1963 Ryder Cup

15th Ryder Cup Matches

Dates	October 11–13, 1963
Venue	Atlanta Athletic Club
Location	Atlanta, Georgia
Captains	Arnold Palmer (USA) John Fallon (Great Britain)
23 9
United States wins the Ryder Cup

Atlanta AC

Location in the United States

The 15th Ryder Cup Matches were held October 11–13, 1963 at the Atlanta Athletic Club, at the site now known as East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia.^[1] The United States team won the competition by a score of 23 to 9 points.^[2][3] The U.S. did not lose a single match in the afternoon sessions.^[4]

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format changed in 1963, with the addition of four-ball (better ball) matches on a third day of play. The schedule of play was as follows:

• Day 1 (Friday) — 8 foursomes (alternate shot) matches, 4 each in morning and afternoon sessions
• Day 2 (Saturday) — 8 four-ball (better ball) matches, 4 each in morning and afternoon sessions
• Day 3 (Sunday) — 16 singles matches, 8 each in morning and afternoon sessions

With a total of 32 points, 16½ points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

Source: ^[5]

In his second Ryder Cup, Arnold Palmer was the last playing captain in the competition. He was 3–1 in pairs and 1–1 in singles.

Despite having won his third major title as a professional at the PGA Championship in July, 23-year-old Jack Nicklaus was not a member of the U.S. team. Eligibility rules set by the PGA prevented him from participating in the Ryder Cup until 1969.^[6][7] He competed as a player through 1981, missing only the 1979 edition, and was the non-playing captain of the U.S. team in 1983 and 1987.

Team USA
Name	Age	Previous Ryder Cups	Matches	W–L–H	Winning percentage
Arnold Palmer – captain	34	1	4	3–0–1	87.50
Julius Boros	43	1	1	1–0–0	100.00
Billy Casper	32	1	3	3–0–0	100.00
Dow Finsterwald	34	3	7	5–2–0	71.43
Bob Goalby	34	0	Rookie
Tony Lema	29	0	Rookie
Gene Littler	33	1	3	0–1–2	33.33
Billy Maxwell	34	0	Rookie
Johnny Pott	27	0	Rookie
Dave Ragan	28	0	Rookie

Team Great Britain
Name	Age	Previous Ryder Cups	Matches	W–L–H	Winning percentage
John Fallon	50	Non-playing captain
Peter Alliss	32	4	10	3–5–2	40.00
Neil Coles	29	1	4	1–2–1	37.50
Tom Haliburton	48	1	3	0–3–0	0.00
Brian Huggett	26	0	Rookie
Bernard Hunt	33	4	9	2–6–1	27.78
Geoffrey Hunt	27	0	Rookie
Christy O'Connor Snr	38	4	9	3–5–1	38.89
Dave Thomas	29	1	2	0–1–1	25.00
Harry Weetman	42	6	10	1–8–1	15.00
George Will	26	0	Rookie

Friday's matches

Morning foursomes

	Results
Huggett/Will	3 & 2	Palmer/Pott
Alliss/O'Connor	1 up	Casper/Ragan
Coles/B. Hunt	halved	Boros/Lema
Thomas/Weetman	halved	Littler/Finsterwald
2	Session	2
2	Overall	2

Afternoon foursomes

	Results
Thomas/Weetman	4 & 3	Maxwell/Goalby
Huggett/Will	5 & 4	Palmer/Casper
Coles/G. Hunt	2 & 1	Littler/Finsterwald
Haliburton/B. Hunt	1 up	Boros/Lema
0	Session	4
2	Overall	6

Saturday's matches

Morning four-ball

	Results
Huggett/Thomas	5 & 4	Palmer/Finsterwald
Alliss/B. Hunt	halved	Littler/Boros
Weetman/Will	3 & 2	Casper/Maxwell
Coles/O'Connor	1 up	Goalby/Ragan
1½	Session	2½
3½	Overall	8½

Afternoon four-ball

	Results
Coles/O'Connor	3 & 2	Palmer/Finsterwald
Alliss/B. Hunt	1 up	Lema/Pott
Haliburton/G. Hunt	2 & 1	Casper/Maxwell
Huggett/Thomas	halved	Goalby/Ragan
½	Session	3½
4	Overall	12

