Jump to content

1955 Ryder Cup

Coordinates: 33°45′22″N 116°25′48″W / 33.756°N 116.43°W / 33.756; -116.43
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

11th Ryder Cup Matches
DatesNovember 5–6, 1955
VenueThunderbird Country Club
LocationRancho Mirage, California
Captains
United States 8 4 United Kingdom
United States wins the Ryder Cup
← 1953
1957 →
Thunderbird CC is located in the United States
Thunderbird CC
Thunderbird CC
Thunderbird CC is located in California
Thunderbird CC
Thunderbird CC

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]

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, 612 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 36 holes.

Teams

[edit]

Source: [4]

United States 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]

United Kingdom Team Great Britain
Name Age Previous
Ryder Cups
Matches W–L–H Winning
percentage
Wales Dai Rees – captain 42 5 8 2–5–1 31.25
England Ken Bousfield 36 2 2 1–1–0 50.00
Republic of Ireland Harry Bradshaw 42 1 2 2–0–0 100.00
Scotland Eric Brown 30 1 2 1–1–0 50.00
Scotland John Fallon 42 0 Rookie
England John Jacobs 30 0 Rookie
England Arthur Lees 47 3 6 3–3–0 50.00
Republic of Ireland Christy O'Connor Snr 30 0 Rookie
England Syd Scott 41 0 Rookie
England Harry Weetman 35 2 3 1–2–0 33.33

Saturday's foursome matches

[edit]
United Kingdom Results United States
Fallon/Jacobs United Kingdom 1 up Harper/Barber
Brown/Scott United States 5 & 4 Ford/Kroll
Lees/Weetman United States 1 up Burke/Bolt
Bradshaw/Rees United States 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]
United Kingdom Results United States
Christy O'Connor United States 4 & 2 Tommy Bolt
Syd Scott United States 3 & 2 Chick Harbert
John Jacobs United Kingdom 1 up Cary Middlecoff
Dai Rees United States 3 & 1 Sam Snead
Arthur Lees United Kingdom 3 & 2 Marty Furgol
Eric Brown United Kingdom 3 & 2 Jerry Barber
Harry Bradshaw United States 3 & 2 Jack Burke Jr.
Harry Weetman United States 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]
  1. ^ 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. Archived from the original on December 13, 2013.
  2. ^ "Ryder Cup kept by U.S.; Briton tops Middlecoff". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. November 7, 1955. p. 10.
  3. ^ "U.S. retains Ryder Cup golf trophy by 8-4". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. November 7, 1955. p. 26.
  4. ^ a b "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  5. ^ "P.G.A. offer a solution - Three players to sit on committee". The Times. December 8, 1954. p. 3.
  6. ^ "P.G.A. differences - Conference to be held next week". The Times. January 12, 1955. p. 3.
  7. ^ "Ryder Cup places filled". The Times. July 9, 1955. p. 4.
  8. ^ "A new British golf event - The first close championship". The Times. July 22, 1955. p. 3.
  9. ^ "Ryder Cup team completed". The Times. September 22, 1955. p. 4.
[edit]

33°45′22″N 116°25′48″W / 33.756°N 116.43°W / 33.756; -116.43