![Muirfield Village Golf Club (Dublin, Ohio)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Muirfield_Village_Golf_Club_%28Dublin%2C_Ohio%29.jpg)
The 27th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 25–27, 1987 at
Muirfield Village Golf Club
Muirfield Village is an “upscale” golf-oriented community in the central United States, located in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus.
Origins
Founded by Jack Nicklaus, it is named after Muirfield, Scotland, where he won the first of ...
in
Dublin, Ohio
Dublin is a city in Franklin, Delaware and Union counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 49,328 in the 2020 census with a census estimate of 49,037 in 2019. Dublin is a suburb of Columbus. The city of Dublin hosts the yearly Mem ...
, a suburb north of
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
. The European team won their second consecutive competition by a score of 15 to 13 points in probably the most historic
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 ...
. After an unbeaten record of 13–0 spanning sixty years, the U.S. team lost for the first time on home soil.
Europe took a lead of 5 points into the Sunday singles matches, but the U.S. fought back strongly to narrow the deficit.
Eamonn Darcy
Eamonn Christopher Darcy (born 7 August 1952) is an Irish professional golfer. He won four times on the European Tour and played in the Ryder Cup four times.
Professional career
Darcy, with a handicap of 12, turned professional at the age of ...
, who previously had a very poor Ryder Cup record, defeated
Ben Crenshaw
Ben Daniel Crenshaw (born January 11, 1952) is a retired American professional golfer who has won 19 events on the PGA Tour, including two major championships: the Masters Tournament in 1984 and 1995. He is nicknamed ''Gentle Ben''.
Professiona ...
at the last hole to get Europe to 13 points. Crenshaw had broken his
putter
A putter is a club used in the sport of golf to make relatively short and low-speed strokes with the intention of rolling the ball into the hole from a short distance away. It is differentiated from the other clubs (typically, irons and woods ...
in a moment of frustration after the sixth hole and putted with his
1 iron for the last dozen holes.
Bernhard Langer
Bernhard Langer (; born 27 August 1957) is a German professional golfer. He is a two-time Masters champion and was one of the world's leading golfers throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1986, he became the sport's first official number one ra ...
then halved his match with
Larry Nelson
Larry Gene Nelson (born September 10, 1947) is an American professional golfer who has won numerous tournaments at both the PGA Tour and Champions Tour level.
Nelson was born in Fort Payne, Alabama and grew up in Acworth, Georgia, northwest of A ...
and when
Seve Ballesteros
Severiano Ballesteros Sota (; 9 April 1957 – 7 May 2011) was a Spanish professional golfer, a World No. 1 who was one of the sport's leading figures from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. A member of a gifted golfing family, he won 90 inte ...
defeated
Curtis Strange
Curtis Northrup Strange (born January 30, 1955) is an American professional golfer and TV color commentator. He is the winner of consecutive U.S. Open titles and a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and Virginia Sports Hall of Fame. He spent ...
2 & 1 to total 14 points, the European victory was secured.
[
This was the last Ryder Cup in which the U.S. team did not employ captain's selections.] Europe used captain's picks in 1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
, 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 ...
, 1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
, and this year.
Muirfield Village, founded and designed by U.S. captain 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 ...
, has hosted the Memorial Tournament
The Memorial Tournament is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on a Nicklaus-designed course at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The golf course passes through a large n ...
on the PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also k ...
since 1976
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force.
* January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea.
* January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...
. The 2013 Presidents Cup was held at the same course.
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. The competition format in 1987 adjusted slightly from the previous three events, with the order of play on the second day swapped:
*Day 1 (Friday) — 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in an afternoon session
*Day 2 (Saturday) — 4 foursome matches in a morning session and 4 four-ball matches in an afternoon session
*Day 3 (Sunday) — 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
Simpson qualified by virtue of winning the 1987 U.S. Open, while Nelson qualified by winning the 1987 PGA Championship
The 1987 PGA Championship was the 69th PGA Championship, held August 6–9 at the Champion Course of PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. In hot and windy conditions, Larry Nelson won his second PGA Championship in a sudden-deat ...
.
The selection process for the European team remained unchanged from 1985, with nine players chosen from the 1987 European Tour money list at the conclusion of the German Open on August 30 and the remaining three team members being chosen immediately afterwards by the team captain, Tony Jacklin. Prior to the final event Eamonn Darcy was in the 9th qualifying place with Mats Lanner
Mats Åke Lanner (born 5 March 1961) is a Swedish professional golfer, who formerly played on the European Tour. In 1987, he became the second Swedish player to win a European Tour tournament.
Early life and amateur career
Lanner was born in Got ...
in 10th. Lanner finished just one shot ahead of Darcy in the German Open and Darcy retained his qualifying place. Jacklin's choices were Ken Brown, Sandy Lyle and José María Olazábal.
Captains picks are shown in yellow.[ The world rankings and records are at the start of the 1987 Ryder Cup.
]
Friday's matches
Morning foursomes
Afternoon four-ball
Saturday's matches
Morning foursomes
Afternoon four-ball
Sunday's singles matches
Individual player records
Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.
Source:
United States
Europe
References
*
*
*
{{coord, 40.140, -83.141, type:event, display=title
Ryder Cup
Golf in Ohio
Sports in Dublin, Ohio
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 ...