The 17th Ryder Cup Matches were held October 20–22, 1967 at the
Champions Golf Club
Champions Golf Club is a 36-hole private golf club located in Houston, Texas. Established in 1957 by multiple major champions Jack Burke Jr. and Jimmy Demaret, who were both raised in the city, Champions carries a long history for Houston golf. B ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
.
The United States team won the competition by a record score of 23 to 8 points.
To date, the 15-point victory margin remains the largest at the
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
.
Ben Hogan
William Ben Hogan (August 13, 1912 – July 25, 1997) was an American professional golfer who is generally considered to be one of the greatest players in the history of the game. He is notable for his profound influence on golf swing theory and ...
was named the captain of the U.S. team in May 1967, five months before the matches.
He opted for the U.S. team to use the smaller British golf ball; the same weight, its diameter was smaller at .
The match had originally been arranged for June 9–11, a date that the British P.G.A. had reluctantly agreed to, as it interfered with the British tournament season. In April 1966, it was agreed that the dates be changed to October 20–22.
The course hosted the
U.S. Open two years later in
1969.
Format
The
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
is a
match play
Match play is a scoring system for golf in which a player, or team, earns a point for each hole in which they have bested their opponents; as opposed to stroke play, in which the total number of strokes is counted over one or more rounds of 18 h ...
event, with each match worth one point. From
1963
Events January
* January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...
through
1971 *
The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6).
The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history.
Events
Ja ...
the competition format was as follows:
*Day 1 — 8 foursomes (alternate shot) matches, 4 each in morning and afternoon sessions
*Day 2 — 8 four-ball (better ball) matches, 4 each in morning and afternoon sessions
*Day 3 — 16 singles matches, 8 each in morning and afternoon sessions
With a total of 32 points, 16 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.
Teams
Source:
[
The British team was based on a points system using performances in 1966 and 1967, finishing after the 1967 Open Championship.]
Friday matches
''October 20, 1967''
Morning foursomes
Afternoon foursomes
Saturday matches
''October 21, 1967''
Morning four-ball
Afternoon four-ball
Sunday matches
''October 22, 1967''
Morning singles
Afternoon singles
Individual player records
Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.
Source: [
]
United States
Great Britain
Nicklaus absence
Despite having won his seventh major title
is a golf sports video game that was released by Irem to Arcade game, arcades in 1990. A version of the game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as well as an arcade sequel, ''Major Title 2: Tournament Leader'', were released in 1992. The ...
as a professional at the U.S. Open in June, 27-year-old Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...
was not a member of the U.S. team. At the time, a five-year apprenticeship as a professional was required before Ryder Cup points could be earned. Nicklaus turned pro in November 1961 and was granted tournament status at the end of that year. He expedited his status by passing PGA business classes in February 1966, and was granted full membership that June. Only then was he eligible to accumulate Ryder Cup points, which ended with the Masters in April. Captain's selections did not exist in 1967 and Nicklaus was in a slump following his win at the Masters in 1966; entering the Masters in 1967 as the two-time defending champion, he was in 13th place in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings. Also just off the team were Dave Marr
David Francis Marr, Jr. (December 27, 1933 – October 5, 1997) was an American professional golfer and sportscaster, best known for winning the 1965 PGA Championship.
Early years
Marr was born and raised in Houston, Texas, the son of a prof ...
and Bob Goalby
Robert George Goalby (March 14, 1929 – January 19, 2022) was an American professional golfer. He won the Masters Tournament in 1968 Masters Tournament, 1968, after Roberto De Vicenzo notably made an error on his scorecard. It was Goalby's lon ...
. Nicklaus and Goalby missed the cut at Augusta and Marr's T-16 finish was not enough to pass Johnny Pott
John Francis Pott (born November 6, 1935) is an American professional golfer.
Pott was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and reared in southern Mississippi, where he learned to play golf on the course where his father was the club professional. He ...
for the tenth and final spot on the team. Pott was 4–0–0 in the competition.
The outmoded five-year rule had similarly kept Arnold Palmer
Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...
off the teams in 1957
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...
and 1959
Events January
* January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance.
* January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...
. Don January
Donald Ray January (born November 20, 1929) is an American retired professional golfer, best known for winning the 1967 PGA Championship.
Early life
Born in Plainview, Texas, January graduated from Sunset High School in Dallas. He was a member ...
won the PGA Championship
The PGA Championship (often referred to as the US PGA Championship or USPGA outside the United States) is an annual golf tournament conducted by the Professional Golfers' Association of America. It is one of the four men's major championships ...
in 1967 in July, but was also at home; the only reigning major champion on either team in 1967 was Masters champion Gay Brewer
Gay Robert Brewer Jr. (March 19, 1932 – August 31, 2007) was an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and won the 1967 Masters Tournament.
Life
Brewer was born in Middletown, Ohio, and raised in Lexington, Kentucky. As an am ...
.
Nicklaus competed in the Ryder Cup as a player from 1969 through 1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
, missing only in 1979. He was the non-playing captain in 1983 and 1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...
.
References
External links
PGA of America: 1967 Ryder Cup
Champions Golf Club
– official site
{{coord, 29.984, -95.531, type:event, display=title
Ryder Cup
Golf in Houston
Sports competitions in Houston
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
1960s in Houston