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Ryder Cup history, results: Here’s who owns the historic event

Ryder Cup History.

This year's Ryder Cup is the 44th playing of the biennial event.

Getty Images

Friday will mark the start of the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup. And while the biennial matches have only been played 44 times, that’s still nearly 100 years of history to look back on, accounting for years skipped.

The matches were founded by its namesake, Samuel Ryder, an English businessman, in the 1926. Ryder helped organize a match between 10 of the best golfers from Britain and 10 American golfers chosen by Walter Hagen in the weeks leading up to that year’s Open Championship.

Ultimately the match, which was a resounding 13-1 victory for the British, wasn’t officially the first Ryder Cup. That honor fell to the 1927 matches in Worcester, Mass., where the Ryder Cup “Deed of Trust” was drawn up, and formal selection processes were created by the participating PGA organizations.

Sadly, Ryder was unable to attend the first official matches due to poor health at the time, but he was still responsible for the creation of the Ryder Cup trophy, which is still in use today.

It was decided the following year that an annual match would be impractical, thus establishing the current biennial cadence.

The original matches pit together a team from the United States and a team from Great Britain. The first four matches were won by the home team, but starting with the 1937 matches and continuing after a pause for World War II, the U.S. went on a run of dominance, winning or retaining the Cup 13 out of 14 times.

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Then in 1979, the present-day Ryder Cup was born with the inclusion of all of continental Europe on a new European team in addition Great Britain and Ireland.

In 1985, led by stalwarts like Seve Ballesteros and Bernhard Langer, the Europeans reclaimed the Cup for the first time since 1957 .The popularity of matches skyrocketed in the years since as Europe has gone on a run of its own, winning 12 of the last 18 matches.

Overall, the U.S. team still leads the all-time series 27-14-2, with the American side retaining the Cup during one of those ties.

Here are the results of each of the previous Ryder Cups, along with some notable matches.

Ryder Cup history, results

Samuel Ryder presents Great Britain captain George Duncan with the Ryder Cup at the 1929 matches. Getty Images

1st Ryder Cup: 1927

Location: Worcester Country Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 9.5-2.5

2nd Ryder Cup: 1929

Location: Moortown Golf Club, England
Result: Great Britain wins, 7-5

3rd Ryder Cup: 1931

The official program from the 4th Ryder Cup. Getty Images

Location: Scioto Country Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 9-3

4th Ryder Cup: 1933

Location: Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club, England
Result: Great Britain wins, 6.5-5.5

5th Ryder Cup: 1935

Location: Ridgewood Country Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 9-3

6th Ryder Cup: 1937

Location: Southport and Ainsdale Golf Club, England
Result: U.S. wins, 8-4

7th Ryder Cup: 1947

Location: Portland Golf Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 11-1

8th Ryder Cup: 1949

Location: Ganton Golf Club, England
Result: U.S. wins, 7-5

9th Ryder Cup: 1951

U.S. Captain Sam Snead recieves the Ryder Cup trophy in 1951. Getty Images

Location: Pinehurst Resort (No. 2), USA
Result: U.S. wins, 9.5-2.5

10th Ryder Cup: 1953

Location: Wentworth Club, England
Result: U.S. wins, 6.5-5.5

11th Ryder Cup: 1955

Location: Thunderbird Country Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 8-4

12th Ryder Cup: 1957

Location: Lindrick Golf Club, England
Result: Great Britain wins, 7.5-4.5

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13th Ryder Cup: 1959

Location: Eldorado Country Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 8.5-3.5

14th Ryder Cup: 1961

Location: Royal Lytham & St Annes, England
Result: U.S. wins, 14.5-9.5

15th Ryder Cup: 1963

Location: Atlanta Athletic Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 23-9

16th Ryder Cup: 1965

Location: Royal Birkdale Golf Club, England
Result: U.S. wins, 19.5-12.5

17th Ryder Cup: 1967

Location: Champions Golf Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 23.5-8.5

18th Ryder Cup: 1969

The concession is considered one of the great acts of sportsmanship of all-time. Getty Images

Location: Royal Birkdale Golf Club, England
Result: Tie, U.S. retains Cup 16-16

The concession: With Europe having won just one Cup in the last 13 matches, tensions were high during the 1969 edition at Royal Birkdale. The whole week was marred in poor sportsmanship, with Great Britain’s captain, Eric Brown, instructing his team not to search for American golf balls. There was another instance of American Ken Still deliberately standing too close to Maurice Bembridge as he was putting.

But it ended with one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship in the history of the game. With the score tied on the final day, Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin were the lone match yet to be decided. After Nicklaus made his five-foot birdie putt on the final hole, he conceded Jacklin’s own two-foot birdie try.

“I don’t think you would have missed that putt, but in these circumstances, I would never give you the opportunity,” Nicklaus told Jacklin afterward.

The match was declared a tie, the first in Ryder Cup history, and the U.S. retained the Cup.

