1969 Ryder Cup: USA and Great Britain tie 16–16 at Royal Birkdale Golf Club
The 1969 Ryder Cup at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, Merseyside (Lancashire until 1974), England was tied 16–16 between the USA and Great Britain; USA kept the Cup as holder.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1969 in the Ryder Cup room, or every year on the Ryder Cup results list.
- Dates
- 18 September 1969 to 20 September 1969
- Course
- Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, Merseyside (Lancashire until 1974), England
- Edition
- 18th Ryder Cup
- Teams
- USA v Great Britain
- Result
- USA 16, Great Britain 16
- Points to win
- 16½ (holder retains with 16)
- USA captain
- Sam Snead
- Great Britain captain
- Eric Brown
- Holder after
- USA
- Retaining point
- Jack Nicklaus halved with Tony Jacklin (16th point; holder USA retained)
Session 1: foursomes, 18 September 1969 (AM)
Session: USA ½, Great Britain 3½ · running score USA ½, Great Britain 3½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Miller Barber and Raymond Floyd | Neil Coles and Brian Huggett | 3 & 2 | Great Britain |
| 2 | Lee Trevino and Ken Still | Bernard Gallacher and Maurice Bembridge | 2 & 1 | Great Britain |
| 3 | Dave Hill and Tommy Aaron | Tony Jacklin and Peter Townsend | 3 & 1 | Great Britain |
| 4 | Billy Casper and Frank Beard | Christy O'Connor Snr and Peter Alliss | halved | halved |
Session 2: foursomes, 18 September 1969 (PM)
Session: USA 3, Great Britain 1 · running score USA 3½, Great Britain 4½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Hill and Tommy Aaron | Neil Coles and Brian Huggett | 1 up | USA |
| 2 | Lee Trevino and Gene Littler | Bernard Gallacher and Maurice Bembridge | 1 up | USA |
| 3 | Billy Casper and Frank Beard | Tony Jacklin and Peter Townsend | 1 up | Great Britain |
| 4 | Jack Nicklaus and Dan Sikes | Peter Butler and Bernard Hunt | 1 up | USA |
Session 3: four-ball, 19 September 1969 (AM)
Session: USA 1½, Great Britain 2½ · running score USA 5, Great Britain 7.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Hill and Dale Douglass | Christy O'Connor Snr and Peter Townsend | 1 up | Great Britain |
| 2 | Raymond Floyd and Miller Barber | Brian Huggett and Alex Caygill | halved | halved |
| 3 | Lee Trevino and Gene Littler | Brian Barnes and Peter Alliss | 1 up | USA |
| 4 | Jack Nicklaus and Dan Sikes | Tony Jacklin and Neil Coles | 1 up | Great Britain |
Session 4: four-ball, 19 September 1969 (PM)
Session: USA 3, Great Britain 1 · running score USA 8, Great Britain 8.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Casper and Frank Beard | Peter Butler and Peter Townsend | 2 up | USA |
| 2 | Dave Hill and Ken Still | Brian Huggett and Bernard Gallacher | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 3 | Tommy Aaron and Raymond Floyd | Maurice Bembridge and Bernard Hunt | halved | halved |
| 4 | Lee Trevino and Miller Barber | Tony Jacklin and Neil Coles | halved | halved |
Session 5: singles, 20 September 1969 (AM)
Session: USA 3, Great Britain 5 · running score USA 11, Great Britain 13.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Trevino | Peter Alliss | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 2 | Dave Hill | Peter Townsend | 5 & 4 | USA |
| 3 | Tommy Aaron | Neil Coles | 1 up | Great Britain |
| 4 | Billy Casper | Brian Barnes | 1 up | USA |
| 5 | Frank Beard | Christy O'Connor Snr | 5 & 4 | Great Britain |
| 6 | Ken Still | Maurice Bembridge | 1 up | Great Britain |
| 7 | Raymond Floyd | Peter Butler | 1 up | Great Britain |
| 8 | Jack Nicklaus | Tony Jacklin | 4 & 3 | Great Britain |
Session 6: singles, 20 September 1969 (PM)
Session: USA 5, Great Britain 3 · running score USA 16, Great Britain 16.
| Match | USA | Great Britain | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dave Hill | Brian Barnes | 4 & 2 | USA |
| 2 | Lee Trevino | Bernard Gallacher | 4 & 3 | Great Britain |
| 3 | Miller Barber | Maurice Bembridge | 7 & 6 | USA |
| 4 | Dale Douglass | Peter Butler | 3 & 2 | Great Britain |
| 5 | Dan Sikes | Neil Coles | 4 & 3 | USA |
| 6 | Gene Littler | Christy O'Connor Snr | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 7 | Billy Casper | Brian Huggett | halved | halved |
| 8 | Jack Nicklaus | Tony Jacklin | halved | halved |
USA team, 1969
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tommy Aaron | United States | yes | 1-2-1 | 1½ |
| Miller Barber | United States | yes | 1-1-2 | 2 |
| Frank Beard | United States | yes | 1-2-1 | 1½ |
| Billy Casper | United States | 2-1-2 | 3 | |
| Dale Douglass | United States | yes | 0-2-0 | 0 |
| Raymond Floyd | United States | yes | 0-2-2 | 1 |
| Dave Hill | United States | yes | 4-2-0 | 4 |
| Gene Littler | United States | 3-0-0 | 3 | |
| Jack Nicklaus | United States | yes | 1-2-1 | 1½ |
| Dan Sikes | United States | yes | 2-1-0 | 2 |
| Ken Still | United States | yes | 1-2-0 | 1 |
| Lee Trevino | United States | yes | 3-2-1 | 3½ |
Great Britain team, 1969
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peter Alliss | England | 0-2-1 | ½ | |
| Brian Barnes | Scotland | yes | 0-3-0 | 0 |
| Maurice Bembridge | England | yes | 2-2-1 | 2½ |
| Peter Butler | England | 2-2-0 | 2 | |
| Alex Caygill | England | yes | 0-0-1 | ½ |
| Neil Coles | England | 3-2-1 | 3½ | |
| Bernard Gallacher | Scotland | yes | 2-2-0 | 2 |
| Brian Huggett | Wales | 1-2-2 | 2 | |
| Bernard Hunt | England | 0-1-1 | ½ | |
| Tony Jacklin | England | 4-0-2 | 5 | |
| Christy O'Connor Snr | Ireland | 2-1-1 | 2½ | |
| Peter Townsend | England | yes | 3-2-0 | 3 |
What happened at the 1969 Ryder Cup
Nicklaus picked up Jacklin's ball marker on the 18th green, conceding the short par putt to halve the match and tie the Cup 16-16.
Jacklin, the reigning Open champion, went 4-0-2, including a 4 & 3 win over Nicklaus in the morning 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.
Sources
- WP 1969
- GC 1969
- rydercup.com era 3
- DP World Tour