trophy awarded in biennial matches between men's professional golf teams of the United States and Europe. The cup was donated in 1927 by British seed merchant Samuel Ryder, who had started playing golf at the age of 50. Made of 14-karat gold on a wooden base, the cup stands 16 inches (41 centimeters) high and weighs 4 pounds (1.8 kilograms). The figure at the top of the trophy is modeled on Ryder's coach, British professional golfer Abe Mitchell. Ryder donated the trophy after the British won two unofficial matches between British and American teams, in Scotland in 1921 and in England in 1926. The first Ryder Cup tournament took place in Worcester, Mass., in July 1927 with nine golfers per team. (The number rose to 10 in 1929 and 12 in 1969.) Appendicitis kept Mitchell out of play, and the United States team won. The site of the tournament alternated between Britain and the United States, with the date shifting in 1935 from July to September to avoid the summer heat. The cup went to the home team in each match until an American victory at Southport, England, in 1937 broke the pattern. Play was suspended during World War II. In 1947 a Portland, Ore., fruit packer paid the expenses to bring the British team to Oregon to resume competition. That year Ben Hogan led the Americans to the most lopsided victory in Ryder Cup history to that date, winning 11 to 1. The United States dominated the Ryder Cup for half a century, winning every match from 1935 through 1983 except two: a loss in 1957 and a tie in 1969. The addition of Irish players to the British team starting in 1973 made little difference. Results were too predictable to generate public excitement. United States golfer Jack Nicklaus told the British organizers in 1977 that the Ryder Cup could not continue unless the British teams were drawn from a larger talent pool. The professional golf associations of the two countries agreed that, starting in 1979, the Americans would face a team from not just Britain and Ireland but all of Europe. The change gave the Ryder Cup new visibility by making it truly competitive. Although the United States won its first three matches against Europe, by 1983 the margin of victory was narrow. When Europe won in 1985 American golf fans suddenly paid attention as they realized they could no longer take the Ryder Cup for granted. Two years later the United States suffered its first loss on American soil. A tie in 1989 allowed Europe to keep the cup. The United States won in 1991 and 1993. The European team won in 1995 in New York and in 1997 at the Valderrama Golf Club in Spain, the first European Ryder Cup site outside Britain. In the first 70 years of the competition the United States won 23 matches, lost 7, and tied 2. |