1961 Ryder Cup: USA wins at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
USA won the 1961 Ryder Cup 14½–9½ over Great Britain at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1961 in the Ryder Cup room, or every year on the Ryder Cup results list.
- Dates
- 13 October 1961 to 14 October 1961
- Course
- Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England
- Edition
- 14th Ryder Cup
- Teams
- USA v Great Britain
- Result
- USA 14½, Great Britain 9½ · USA won by 5 points
- Points to win
- 12½ (holder retains with 12)
- USA captain
- Jerry Barber
- Great Britain captain
- Dai Rees
- Holder after
- USA
Session 1: foursomes, 13 October 1961 (AM)
Session: USA 3, Great Britain 1 · running score USA 3, Great Britain 1.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doug Ford and Gene Littler | Christy O'Connor Snr and Peter Alliss | 4 & 3 | Great Britain |
| 2 | Art Wall Jr. and Jay Hebert | John Panton and Bernard Hunt | 4 & 3 | USA |
| 3 | Billy Casper and Arnold Palmer | Dai Rees and Ken Bousfield | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 4 | Bill Collins and Mike Souchak | Tom Haliburton and Neil Coles | 1 up | USA |
Session 2: foursomes, 13 October 1961 (PM)
Session: USA 3, Great Britain 1 · running score USA 6, Great Britain 2.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Art Wall Jr. and Jay Hebert | Christy O'Connor Snr and Peter Alliss | 1 up | USA |
| 2 | Billy Casper and Arnold Palmer | John Panton and Bernard Hunt | 5 & 4 | USA |
| 3 | Bill Collins and Mike Souchak | Dai Rees and Ken Bousfield | 4 & 2 | Great Britain |
| 4 | Jerry Barber and Dow Finsterwald | Tom Haliburton and Neil Coles | 1 up | USA |
Session 3: singles, 14 October 1961 (AM)
Session: USA 5, Great Britain 3 · running score USA 11, Great Britain 5.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Doug Ford | Harry Weetman | 1 up | USA |
| 2 | Mike Souchak | Ralph Moffitt | 5 & 4 | USA |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer | Peter Alliss | halved | halved |
| 4 | Billy Casper | Ken Bousfield | 5 & 3 | USA |
| 5 | Jay Hebert | Dai Rees | 2 & 1 | Great Britain |
| 6 | Gene Littler | Neil Coles | halved | halved |
| 7 | Jerry Barber | Bernard Hunt | 5 & 4 | Great Britain |
| 8 | Dow Finsterwald | Christy O'Connor Snr | 2 & 1 | USA |
Session 4: singles, 14 October 1961 (PM)
Session: USA 3½, Great Britain 4½ · running score USA 14½, Great Britain 9½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Art Wall Jr. | Harry Weetman | 1 up | USA |
| 2 | Bill Collins | Peter Alliss | 3 & 2 | Great Britain |
| 3 | Mike Souchak | Bernard Hunt | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 4 | Arnold Palmer | Tom Haliburton | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 5 | Doug Ford | Dai Rees | 4 & 3 | Great Britain |
| 6 | Jerry Barber | Ken Bousfield | 1 up | Great Britain |
| 7 | Dow Finsterwald | Neil Coles | 1 up | Great Britain |
| 8 | Gene Littler | Christy O'Connor Snr | halved | halved |
USA team, 1961
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerry Barber | United States | 1-2-0 | 1 | |
| Billy Casper | United States | yes | 3-0-0 | 3 |
| Bill Collins | United States | yes | 1-2-0 | 1 |
| Dow Finsterwald | United States | 2-1-0 | 2 | |
| Doug Ford | United States | 1-2-0 | 1 | |
| Jay Hebert | United States | 2-1-0 | 2 | |
| Art Wall Jr. | United States | 3-0-0 | 3 | |
| Gene Littler | United States | yes | 0-1-2 | 1 |
| Arnold Palmer | United States | yes | 3-0-1 | 3½ |
| Mike Souchak | United States | 3-1-0 | 3 |
Great Britain team, 1961
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Alliss | England | 2-1-1 | 2½ | |
| Ken Bousfield | England | 2-2-0 | 2 | |
| Neil Coles | England | yes | 1-2-1 | 1½ |
| Tom Haliburton | Scotland | yes | 0-3-0 | 0 |
| Bernard Hunt | England | 1-3-0 | 1 | |
| Ralph Moffitt | England | yes | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| John Panton | Scotland | 0-2-0 | 0 | |
| Dai Rees | Wales | 3-1-0 | 3 | |
| Christy O'Connor Snr | Ireland | 1-2-1 | 1½ | |
| Harry Weetman | England | 0-2-0 | 0 |
What happened at the 1961 Ryder Cup
First Ryder Cup played over 18-hole matches: 24 one-point matches replaced the 12 36-hole matches used since 1927.
Arnold Palmer debuted 3-0-1 to lead the USA with 3.5 points, while playing captain Dai Rees went 3-1 in his final playing appearance, 24 years after his 1937 debut.
How this was built
Every value is shown as recorded in GNN's Ryder Cup data. A value no source confirmed is left out; nothing is estimated. Where sources disagree, the organizer's own record is used.
Data: ryder-cup.csv (the Ryder Cup room's record), with every match and team sheet from GNN's Ryder Cup data.