Sunday's matches

Morning singles

	Results
Geoffrey Hunt	5 & 3	Tony Lema
Brian Huggett	3 & 1	Johnny Pott
Peter Alliss	1 up	Arnold Palmer
Neil Coles	halved	Billy Casper
Dave Thomas	3 & 2	Bob Goalby
Christy O'Connor	1 up	Gene Littler
Harry Weetman	1 up	Julius Boros
Bernard Hunt	2 up	Dow Finsterwald
4½	Session	3½
8½	Overall	15½

Afternoon singles

	Results
George Will	3 & 2	Arnold Palmer
Neil Coles	2 & 1	Dave Ragan
Peter Alliss	halved	Tony Lema
Tom Haliburton	6 & 5	Gene Littler
Harry Weetman	2 & 1	Julius Boros
Christy O'Connor	2 & 1	Billy Maxwell
Dave Thomas	4 & 3	Dow Finsterwald
Bernard Hunt	2 & 1	Bob Goalby
½	Session	7½
9	Overall	23

Individual player records

Each entry refers to the Win–Loss–Half record of the player.

Source: ^[5]

United States

Player	Points	Overall	Singles	Foursomes	Fourballs
Julius Boros	3	2–1–2	1–1–0	1–0–1	0–0–1
Billy Casper	4.5	4–0–1	0–0–1	2–0–0	2–0–0
Dow Finsterwald	4.5	4–1–1	1–1–0	1–0–1	2–0–0
Bob Goalby	3.5	3–1–1	2–0–0	1–0–0	0–1–1
Tony Lema	4	3–0–2	1–0–1	1–0–1	1–0–0
Gene Littler	4	3–0–2	2–0–0	1–0–1	0–0–1
Billy Maxwell	4	4–0–0	1–0–0	1–0–0	2–0–0
Arnold Palmer	4	4–2–0	1–1–0	1–1–0	2–0–0
Johnny Pott	1	1–2–0	0–1–0	0–1–0	1–0–0
Dave Ragan	2.5	2–1–1	1–0–0	1–0–0	0–1–1

Great Britain

Player	Points	Overall	Singles	Foursomes	Fourballs
Peter Alliss	2	1–2–2	1–0–1	0–1–0	0–1–1
Neil Coles	2	1–3–2	0–1–1	0–1–1	1–1–0
Tom Haliburton	0	0–3–0	0–1–0	0–1–0	0–1–0
Brian Huggett	2.5	2–2–1	1–0–0	1–1–0	0–1–1
Bernard Hunt	2	1–3–2	1–1–0	0–1–1	0–1–1
Geoffrey Hunt	0	0–3–0	0–1–0	0–1–0	0–1–0
Christy O'Connor	1	1–4–0	0–2–0	0–1–0	1–1–0
Dave Thomas	1	0–4–2	0–2–0	0–1–1	0–1–1
Harry Weetman	1.5	1–3–1	1–1–0	0–1–1	0–1–0
George Will	1	1–3–0	0–1–0	1–1–0	0–1–0

References

1. The AAC sold its Atlanta property in 1966 to finance its move to what is now Johns Creek. In 1968, East Lake Country Club was formed and purchased the former AAC site; the club later changed its name to its current form.
2. "Yanks rout British in Ryder golf, 23-9". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. October 13, 1963. p. 31.
3. Wright, Alfred (October 21, 1963). "The British went out in the noonday sun". Sports Illustrated. p. 53.
4. "Ryder Cup won again by U.S. team". Eugene Register-Guard. UPI. October 14, 1963. p. 3B.
5. "2016 Ryder Cup Media Guide" (PDF). Retrieved September 26, 2015.
6. "Media Guide: 1963 Ryder Cup". PGA of America. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
7. "Media Guide: 1969 Ryder Cup". PGA of America. Retrieved September 26, 2012.

• "Ryder Cup 2006 » History » 1963 Results". The PGA of America. Retrieved March 15, 2007.

External links

• PGA of America: 1963 Ryder Cup
• About.com: 1963 Ryder Cup

Coordinates: 33°44′35″N 84°18′11″W / 33.743°N 84.303°W