| Dates | October 14–16, 1983 | ||||
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| Venue | PGA National Golf Club | ||||
| Location | Palm Beach Gardens, Florida | ||||
| Captains |
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| United States wins the Ryder Cup | |||||
The 25th Ryder Cup Matches were held October 14–16, 1983 at the PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. The United States team won the competition by a score of 141⁄2 to 131⁄2 points, the closest Ryder Cup since the tie in 1969.[1][2][3] In their third competition with players from the continent, Europe showed the ability to realistically challenge the Americans.[4] This was the first of four occasions that Tony Jacklin was the European captain and the sole occasion that his side lost.
Entering the singles matches on Sunday, the competition was even at 8 points each. Jacklin put his best players out early, while U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus saved his for last.[4] In the first match, Seve Ballesteros was 3 up at the turn but needed an outstanding 3-wood from a fairway bunker on the final hole to salvage par and force a half with Fuzzy Zoeller.[5] With ten matches complete and the score at 13 points each, the outcome depended on the two singles matches remaining on the course, between José María Cañizares and Lanny Wadkins and Bernard Gallacher and Tom Watson. The U.S. victory is generally accredited to Wadkins, who hit a wedge to less than three feet (0.9 m) on the par-5 18th hole to win the hole with a birdie and halve his match against Canizares. Gallacher had trailed all day, but Watson bogeyed 16 and was only 1 up with two holes to play. He had another bogey at the par-3 17th, but Gallacher's three-foot putt for bogey missed and ended the match at 2 & 1 and gave the U.S. the winning point.[2][3]
This was the 13th consecutive win at home for the U.S. team, but they would have to wait until the 2021 Ryder Cup to post consecutive home victories. It was also the last victory for the U.S. in the Ryder Cup for eight years, until 1991.
- ^ "Nicklaus 'thrilled' with U.S. victory". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. October 17, 1983. p. 4B.
- ^ a b Jenkins, Dan (October 25, 1983). "A close call for Captain Jack". Sports Illustrated. p. 38.
- ^ a b Moffett, Dan (October 17, 1983). "Americans' Cup victory is no easy Ryder". Palm Beach Post. p. D1.
- ^ a b Moffett, Dan (October 17, 1983). "Jacklin's strategy almost paid off while Nicklaus saved best for last". Palm Beach Post. p. D7.
- ^ "Ballesteros' Bunker Shot Among Best From Ryder Cup". TSN. September 26, 2012. Retrieved April 22, 2013.