19th Ryder Cup: 1971

Location: Old Warson Country Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 18.5-13.5

20th Ryder Cup: 1973

Location: Muirfield, Scotland
Result: U.S. wins, 19-13

21st Ryder Cup: 1975

Location: Laurel Valley Golf Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 12.5-7.5

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22nd Ryder Cup: 1977

Location: Royal Lytham & St Annes, England
Result: U.S. wins, 21-11

23rd Ryder Cup: 1979*

Location: The Greenbrier, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 17-11

*First match allowing all of continental Europe to compete.

24th Ryder Cup: 1981

Location: Walton Heath Golf Club, England
Result: U.S. wins, 18.5-9.5

25th Ryder Cup: 1983

Location: PGA National Golf Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 14.5-13.5

26th Ryder Cup: 1985

Location: The Belfry (Brabazon), England
Result: Europe wins, 16.5-11.5

27th Ryder Cup: 1987

Location: Muirfield Village, USA
Result: Europe wins, 15-13

28th Ryder Cup: 1989

Location: The Belfry (Brabazon), England
Result: Tie, Europe retains Cup, 14-14

29th Ryder Cup: 1991

The 1991 matches were rather contentious. Getty Images

Location: Kiawah Island Golf Resort (Ocean), USA
Result: U.S. wins, 14.5-13.5

The War on the Shore: With American frustrations at an all-time high after losing two straight Cups and then tying a third, tensions boiled over in 1991. A feud that started in 1989 between Paul Azinger and Seve Ballesteros didn’t help matters as the chippy matches were labeled “The War on the Shore” by the media. Ultimately, Bernhard Langer missed a 6-foot par putt on the final hole of his singles match against Hale Irwin after giving Irwin his bogey putt to halve the match and give the Cup back to the Americans.

30th Ryder Cup: 1993

Location: The Belfry (Brabazon), England
Result: U.S. wins, 15-13

31th Ryder Cup: 1995

Location: Oak Hill Country Club (East)
Result: Europe wins, 14.5-13.5

32nd Ryder Cup: 1997

Location: Valderrama Golf Club, England
Result: Europe wins, 14.5-13.5

33rd Ryder Cup: 1999

Justin Leonard made a 45-foot putt on the 17th hole of his singles match for the U.S. to win. Getty Images

Location: The Country Club (Championship), USA
Result: U.S. wins, 14.5-13.5

The Battle of Brookline: With the Americans trailing 10-6 heading into singles play, the U.S. turned in a remarkable comeback on singles Sunday. By the time Justin Leonard and Jose Maria Olazabal made it to the 17th hole of their match, Leonard needed only to secure a half point for the Americans to win the Ryder Cup for the first time since 1993. Miraculously, Leonard holed a 45-footer for birdie on 17 which sent the U.S. team and the crowd into a frenzy as they mobbed the green, assuming Leonard had just won the Cup for the Americans. Except he didn’t as Olazabal still had a birdie putt to halve the hole, which he missed. There was another, more subdued celebration afterward, but Leonard was only 1 up with one to play and they still had to play the final hole, despite the result having been decided. Olazabal birdied the 18th to halve the singles match. In the aftermath, many of the U.S. team members apologized for their behavior and committed to softening the increasing nationalism of the event.

34th Ryder Cup: 2002

Location: The Belfry (Brabazon), England
Result: Europe wins, 15.5-12.5

35th Ryder Cup: 2004

Location: Oakland Hills Country Club (South), USA
Result: Europe wins, 18.5-9.5

36th Ryder Cup: 2006

Location: K Club (Palmer North), Ireland
Result: Europe wins, 18.5-9.5

37th Ryder Cup: 2008

Location: Valhalla Golf Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 16.5-11.5

38th Ryder Cup: 2010

Location: Celtic Manor Resort (The Twenty Ten), Wales
Result: Europe wins, 16.5-11.5

39th Ryder Cup: 2012

Europe stunned the Americans on the final day of the 1999 Ryder Cup. Getty Images

Location: Medinah Country Club (No. 3), USA
Result: Europe wins, 14.5-13.5

The Miracle at Medinah: Thirteen years after Brookline, the Europeans mounted a historic Sunday surge of their own. Also down 10-6 heading into singles, Europe won 8.5 points in the final session. Martin Kaymer, who was a somewhat controversial captain’s pick after struggling for much of the season, made a 6-foot putt on the 18th hole of his match against Steve Stricker to assure Europe would at least retain the Cup. Francesco Molinari then halved his match with Tiger Woods for the Europeans to win it outright.

40th Ryder Cup: 2014

Location: Gleneagles Hotel (PGA Centenary), Scotland
Result: Europe wins, 16.5-11.5

41st Ryder Cup: 2016

Location: Hazeltine National Golf Club, USA
Result: U.S. wins, 17-11

42nd Ryder Cup: 2018

Location: Le Golf National (Albatros), France
Result: Europe wins, 17.5-10.5

42nd Ryder Cup: 2018

Location: Le Golf National (Albatros), France
Result: Europe wins, 17.5-10.5

43nd Ryder Cup: 2021

Location: Whistling Straits (Straits), USA
Result: U.S. wins, 19-9

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