2004 Ryder Cup
 | ||
| Dates | September 17–19, 2004 | |
| Venue | Oakland Hills Country Club South Course | |
| Location | Bloomfield Township, Michigan | |
| Captains | Hal Sutton (USA) Bernhard Langer (Europe) | |
 9½ 18½  | ||
| Europe wins the Ryder Cup | ||
| «2002 | 2006» | |
Country Club
The 35th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 17–19, 2004 at the South Course of Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit.
The European team won the competition by a margin of 18½ to 9½ points,[1] The victory margin was the largest by a European team in the history of the event, and the largest by either side since 1981, when Team USA defeated Team Europe by the same score. It was also the largest margin of defeat for the USA on home soil as well as their worst ever defeat since the competition started in 1927.
Format
The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format changed slightly from used from that used from 1991 to 2002, with the order of play swapped on the second day:
- Day 1 (Friday) — 4 fourball (better ball) matches in a morning session and 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in an afternoon session
- Day 2 (Saturday) — 4 fourball matches in a morning session and 4 foursome matches in an afternoon session
- Day 3 (Sunday) — 12 singles matches
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 USA | ||
| Name | Residence | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Hal Sutton | Shreveport, Louisiana | Non-playing captain |
| Chad Campbell | Lewisville, Texas | Seventh in Cup points |
| Stewart Cink | Duluth, Georgia | Captain's Pick |
| Chris DiMarco | Orlando, Florida | Eighth in Cup points |
| Fred Funk | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida | Ninth in Cup points |
| Jim Furyk | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida | Fourth in Cup points |
| Jay Haas | Greenville, South Carolina | Captain's Pick |
| Davis Love III | Sea Island, Georgia | Third in Cup points |
| Phil Mickelson | Rancho Santa Fe, California | Second in Cup points |
| Kenny Perry | Franklin, Kentucky | Fifth in Cup points |
| Chris Riley | Las Vegas, Nevada | Tenth in Cup points Makes Cup debut |
| David Toms | Shreveport, Louisiana | Sixth in Cup points |
| Tiger Woods | Windermere, Florida | First in Cup points |
| Team Europe | ||
| Name | Residence | Notes |
|---|---|---|
 Bernhard Langer |
Anhausen, Germany Boca Raton, Florida, USA |
Non-playing captain |
 Paul Casey |
Weybridge, England, UK Scottsdale, Arizona, USA |
Eighth in World points Sixth in Cup points |
 Darren Clarke |
Chobham, England, UK | Third in World and Cup points |
| Luke Donald |
High Wycombe, England, UK Chicago, Illinois, USA |
Ninth in World points Captain's Pick |
 Sergio García |
Borriol, Spain | Second in World points 23rd in Cup points |
 Pádraig Harrington |
Dublin, Ireland | First in World points Fifth in Cup points |
| David Howell |
Weybridge, England, UK | 13th in World points Seventh in Cup points Makes Cup debut |
| Miguel Ángel Jiménez |
Málaga, Spain | Fourth in World points First in Cup points |
 Thomas Levet |
Warfield, England, UK | Seventh in World points Fourth in Cup points |
| Paul McGinley |
Sunningdale, England, UK | Eleventh in World points Eighth in Cup points |
 Colin Montgomerie |
Troon, Scotland, UK | 19th in World points 16th in Cup points Captain's Pick |
| Ian Poulter |
Milton Keynes, England, UK | Tenth in World points Ninth in Cup points |
| Lee Westwood |
Worksop, England, UK | Fifth in World points Second in Cup points |
Thursday practice
-
Colin Montgomerie
-
Pádraig Harrington
-
Thomas Levet
-
Jim Furyk
-
Fred Funk
-
Tiger Woods
-
Chad Campbell
-
Stewart Cink
Friday's matches
Morning four-ball
U.S. captain Hal Sutton put his top pairing of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the first match of the Ryder Cup, hoping to come out to a quick lead. The decision backfired on Sutton, as the Woods/Mickelson pairing fell behind almost from the start, eventually losing. Only a 7-foot par putt by Chris Riley on the 18th hole of his match kept Team USA from being shut out by Team Europe. Team USA never had the lead during any of the first day's four-ball matches.
