| Dates | 7–9 October 1965 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Royal Birkdale Golf Club | ||||
| Location | Southport,England | ||||
| Captains |
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| United States wins theRyder Cup | |||||
The16th Ryder Cup Matches were held 7–9 October 1965 atRoyal Birkdale Golf Club inSouthport,England. For the first time commercialisation started to make a presence on site.[citation needed] The United States team won the competition by a score of 191⁄2 to 121⁄2 points.[1][2]
TheRyder Cup is amatch play event, with each match worth one point. From1963 through1971 the competition format was as follows:
With a total of 32 points, 161⁄2 points were required to win the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.
Source:[3]
The British team was determined using a points system. Compared to the system used in 1963, there was more emphasis on high finishes, points only being allocated to the leading 20 rather than the leading 40. Points were based on the actual finishing position, whereas previously non-eligible players had been excluded in determining positions. In addition, points were earned in a number of invitation events, including theDunlop Masters, theMartini International and theEsso Golden Tournament. The Open champion remained an automatic choice but theNews of the World Match Play champion was no longer guaranteed a place. Counting tournaments started with the 1964Carroll Sweet Afton Tournament and finished with the 1965 Esso Golden Tournament.[4] For the 1965 event the British PGA reduced the period that a tournament professional had to wait before becoming eligible for the Ryder Cup team from five years to three. This meant that ex-amateur golfers likeGuy Wolstenholme (who turned professional in late 1960) andDoug Sewell (1961) became eligible.[5] The field for the 1965 Esso Golden Tournament were the first 15 in the Ryder Cup points list. Before the event the leading seven were guaranteed their place in the team; the remaining eight being in contention for the three remaining places.[6]Jimmy Hitchcock andDave Thomas who were 8th and 9th before the event retained their places in the top 10 but Wolstenholme, who started 10th, was passed byGeorge Will, the winner of the tournament.[7]
 Team Great Britain | ||||||
| Name | Age | Points rank | Previous Ryder Cups | Matches | W–L–H | Winning percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Harry Weetman | 44 | Non-playing captain | ||||
| Peter Alliss | 34 | 5 | 5 | 15 | 4–7–4 | 40.00 |
| Peter Butler | 33 | 3 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Neil Coles | 31 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 2–5–3 | 35.00 |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 35 | 10 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Bernard Hunt | 35 | 1 | 5 | 15 | 3–9–3 | 30.00 |
 Jimmy Martin | 41 | 7 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Christy O'Connor Snr | 40 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 4–9–1 | 32.14 |
| Lionel Platts | 30 | 6 | 0 | Rookie | ||
 Dave Thomas | 31 | 8 | 2 | 8 | 0–5–3 | 18.75 |
 George Will | 28 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 1–3–0 | 25.00 |
Despite having won his fourthmajor title as a professional at theMasters Tournament in April, 25-year-oldJack Nicklaus was not a member of the U.S. team. Eligibility rules set by thePGA prevented him from participating in theRyder Cup until1969.[8][9] He competed as a player through1981, missing only the1979 edition, and was the non-playing captain of the U.S. team in1983 and1987.
