This year is the 40th anniversary of the Ryder Cup result that transformed the fortunes of the biennial match.
Before Europe’s 1985 victory, American dominance of the match was absolute. In fact, they had won 17 of 19 post-war matches (and lost only one).
To celebrate that triumph, four of the heroes of the match are returning to the Brabazon Course at The Belfry.
Nick Faldo, who is the host of this week’s British Masters, and Ian Woosnam will take on Sandy Lyle and Sam Torrance, who holed the winning putt 40 years ago.
It will be a fantastic occasion, but it begs the question: who are the greatest European Ryder Cup combinations of the modern era?
Here’s our top seven…
1. Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal
The numbers are compelling. This Spanish duo played together 15 times, which is more than any other Ryder Cup pairing in history. More importantly, they compiled a dozen points together, which is exactly half a dozen more than any other combination.
Moreover, it didn’t matter what format they played in. They won six of their eight foursomes matches and five of their seven foursomes. And in eight foursomes and fourballs during the 1989 and 1991 Cups, they were undefeated.
But the stats only tell half the story.
Ballesteros helped fuel the revival of Europe’s Ryder Cup hopes during the defeat of 1983 and then led the charge in the 1985 victory. But when his younger compatriot joined the team in 1987, he was sparked to yet greater heights – the pair were instrumental in successfully defending the trophy in 1987 in what was the team’s first-ever victory on American soil.
The pair might even count the Miracle in Medinah in 2012 as their final triumph. Olazabal was the captain, and the deceased Ballesteros was the inspiration he referenced throughout the week.
2. Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam
In Europe’s glory years of the late 1980s and early 1990s, this English-Welsh combination was second only to the Spaniards as an influence on the destiny of the Ryder Cup.
They first played together in the drought-breaking win at Muirfield Village in 1987 when they won three and halved a fourth match.
They would eventually play together 10 times, winning five matches and halving two.
It was not an obvious pairing – the deliberate Faldo and the fiery Woosnam – but they were both at the top of their games, and only the brilliance of Seve and Olly tops them in this list.
3. Tommy Fleetwood and Francesco Molinari
A short-lived pairing but an indisputably great one.
Ahead of the 2018 Ryder Cup in Paris, Molinari had a poor record (0-4-2), but he was also the Open champion. Meanwhile, Fleetwood was a raw rookie.
But they were good friends, and they gelled to perfection.
In the opening fourballs, they gained Europe’s only point – an ultimately essential finger-hold on the American coattails and all the more sensational because they defeated the great Tiger Woods and Captain America Patrick Reed.
That afternoon, they thumped Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth 5-and-4 as Europe’s whitewashed the visitors.
Next morning, they walloped Woods and Reed 4-and-3, then creamed Woods and Bryson DeChambeau 5-and-4.
Renamed Moli-wood, they were not only 4-for-4 that week, they also achieved it by smashing quality opposition and doing it in style.
4. Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood
Statistically, only Seve and Olly won more points than this duo – while Faldo and Woosnam landed the same number.
Between 1999 and 2006, this Northern Irish/English combination played eight times and won six of them.
Having gone 2-for-4 on debut as a pairing in 1999, they had to wait until 2004 to be revived.
It was worth the wait – they went 100% both at Oakland Hills and at the K Club two years later.
5. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson
When Paul McGinley paired the Englishman and the Swede at Gleneagles in 2014, it proved to be a masterstroke.
They won three points and lost one.
It turned out that they were more effective on home soil rather than away, however.
At Hazeltine in 2016, they won just one point in three.
But reunited in Paris in 2018, they played two foursomes and won them both.
6. Bernhard Langer and Colin Montgomerie
The German was always a dependable figure in the Ryder Cup through 10 matches as a player and one supreme victory as captain.
Montgomerie was more heart than head as he thrived on the love of his team-mates and the galleries during Ryder Cup week.
Together, they were unlikely dynamite between 1991 and 2002.
Strangely, throughout those 11 years, they only combined seven times, but in that period, they won five times and lost just once.
They were particularly effective in the foursomes, winning three and halving one of their matches.
7. Tony Jacklin and Peter Oosterhuis
At first glance, this pairing was successful, but not perhaps as much as other duos.
The key is that Tony Jacklin and Peter Oosterhuis had to perform in the bleak 1970s when the Great Britain and Ireland team was little short of abject.
In 1973, they lost 19-13.
Two years later, the result was decided before the final singles session even started. It eventually finished 21-11.
Yet, throughout these disasters, the Englishmen, who also played on the PGA Tour, stood strong in a losing cause.
In 1973, they won two points and halved another in their four games.
Two years later, they won one, halved one and lost one.
In those two matches, GB&I won just 11.5 points in the 32 foursomes and four balls – Jacklin and Oosterhuis won eight of them.
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