The Ryder Cup has thrown up incredible drama since it was established in 1927.
And it’s been witness to some amazing feats down the years – no surprise given that it features 24 of the best players in the world.
Ahead of the 45th match between the United States and Europe – this one taking place at Bethpage Black in New York – Golf365 looks at some of the records in the biennial event that may never be broken.
Most overall matches won – Sergio Garcia (25)
A player racking up 25 wins becomes more remarkable the longer you think about it. The quickest route would be playing in five Ryder Cups and winning every single match – an almost ridiculous task – but even that would mean staying at the peak of the game for an extended period.
Sergio Garcia took part in 10 straight Ryder Cups between 1999 and 2021, playing 45 matches in that period. He won 25, halved seven and lost 13, giving him 28.5pts, also a record. Both are monumental feats.
Of his still active rivals, Rory McIlroy has 16 wins and Justin Rose 14 but Sergio’s record of most wins and most points will still look an awful long way away.
Largest margin of victory (15) – USA 23.5-8.5 in 1967
We’ve seen some one-sided Ryder Cups in recent years. They include an absolute hammering for Europe the last time the contest was held on American soil when Team USA ran out 19-9 winners.
But surely we’ll never see anything like the 1967 match when the USA won by the astonishing margin of 15 points.
Ben Hogan’s team demolished Dai Rees’ Great Britain side (these were the days before Europe became involved) with two home players, Arnold Palmer and Gardner Dickinson, scoring five points.
A slight wrinkle is that matches were played over 32 points rather than 28 back then so the scope for such a massive winning margin was slightly higher. To gain a winning margin greater than 15 in the current era would mean a scoreline of 22-6!
Most Ryder Cup wins in a row (7) – USA twice
Europe have had the better of modern Ryder Cups but their longest sequence of consecutive wins is three: 2002, 2004 & 2006 and 2010, 2012 & 2014.
But twice in history, the United States have racked up seven straight wins. The first was from 1935 to 1955 before they matched that feat from 1971 to 1983, the last three after Europe had joined in 1979.
Youngest captain – (34 years, 29 days) Arnold Palmer
The pressures involved in modern Ryder Cups mean it’s a huge ask for anyone to be both player and captain. Indeed, we’ve seen that this year with Keegan Bradley deciding to focus solely on his captain duties despite qualifying as a player.
And that means it would be highly unlikely for anyone to beat Arnie’s record of being the youngest ever Ryder Cup captain.
That came at Atlanta Athletic Club in 1963 with the great man still yet to turn 35. How did he perform? Very well! Despite needing to perform two roles, Palmer played all six matches that year and won four of them.
Oldest player – Ray Floyd (51 years, 18 days)
Phil Mickelson won the 2021 PGA Championship at the age of 50 but still didn’t make the US Ryder Cup team later that year.
It suggests that a player who has reached his sixth decade would struggle to qualify automatically given the quality of competition around him and also be unlikely to gain a captain’s pick given the mental and physical stress involved.
And that means Ray Floyd’s record for the oldest player to take part could stand forever.
He was 51 at the Belfry in 1989 but, amazingly, the old rogue still managed to win three points from his four matches, beating Jose Maria Olazabal in the singles to help Team USA pull off a dramatic 15-13 victory.
Two holes-in-one in same Ryder Cup – K Club 2006
With just 24 players on show and some matches ending early, hence not all the par 3s being used, it’s no surprise that holes-in-one in Ryder Cups are a very rare beast.
Indeed, in the tournament’s 98-year history, there have been just six – five by Europe and just one from the USA. The first was from England’s Peter Butler in 1973.
So given that paltry number, it’s remarkable that two came in the same Ryder Cup.
That was at the K Club in 2006. Paul Casey drained his tee-shot in a foursomes win on day two before American Scott Verplank made an ace on the same hole (the 14th) a day later in his 4&3 singles win over Padraig Harrington.
Largest winning margin in an 18-hole match – 9&7
That anyone could win a Ryder Cup foursomes match by a 9&7 margin against elite opponents seems pretty flabbergasting. But when finding out that World No.1 Scottie Scheffler was on the end of such a beating, it’s almost impossible to comprehend.
That crushing victory was scored by Scandinavian pair Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland in Rome two years ago when they humiliated Scheffler and Brooks Koepka on day two, the match lasting just 11 holes.
Aberg said later: “Today was quite surreal at times. I had to pinch myself a little bit.”
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