The 19th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 16–18, 1971, in the United States at the Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis, Missouri. The U.S. team won the competition by a score of 18 to 13 points.

Format The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. From 1963 through 1971 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:

 Team USANameAgePreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentageJay Hebert 48 Non-playing captainMiller Barber 40 1 4 1–1–2 50.00Frank Beard 32 1 4 1–2–1 37.50Billy Casper 40 5 24 14–4–6 70.83Charles Coody 34 0 RookieGardner Dickinson 44 1 5 5–0–0 100.00Gene Littler 41 5 21 9–4–8 61.90Jack Nicklaus 31 1 4 1–2–1 37.50Arnold Palmer 42 4 21 16–4–1 78.57Mason Rudolph 37 0 RookieJ. C. Snead 30 0 RookieDave Stockton 29 0 RookieLee Trevino 31 1 6 3–2–1 58.33

Six members of the Great Britain team were selected from a points list based on a player's best 10 performances in 15 events during the 1971 season, ending with the Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf on 21 August. The remaining six were chosen by a committee and announced on 23 August. The leading six in the points table were: Neil Coles, Peter Oosterhuis, Brian Barnes, Harry Bannerman, Peter Butler and Maurice Bembridge. The committee chose Brian Huggett, Peter Townsend and Bernard Gallacher who had finished 7th, 8th and 9th in the list, together with Tony Jacklin, Christy O'Connor Snr and John Garner. Jacklin had played most of his golf in America, while O'Connor had missed much of the season with a wrist injury. Garner was chosen over Tommy Horton who had had a good season in 1970 but had been less consistent than Garner in 1971.  Team Great BritainNameAgePreviousRyder CupsMatchesW–L–HWinningpercentage Eric Brown 46 Non-playing captain Harry Bannerman 29 0 Rookie Brian Barnes 26 1 3 0–3–0 0.00 Maurice Bembridge 26 1 5 2–2–1 50.00 Peter Butler 39 2 9 2–5–2 33.33 Neil Coles 36 5 27 10–13–4 44.44 Bernard Gallacher 22 1 4 2–2–0 50.00 John Garner 24 0 Rookie Brian Huggett 34 3 15 4–7–4 40.00 Tony Jacklin 27 2 12 6–3–3 62.50 Christy O'Connor Snr 46 8 27 9–16–2 37.04 Peter Oosterhuis 23 0 Rookie Peter Townsend 25 1 5 3–2–0 60.00

Thursday's matches Morning foursomes Results Coles/O'Connor 2 & 1Casper/BarberTownsend/Oosterhuis 2 upPalmer/DickinsonHuggett/Jacklin 3 & 2Nicklaus/StocktonBembridge/Butler 1 upCoody/Beard 3 Session 1 3 Overall 1

Afternoon foursomes Results Bannerman/Gallacher 2 & 1Casper/BarberTownsend/Oosterhuis 1 upPalmer/DickinsonHuggett/JacklinhalvedTrevino/RudolphBembridge/Butler 5 & 3Nicklaus/Snead 1 Session 2 4 Overall 3

Friday's matches Morning four-ball Results O'Connor/Barnes 2 & 1Trevino/RudolphColes/Garner 2 & 1Beard/SneadOosterhuis/Gallacher 5 & 4Palmer/DickinsonTownsend/Bannerman 2 & 1Nicklaus/Littler 0 Session 4 4 Overall 7

Afternoon four-ball Results Gallacher/Oosterhuis 1 upTrevino/CasperJacklin/Huggett 2 & 1Littler/SneadTownsend/Bannerman 1 upPalmer/NicklausColes/O'ConnorhalvedCoody/Beard 1 Session 2 6 Overall 10

Saturday's matches Morning singles Results Tony Jacklin 1 upLee TrevinoBernard GallacherhalvedDave StocktonBrian Barnes 1 upMason RudolphPeter Oosterhuis 4 & 3Gene LittlerPeter Townsend 3 & 2Jack NicklausChristy O'Connor 5 & 4Gardner DickinsonHarry BannermanhalvedArnold PalmerNeil ColeshalvedFrank Beard 3 Session 4 9 Overall 14

Afternoon singles Results Brian Huggett 7 & 6Lee TrevinoTony Jacklin 1 upJ. C. SneadBrian Barnes 2 & 1Miller BarberPeter Townsend 1 upDave StocktonBernard Gallacher 2 & 1Charles CoodyNeil Coles 5 & 3Jack NicklausPeter Oosterhuis 3 & 2Arnold PalmerHarry Bannerman 2 & 1Gardner Dickinson 4 Session 4 13 Overall 18

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

Source:

United States Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsMiller Barber 0 0–3–0 0–1–0 0–2–0 0–0–0Frank Beard 2 1–1–2 0–0–1 0–1–0 1–0–1Billy Casper 0 0–3–0 0–0–0 0–2–0 0–1–0Charles Coody 0.5 0–2–1 0–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–1Gardner Dickinson 4 4–1–0 1–1–0 2–0–0 1–0–0Gene Littler 2 2–1–0 0–1–0 0–0–0 2–0–0Jack Nicklaus 5 5–1–0 2–0–0 1–1–0 2–0–0Arnold Palmer 4.5 4–1–1 0–1–1 2–0–0 2–0–0Mason Rudolph 1.5 1–1–1 0–1–0 0–0–1 1–0–0J. C. Snead 4 4–0–0 1–0–0 1–0–0 2–0–0Dave Stockton 1.5 1–1–1 1–0–1 0–1–0 0–0–0Lee Trevino 3.5 3–1–1 2–0–0 0–0–1 1–1–0

Great Britain Player Points Overall Singles Foursomes FourballsHarry Bannerman 2.5 2–2–1 1–0–1 1–0–0 0–2–0Brian Barnes 2 2–1–0 2–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Maurice Bembridge 1 1–1–0 0–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–0Peter Butler 1 1–1–0 0–0–0 1–1–0 0–0–0Neil Coles 2 1–2–2 0–1–1 1–0–0 0–1–1Bernard Gallacher 3.5 3–1–1 1–0–1 1–0–0 1–1–0John Garner 0 0–1–0 0–0–0 0–0–0 0–1–0Brian Huggett 1.5 1–2–1 0–1–0 1–0–1 0–1–0Tony Jacklin 1.5 1–3–1 0–2–0 1–0–1 0–1–0Christy O'Connor 1.5 1–2–1 0–1–0 1–0–0 0–1–1Peter Oosterhuis 3 3–3–0 2–0–0 0–2–0 1–1–0Peter Townsend 0 0–6–0 0–2–0 0–2–0 0–2–0

References

External links PGA of America: 1971 Ryder Cup About.com: 1971 Ryder Cup Old Warson Country Club