1969 Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, England
Captains: Sam Snead (US), Eric Brown (GB)
USA 16 - GB 16
Team Great Britian
Team USA
Tony Jacklin of Great Britain and Jack Nicklaus of the USAIn the closest contest in Ryder Cup history, 17 of the 32 matches went down to the last hole. With the matches tied going into the last day, the British won five of the eight morning singles. But the U. S. roared back, winning four of the first si afternoon matches to even the . In Brian Huggett's match against Billy Casper, Huggett made a four-foot putt to halve the match. That left the Ryder Cup to be decided by the last group of Tony Jacklin and Jack Nicklaus, who where tied going into the last hole. In one of golf's most memorable moments of sportsmanship, Nicklaus, playing in his first Ryder Cup Matches, conceded a two-footer to Jacklin after making a four-footer for par on the last green, resulting in the first tie in the Matches' history.
 Great Britain |
 United States |
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Foursomes: Morning | |||
| N C Coles & B G C Huggett (3 & 2) | 1 | M Barber & R Floyd | 0 |
| B Gallacher & M Bembridge (2 & 1) | 1 | L Trevino & K Still | 0 |
| A Jacklin & P Townsend (3 & 1) | 1 | D Hill & T Aaron | 0 |
| C O'Connor & P Alliss (halved) | ½ | W Casper & F Beard (halved) | ½ |
| Foursomes: Afternoon | |||
| N C Coles & B G C Huggett | 0 | D Hill & T Aaron (1 hole) | 1 |
| B Gallacher & M Bembridge | 0 | L Trevino & G Littler (1 hole) | 1 |
| A Jacklin & P Townsend (1 hole) | 1 | W Casper & F Beard | 0 |
| P J Butler & B J Hunt | 0 | J Nicklaus & D Sikes (1 hole) | 1 |
| Four-Ball: Morning | |||
| C O'Connor & P Townsend (1 hole) | 1 | D Hill & D Douglass | 0 |
| B G C Huggett & G A Caygill (halved) | ½ | R Floyd & M Barber (halved) | ½ |
| B Barnes & P Alliss | 0 | L Trevino & G Littler (1 hole) | 1 |
| A Jacklin & N C Coles (1 hole) | 1 | J Nicklaus & D Sikes | 0 |
| Four-Ball: Afternoon | |||
| P J Butler & P Townsend | 0 | W Casper & F Beard (2 holes) | 1 |
| B G C Huggett & B Gallacher | 0 | D Hill & K Still (2 & 1) | 1 |
| M Bembridge & B J Hunt (halved) | ½ | T Aaron & R Floyd (halved) | ½ |
| A Jacklin & N C Coles (halved) | ½ | L Trevino & M Barber (halved) | ½ |
| Singles: Morning | |||
| P Alliss | 0 | L Trevino (2 & 1) | 1 |
| P Townsend | 0 | D Hill (5 & 4) | 1 |
| N C Coles (1 hole) | 1 | T Aaron | 0 |
| B Barnes | 0 | W Casper (1 hole) | 1 |
| C O'Connor (5 & 4) | 1 | F Beard | 0 |
| M Bembridge (1 hole) | 1 | K Still | 0 |
| P J Butler (1 hole) | 1 | R Floyd | 0 |
| A Jacklin (4 & 3) | 1 | J Nicklaus | 0 |
| Singles | |||
| B Barnes | 0 | D Hill (4 & 2) | 1 |
| B Gallacher (4 & 3) | 1 | L Trevino | 0 |
| M Bembridge | 0 | M Barber (7 & 6) | 1 |
| P J Butler (3 & 2) | 1 | D Douglass | 0 |
| N C Coles | 0 | D Sikes (4 & 3) | 1 |
| C O'Connor | 0 | G Littler (2 & 1) | 1 |
| B G C Huggett (halved) | ½ | W Casper (halved | ½ |
| A Jacklin (halved) | ½ | J Nicklaus(halved) | ½ |
- Don't ever question my Ryder Cup desire, says Furyk
- Woods has some ideas on how to fare better in the future
- Excuses for U.S. Ryder loss are wrong, says Ferguson
- No quick fixes for U.S. Ryder Cup team, says Lehman
- Teamwork, not team spirit, was a problem, Toms says
1969: Tony Jacklin and Jack Nicklaus on the final hole of the final day.
Nearly eighty years ago, English seed merchant and entrepreneur Samuel Ryder founded the Ryder Cup. Learn how it all began.