1965 Ryder Cup: USA wins at Royal Birkdale Golf Club
USA won the 1965 Ryder Cup 19½–12½ over Great Britain at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, Merseyside (Lancashire until 1974), England.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1965 in the Ryder Cup room, or every year on the Ryder Cup results list.
- Dates
- 7 October 1965 to 9 October 1965
- Course
- Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Merseyside (Lancashire until 1974), England
- Edition
- 16th Ryder Cup
- Teams
- USA v Great Britain
- Result
- USA 19½, Great Britain 12½ · USA won by 7 points
- Points to win
- 16½ (holder retains with 16)
- USA captain
- Byron Nelson
- Great Britain captain
- Harry Weetman
- Holder after
- USA
- Attendance
- 12,000-15,000 (per day, each of the 3 days (Sports Illustrated))
Session 1: foursomes, 7 October 1965 (AM)
Session: USA 2, Great Britain 2 · running score USA 2, Great Britain 2.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Julius Boros and Tony Lema | Lionel Platts and Peter Butler | 1 up | USA |
| 2 | Arnold Palmer and Dave Marr | Dave Thomas and George Will | 6 & 5 | Great Britain |
| 3 | Billy Casper and Gene Littler | Bernard Hunt and Neil Coles | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 4 | Ken Venturi and Don January | Peter Alliss and Christy O'Connor Snr | 5 & 4 | Great Britain |
Session 2: foursomes, 7 October 1965 (PM)
Session: USA 2, Great Britain 2 · running score USA 4, Great Britain 4.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnold Palmer and Dave Marr | Dave Thomas and George Will | 6 & 5 | USA |
| 2 | Billy Casper and Gene Littler | Peter Alliss and Christy O'Connor Snr | 2 & 1 | Great Britain |
| 3 | Julius Boros and Tony Lema | Jimmy Martin and Jimmy Hitchcock | 5 & 4 | USA |
| 4 | Ken Venturi and Don January | Bernard Hunt and Neil Coles | 3 & 2 | Great Britain |
Session 3: four-ball, 8 October 1965 (AM)
Session: USA 2½, Great Britain 1½ · running score USA 6½, Great Britain 5½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Don January and Tommy Jacobs | Dave Thomas and George Will | 1 up | USA |
| 2 | Billy Casper and Gene Littler | Lionel Platts and Peter Butler | halved | halved |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer and Dave Marr | Peter Alliss and Christy O'Connor Snr | 6 & 4 | USA |
| 4 | Julius Boros and Tony Lema | Bernard Hunt and Neil Coles | 1 up | Great Britain |
Session 4: four-ball, 8 October 1965 (PM)
Session: USA 2½, Great Britain 1½ · running score USA 9, Great Britain 7.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnold Palmer and Dave Marr | Peter Alliss and Christy O'Connor Snr | 2 up | Great Britain |
| 2 | Don January and Tommy Jacobs | Dave Thomas and George Will | 1 up | USA |
| 3 | Billy Casper and Gene Littler | Lionel Platts and Peter Butler | halved | halved |
| 4 | Ken Venturi and Tony Lema | Bernard Hunt and Neil Coles | 1 up | USA |
Session 5: singles, 9 October 1965 (AM)
Session: USA 5½, Great Britain 2½ · running score USA 14½, Great Britain 9½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arnold Palmer | Jimmy Hitchcock | 3 & 2 | USA |
| 2 | Julius Boros | Lionel Platts | 4 & 2 | USA |
| 3 | Tony Lema | Peter Butler | 1 up | USA |
| 4 | Dave Marr | Neil Coles | 2 up | USA |
| 5 | Gene Littler | Bernard Hunt | 2 up | Great Britain |
| 6 | Tommy Jacobs | Dave Thomas | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 7 | Billy Casper | Peter Alliss | 1 up | Great Britain |
| 8 | Don January | George Will | halved | halved |
Session 6: singles, 9 October 1965 (PM)
Session: USA 5, Great Britain 3 · running score USA 19½, Great Britain 12½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Lema | Christy O'Connor Snr | 6 & 4 | USA |
| 2 | Julius Boros | Jimmy Hitchcock | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer | Peter Butler | 2 up | USA |
| 4 | Ken Venturi | Peter Alliss | 3 & 1 | Great Britain |
| 5 | Billy Casper | Neil Coles | 3 & 2 | Great Britain |
| 6 | Gene Littler | George Will | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 7 | Dave Marr | Bernard Hunt | 1 up | USA |
| 8 | Tommy Jacobs | Lionel Platts | 1 up | Great Britain |
USA team, 1965
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Julius Boros | United States | 4-1-0 | 4 | |
| Billy Casper | United States | 1-3-2 | 2 | |
| Tommy Jacobs | United States | yes | 3-1-0 | 3 |
| Don January | United States | yes | 2-2-1 | 2½ |
| Tony Lema | United States | 5-1-0 | 5 | |
| Gene Littler | United States | 2-2-2 | 3 | |
| Dave Marr | United States | yes | 4-2-0 | 4 |
| Arnold Palmer | United States | 4-2-0 | 4 | |
| Johnny Pott | United States | did not play | ||
| Ken Venturi | United States | yes | 1-3-0 | 1 |
Great Britain team, 1965
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Alliss | England | 5-1-0 | 5 | |
| Peter Butler | England | yes | 0-3-2 | 1 |
| Neil Coles | England | 3-3-0 | 3 | |
| Jimmy Hitchcock | England | yes | 0-3-0 | 0 |
| Bernard Hunt | England | 3-3-0 | 3 | |
| Jimmy Martin | Ireland | yes | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| Lionel Platts | England | yes | 1-2-2 | 2 |
| Christy O'Connor Snr | Ireland | 3-2-0 | 3 | |
| Dave Thomas | Wales | 1-4-0 | 1 | |
| George Will | Scotland | 1-4-1 | 1½ |
What happened at the 1965 Ryder Cup
Peter Alliss and Tony Lema each went 5-1-0, the first players to earn five points in a single Ryder Cup.
Palmer's 3 & 2 singles win over Jimmy Hitchcock began a 12-match unbeaten run that lasted until the 1971 afternoon singles.
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.