| |
Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Montgomerie/Harrington | 2 & 1 |
Mickelson/Woods |
| Clarke/Jiménez | 5 & 4 |
Campbell/Love III |
| McGinley/Donald | halved | Riley/Cink |
| García/Westwood | 4 & 3 |
Toms/Furyk |
| 3½ | Session | ½ |
| 3½ | Overall | ½ |
Afternoon foursomes
The afternoon alternate-shot session was almost as good for Team Europe as the morning session. Mickelson and Woods lost an early lead in their match, leaving Woods winless in the first day of his last three Ryder Cups. Team USA picked up its first full point, but Europe ended the day with a 6½–1½ lead, its largest lead after the first day in Ryder Cup history.
| |
Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Jiménez/Levet | 3 & 2 |
DiMarco/Haas |
| Montgomerie/Harrington | 4 & 2 |
Love III/Funk |
| Clarke/Westwood | 1 up |
Mickelson/Woods |
| García/Donald | 2 & 1 |
Perry/Cink |
| 3 | Session | 1 |
| 6½ | Overall | 1½ |
Saturday's matches
Morning four-ball
| |
Results | |
|---|---|---|
| García/Westwood | halved | Haas/DiMarco |
| Clarke/Poulter | 4 & 3 |
Woods/Riley |
| Casey/Howell | 1 up |
Furyk/Campbell |
| Montgomerie/Harrington | 3 & 2 |
Cink/Love III |
| 1½ | Session | 2½ |
| 8 | Overall | 4 |
Afternoon foursomes
| |
Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Clarke/Westwood | 5 & 4 |
Haas/DiMarco |
| Jiménez/Levet | 4 & 3 |
Mickelson/Toms |
| García/Donald | 1 up |
Furyk/Funk |
| Harrington/McGinley | 4 & 3 |
Love III/Woods |
| 3 | Session | 1 |
| 11 | Overall | 5 |
Sunday's singles matches
| |
Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Paul Casey | 3 & 2 |
Tiger Woods |
| Sergio García | 3 & 2 |
Phil Mickelson |
| Darren Clarke | halved | Davis Love III |
| David Howell | 6 & 4 |
Jim Furyk |
| Lee Westwood | 1 up |
Kenny Perry |
| Colin Montgomerie | 1 up |
David Toms |
| Luke Donald | 5 & 3 |
Chad Campbell |
| Miguel Ángel Jiménez | 1 up |
Chris DiMarco |
| Thomas Levet | 1 up |
Fred Funk |
| Ian Poulter | 3 & 2 |
Chris Riley |
| Pádraig Harrington | 1 up |
Jay Haas |
| Paul McGinley | 3 & 2 |
Stewart Cink |
| 7½ | Session | 4½ |
| 18½ | Overall | 9½ |
References
- "Ryder Cup 2004 / The Official Site of the 35th Ryder Cup Matches". The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Limited, and Turner Sports Interactive. Archived from the original on 10 March 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
- "Ryder Cup". BBC Sport. 2005-08-03. Retrieved 2007-03-14.
- ↑ Montgomerie is widely credited as having holed the winning putt, although Ian Poulter birdied on the 15th hole of his match to guarantee a half point and so mathematically win the Ryder Cup seconds before Montgomerie. This was commentated on by course commentators and BBC Radio 5 Live, whose Golf correspondent Ian Coulter recalled in the News of the World: "My editor said Poulter was three up seconds before Monty hit his putt. Then Colin's putt went in - you can imagine the situation. To have overruled his achievement would have been like trying to deny Alan Shearer a goal that went in off a defender." "This man won us Ryder Cup - not Monty" News of the World (London); September 26, 2004; Geoff Sweet; p. 75. Frank Keating of The Guardian also noted this chain of events, writing "radio logged the fact that it was not Montgomerie's putt which actually clinched the cup but Poulter's, a matter of seconds before and a few holes behind." "Golf, Cricket: Notes from the touchline" The Guardian (Manchester); Sep 24, 2004; Frank Keating; p. 34. Notwithstanding, Poulter was still in a Dormie position at this time (3 holes up with 3 to play) and players in this position can still be disqualified and thus lose their match. A similar situation took place 2 years later.
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Coordinates: 42°32′38″N 83°16′37″W / 42.544°N 83.277°W