1997 Ryder Cup

32nd Ryder Cup Matches
Dates   26–28 September
Venue   Valderrama Golf Club
Location   Sotogrande, Spain
Captains   Seve Ballesteros (Europe)
Tom Kite (USA)
  14½   13½  
Europe retains the Ryder Cup
«1995 1999»

The 32nd Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Valderrama Golf Club in Sotogrande, Spain, marking the first time the event was contested in continental Europe. The European team won the competition by a margin of 14½ to 13½ and retained the Cup.

The Europeans held a 10½–5½ lead heading into the final day, and the Americans mounted a comeback by winning the singles matches 8–4 but fell just short. Colin Montgomerie halved the final match with Scott Hoch (conceding a 15-foot par putt on the final hole) to seal the outright victory for the Europeans.

Contents

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format used in 1997 was as follows:

With a total of 28 points, 14½ points were required to win the Cup, and 14 points were required for the defending champion to retain the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

Team Europe

Captain: Seve Ballesteros

Team USA

Captain: Tom Kite

Friday's matches

Morning four-ball

Results
Olazábal/Rocca 1 hole Love III/Mickelson
Faldo/Westwood 1 hole Couples/Faxon
Parnevik/Johansson 1 hole Lehman/Furyk
Montgomerie/Langer 3 & 2 Woods/O'Meara
2 Session 2
2 Overall 2

Afternoon foursomes

Results
Rocca/Olazábal 1 hole Hoch/Janzen
Langer/Montgomerie 5 & 3 O'Meara/Woods
Faldo/Westwood 3 & 2 Leonard/Maggert
Parnevik/Garrido halved Lehman/Mickelson
Session
Overall

Saturday's matches

Morning four-ball

Results
Montgomerie/Clarke 2 holes Couples/Love III
Woosnam/Bjørn 2 & 1 Leonard/Faxon
Faldo/Westwood 2 & 1 Woods/O'Meara
Olazábal/Garrido halved Mickelson/Lehman
Session ½
8 Overall 4

Afternoon foursomes

Results
Montgomerie/Langer 1 hole Janzen/Furyk
Faldo/Westwood 2 & 1 Hoch/Maggert
Parnevik/Garrido halved Leonard/Woods
Olazábal/Rocca 5 & 4 Love III/Couples
Session
10½ Overall

Sunday's singles matches

Results
Ian Woosnam 8 & 7 Fred Couples
Per-Ulrik Johansson 3 & 2 Davis Love III
Costantino Rocca 4 & 2 Tiger Woods
Thomas Bjørn halved Justin Leonard
Darren Clarke 2 & 1 Phil Mickelson
Jesper Parnevik 5 & 4 Mark O'Meara
José María Olazábal 1 hole Lee Janzen
Bernhard Langer 2 & 1 Brad Faxon
Lee Westwood 3 & 2 Jeff Maggert
Colin Montgomerie halved Scott Hoch
Nick Faldo 3 & 2 Jim Furyk
Ignacio Garrido 7 & 6 Tom Lehman
4 Session 8
14½ Overall 13½

References