Pott did not play due to a back injury.[10]
 Team USA | |||||
| Name | Age | Previous Ryder Cups | Matches | W–L–H | Winning percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Byron Nelson | 53 | Non-playing captain | |||
| Julius Boros | 45 | 2 | 6 | 3–1–2 | 66.67 |
| Billy Casper | 34 | 2 | 8 | 7–0–1 | 93.75 |
| Tommy Jacobs | 30 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Don January | 35 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Tony Lema | 31 | 1 | 5 | 3–0–2 | 80.00 |
| Gene Littler | 35 | 2 | 8 | 3–1–4 | 62.50 |
| Dave Marr | 31 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Arnold Palmer | 36 | 2 | 10 | 7–2–1 | 75.00 |
| Johnny Pott | 29 | 1 | 3 | 1–2–0 | 33.33 |
| Ken Venturi | 34 | 0 | Rookie | ||
| Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Platts/Butler |  1 up | Boros/Lema |
| Thomas/Will |  6 & 5 | Palmer/Marr |
| Hunt/Coles | 2 & 1 | Casper/Littler |
| Alliss/O'Connor | 5 & 4 | Venturi/January |
| 2 | Session | 2 |
| 2 | Overall | 2 |
| Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas/Will | 6 & 5 | Palmer/Marr |
| Alliss/O'Connor | 2 & 1 | Casper/Littler |
| Martin/Hitchcock | 5 & 4 | Boros/Lema |
| Hunt/Coles | 3 & 2 | Venturi/January |
| 2 | Session | 2 |
| 4 | Overall | 4 |
| Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Thomas/Will | 1 up | January/Jacobs |
| Platts/Butler | halved | Casper/Littler |
| Alliss/O'Connor | 6 & 4 | Palmer/Marr |
| Hunt/Coles | 1 up | Boros/Lema |
| 11⁄2 | Session | 21⁄2 |
| 51⁄2 | Overall | 61⁄2 |
| Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Alliss/O'Connor | 2 up | Palmer/Marr |
| Thomas/Will | 1 up | January/Jacobs |
| Platts/Butler | halved | Casper/Littler |
| Hunt/Coles | 1 up | Venturi/Lema |
| 11⁄2 | Session | 21⁄2 |
| 7 | Overall | 9 |
| Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 3 & 2 | Arnold Palmer |
| Lionel Platts | 4 & 2 | Julius Boros |
| Peter Butler | 1 up | Tony Lema |
| Neil Coles | 2 up | Dave Marr |
| Bernard Hunt | 2 up | Gene Littler |
| Dave Thomas | 2 & 1 | Tommy Jacobs |
| Peter Alliss | 1 up | Billy Casper |
| George Will | halved | Don January |
| 21⁄2 | Session | 51⁄2 |
| 91⁄2 | Overall | 141⁄2 |
| Results | |
|---|---|---|
| Christy O'Connor | 6 & 4 | Tony Lema |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 2 & 1 | Julius Boros |
| Peter Butler | 2 up | Arnold Palmer |
| Peter Alliss | 3 & 1 | Ken Venturi |
| Neil Coles | 3 & 2 | Billy Casper |
| George Will | 2 & 1 | Gene Littler |
| Bernard Hunt | 1 up | Dave Marr |
| Lionel Platts | 1 up | Tommy Jacobs |
| 3 | Session | 5 |
| 121⁄2 | Overall | 191⁄2 |
Each entry refers to the win–loss–half record of the player.
Source:[3]
| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Alliss | 5 | 5–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Peter Butler | 1 | 0–3–2 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–2 |
| Neil Coles | 3 | 3–3–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | 0 | 0–3–0 | 0–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Bernard Hunt | 3 | 3–3–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Jimmy Martin | 0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–0 |
| Christy O'Connor | 3 | 3–2–0 | 0–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Lionel Platts | 2 | 1–2–2 | 1–1–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–0–2 |
| Dave Thomas | 1 | 1–4–0 | 0–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–2–0 |
| George Will | 1.5 | 1–4–1 | 0–1–1 | 1–1–0 | 0–2–0 |
| Player | Points | Overall | Singles | Foursomes | Fourballs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julius Boros | 4 | 4–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 0–1–0 |
| Billy Casper | 2 | 1–3–2 | 0–2–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–2 |
| Tommy Jacobs | 3 | 3–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–0 | 2–0–0 |
| Don January | 2.5 | 2–2–1 | 0–0–1 | 0–2–0 | 2–0–0 |
| Tony Lema | 5 | 5–1–0 | 2–0–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Gene Littler | 3 | 2–2–2 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 | 0–0–2 |
| Dave Marr | 4 | 4–2–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Arnold Palmer | 4 | 4–2–0 | 2–0–0 | 1–1–0 | 1–1–0 |
| Ken Venturi | 1 | 1–3–0 | 0–1–0 | 0–2–0 | 1–0–0 |
Johnny Pott did not play in any matches.
