up in the Open Championship.[9]
 Team Great Britain
| |||||
| Name | Age | Previous Ryder Cups |
Matches | W–L–H | Winning percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dai Rees – captain
|
42 | 5 | 8 | 2–5–1 | 31.25 |
 Ken Bousfield
|
36 | 2 | 2 | 1–1–0 | 50.00 |
 Harry Bradshaw
|
42 | 1 | 2 | 2–0–0 | 100.00 |
 Eric Brown
|
30 | 1 | 2 | 1–1–0 | 50.00 |
| John Fallon
|
42 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| John Jacobs
|
30 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Arthur Lees
|
47 | 3 | 6 | 3–3–0 | 50.00 |
| Christy O'Connor Snr
|
30 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Syd Scott
|
41 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Harry Weetman
|
35 | 2 | 3 | 1–2–0 | 33.33 |
Saturday's foursome matches edit
|
|
Results |
|
|---|---|---|
| Fallon/Jacobs |  1 up
|
Harper/Barber |
| Brown/Scott |  5 & 4
|
Ford/Kroll |
| Lees/Weetman | 1 up
|
Burke/Bolt |
| Bradshaw/Rees | 3 & 2
|
Snead/Middlecoff |
| 1 | Session | 3 |
| 1 | Overall | 3 |
18 hole scores: Harper/Barber: 2 up, Ford/Kroll: 3 up, Lees/Weetman: 1 up, Bradshaw/Rees v Snead/Middlecoff: all square.
Sunday's singles matches edit
|
|
Results |
|
|---|---|---|
| Christy O'Connor | 4 & 2
|
Tommy Bolt |
| Syd Scott | 3 & 2
|
Chick Harbert |
| John Jacobs | 1 up
|
Cary Middlecoff |
| Dai Rees | 3 & 1
|
Sam Snead |
| Arthur Lees | 3 & 2
|
Marty Furgol |
| Eric Brown | 3 & 2
|
Jerry Barber |
| Harry Bradshaw | 3 & 2
|
Jack Burke Jr. |
| Harry Weetman | 3 & 2
|
Doug Ford |
| 3 | Session | 5 |
| 4 | Overall | 8 |
18 hole scores: Bolt: 3 up, Harbert: 6 up, Middlecoff: 2 up, Snead: 5 up, Lees v Furgol: all square, Brown: 3 up, Bradshaw v Burke: all square, Ford: 1 up.
Individual player records edit
Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.
Source: [4]
United States edit
| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Barber | 0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Tommy Bolt | 2 | 2–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Jack Burke Jr. | 2 | 2–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Doug Ford | 2 | 2–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Marty Furgol | 0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Chick Harbert | 1 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Chandler Harper | 0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Ted Kroll | 1 | 1–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Cary Middlecoff | 1 | 1–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Sam Snead | 2 | 2–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
Great Britain edit
| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry Bradshaw | 0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Eric Brown | 1 | 1–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 0–1–0 |
| John Fallon | 1 | 1–0–0 | 0–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
| John Jacobs | 2 | 2–0–0 | 1–0–0 | 1–0–0 |
| Arthur Lees | 1 | 1–1–0 | 1–0–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Christy O'Connor | 0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Dai Rees | 0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Syd Scott | 0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Harry Weetman | 0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–1–0 |
Ken Bousfield did not play in any matches.
References edit
- ^ Wind, Herbert Warren (November 14, 1955). "Despite the distracting flora and fauna of Palm Springs the U. S. team again beat Britain's best to retain the Ryder Cup". Sports Illustrated. p. 40.
- ^ "Ryder Cup kept by U.S.; Briton tops Middlecoff". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. November 7, 1955. p. 10.
- ^ "U.S. retains Ryder Cup golf trophy by 8-4". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. November 7, 1955. p. 26.
- ^ a b "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
- ^ "P.G.A. offer a solution - Three players to sit on committee". The Times. December 8, 1954. p. 3.
- ^ "P.G.A. differences - Conference to be held next week". The Times. January 12, 1955. p. 3.
- ^ "Ryder Cup places filled". The Times. July 9, 1955. p. 4.
- ^ "A new British golf event - The first close championship". The Times. July 22, 1955. p. 3.
- ^ "Ryder Cup team completed". The Times. September 22, 1955. p. 4.
- "Ryder Cup 2006 » History » 1955 Results". The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Limited, and Turner Sports Interactive. Archived from the original on October 22, 2006. Retrieved March 15, 2007.
- "Ryder Cup history: 1955". BBC Sport. September 14, 2006. Retrieved March 15, 2007.
External links edit
- PGA of America: 1955 Ryder Cup
- About.com: 1955 Ryder Cup Archived October 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
- Thunderbird Country Club – official site