1963 Ryder Cup: USA wins at Atlanta Athletic Club (East Lake course)
USA won the 1963 Ryder Cup 23–9 over Great Britain at Atlanta Athletic Club (East Lake course) in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1963 in the Ryder Cup room, or every year on the Ryder Cup results list.
- Dates
- October 11, 1963 to October 13, 1963
- Course
- Atlanta Athletic Club (East Lake course), Atlanta, Georgia, United States
- Edition
- 15th Ryder Cup
- Teams
- USA v Great Britain
- Result
- USA 23, Great Britain 9 · USA won by 14 points
- Points to win
- 16½ (holder retains with 16)
- USA captain
- Arnold Palmer
- Great Britain captain
- John Fallon
- Holder after
- USA
Session 1: foursomes, October 11, 1963 (AM)
Session: USA 2, Great Britain 2 · running score USA 2, Great Britain 2.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnold Palmer and Johnny Pott | Brian Huggett and George Will | 3 & 2 | Great Britain |
| 2 | Billy Casper and Dave Ragan | Peter Alliss and Christy O'Connor Snr | 1 up | USA |
| 3 | Julius Boros and Tony Lema | Neil Coles and Bernard Hunt | halved | halved |
| 4 | Gene Littler and Dow Finsterwald | Dave Thomas and Harry Weetman | halved | halved |
Session 2: foursomes, October 11, 1963 (PM)
Session: USA 4, Great Britain 0 · running score USA 6, Great Britain 2.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Maxwell and Bob Goalby | Dave Thomas and Harry Weetman | 4 & 3 | USA |
| 2 | Arnold Palmer and Billy Casper | Brian Huggett and George Will | 5 & 4 | USA |
| 3 | Gene Littler and Dow Finsterwald | Neil Coles and Geoffrey Hunt | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 4 | Julius Boros and Tony Lema | Tom Haliburton and Bernard Hunt | 1 up | USA |
Session 3: four-ball, October 12, 1963 (AM)
Session: USA 2½, Great Britain 1½ · running score USA 8½, Great Britain 3½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnold Palmer and Dow Finsterwald | Brian Huggett and Dave Thomas | 5 & 4 | USA |
| 2 | Gene Littler and Julius Boros | Peter Alliss and Bernard Hunt | halved | halved |
| 3 | Billy Casper and Billy Maxwell | Harry Weetman and George Will | 3 & 2 | USA |
| 4 | Bob Goalby and Dave Ragan | Neil Coles and Christy O'Connor Snr | 1 up | Great Britain |
Session 4: four-ball, October 12, 1963 (PM)
Session: USA 3½, Great Britain ½ · running score USA 12, Great Britain 4.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnold Palmer and Dow Finsterwald | Neil Coles and Christy O'Connor Snr | 3 & 2 | USA |
| 2 | Tony Lema and Johnny Pott | Peter Alliss and Bernard Hunt | 1 up | USA |
| 3 | Billy Casper and Billy Maxwell | Tom Haliburton and Geoffrey Hunt | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 4 | Bob Goalby and Dave Ragan | Brian Huggett and Dave Thomas | halved | halved |
Session 5: singles, October 13, 1963 (AM)
Session: USA 3½, Great Britain 4½ · running score USA 15½, Great Britain 8½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Lema | Geoffrey Hunt | 5 & 3 | USA |
| 2 | Johnny Pott | Brian Huggett | 3 & 1 | Great Britain |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer | Peter Alliss | 1 up | Great Britain |
| 4 | Billy Casper | Neil Coles | halved | halved |
| 5 | Bob Goalby | Dave Thomas | 3 & 2 | USA |
| 6 | Gene Littler | Christy O'Connor Snr | 1 up | USA |
| 7 | Julius Boros | Harry Weetman | 1 up | Great Britain |
| 8 | Dow Finsterwald | Bernard Hunt | 2 up | Great Britain |
Session 6: singles, October 13, 1963 (PM)
Session: USA 7½, Great Britain ½ · running score USA 23, Great Britain 9.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnold Palmer | George Will | 3 & 2 | USA |
| 2 | Dave Ragan | Neil Coles | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 3 | Tony Lema | Peter Alliss | halved | halved |
| 4 | Gene Littler | Tom Haliburton | 6 & 5 | USA |
| 5 | Julius Boros | Harry Weetman | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 6 | Billy Maxwell | Christy O'Connor Snr | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 7 | Dow Finsterwald | Dave Thomas | 4 & 3 | USA |
| 8 | Bob Goalby | Bernard Hunt | 2 & 1 | USA |
USA team, 1963
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julius Boros | United States | 2-1-2 | 3 | |
| Billy Casper | United States | 4-0-1 | 4½ | |
| Dow Finsterwald | United States | 4-1-1 | 4½ | |
| Bob Goalby | United States | yes | 3-1-1 | 3½ |
| Tony Lema | United States | yes | 3-0-2 | 4 |
| Gene Littler | United States | 3-0-2 | 4 | |
| Billy Maxwell | United States | yes | 4-0-0 | 4 |
| Arnold Palmer | United States | 4-2-0 | 4 | |
| Johnny Pott | United States | yes | 1-2-0 | 1 |
| Dave Ragan | United States | yes | 2-1-1 | 2½ |
Great Britain team, 1963
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Alliss | England | 1-2-2 | 2 | |
| Neil Coles | England | 1-3-2 | 2 | |
| Tom Haliburton | Scotland | 0-3-0 | 0 | |
| Brian Huggett | Wales | yes | 2-2-1 | 2½ |
| Bernard Hunt | England | 1-3-2 | 2 | |
| Geoffrey Hunt | England | yes | 0-3-0 | 0 |
| Christy O'Connor Snr | Ireland | 1-4-0 | 1 | |
| Dave Thomas | Wales | 0-4-2 | 1 | |
| Harry Weetman | England | 1-3-1 | 1½ | |
| George Will | Scotland | yes | 1-3-0 | 1 |
What happened at the 1963 Ryder Cup
Arnold Palmer, 34, was playing captain, the last playing captain in Ryder Cup history.
The USA won 7.5 of 8 points in the final singles session and lost no afternoon match all week.
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.