1973 Ryder Cup: USA wins at Muirfield
USA won the 1973 Ryder Cup 19–13 over Great Britain & Ireland at Muirfield in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1973 in the Ryder Cup room, or every year on the Ryder Cup results list.
- Dates
- 20 September 1973 to 22 September 1973
- Course
- Muirfield, Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland
- Edition
- 20th Ryder Cup
- Teams
- USA v Great Britain & Ireland
- Result
- USA 19, Great Britain & Ireland 13 · USA won by 6 points
- Points to win
- 16½ (holder retains with 16)
- USA captain
- Jack Burke Jr.
- Great Britain & Ireland captain
- Bernard Hunt
- Holder after
- USA
- Winning point
- J. C. Snead (USA) · Singles (Day 3 PM): J. C. Snead d. Brian Barnes 3 & 1 (match inferred; see notes)
- Retaining point
- J. C. Snead (rydercup.com: his point "retained the Cup"; match inferred as d. Brian Barnes 3 & 1)
Session 1: foursomes, 20 September 1973 (AM)
Session: USA 1½, Great Britain & Ireland 2½ · running score USA 1½, Great Britain & Ireland 2½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain & Ireland | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Trevino and Billy Casper | Brian Barnes and Bernard Gallacher | 1 up | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 2 | Tom Weiskopf and J. C. Snead | Christy O'Connor Snr and Neil Coles | 3 & 2 | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 3 | Chi-Chi Rodríguez and Lou Graham | Tony Jacklin and Peter Oosterhuis | halved | halved |
| 4 | Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer | Maurice Bembridge and Eddie Polland | 6 & 5 | USA |
Session 2: four-ball, 20 September 1973 (PM)
Session: USA 1, Great Britain & Ireland 3 · running score USA 2½, Great Britain & Ireland 5½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain & Ireland | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tommy Aaron and Gay Brewer | Brian Barnes and Bernard Gallacher | 5 & 4 | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 2 | Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer | Maurice Bembridge and Brian Huggett | 3 & 1 | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 3 | Tom Weiskopf and Billy Casper | Tony Jacklin and Peter Oosterhuis | 3 & 1 | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 4 | Lee Trevino and Homero Blancas | Neil Coles and Christy O'Connor Snr | 2 & 1 | USA |
Session 3: foursomes, 21 September 1973 (AM)
Session: USA 2, Great Britain & Ireland 2 · running score USA 4½, Great Britain & Ireland 7½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain & Ireland | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf | Brian Barnes and Peter Butler | 1 up | USA |
| 2 | Arnold Palmer and Dave Hill | Peter Oosterhuis and Tony Jacklin | 2 up | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 3 | Chi-Chi Rodríguez and Lou Graham | Maurice Bembridge and Brian Huggett | 5 & 4 | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 4 | Lee Trevino and Billy Casper | Neil Coles and Christy O'Connor Snr | 2 & 1 | USA |
Session 4: four-ball, 21 September 1973 (PM)
Session: USA 3½, Great Britain & Ireland ½ · running score USA 8, Great Britain & Ireland 8.
| Match | USA | Great Britain & Ireland | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | J. C. Snead and Arnold Palmer | Brian Barnes and Peter Butler | 2 up | USA |
| 2 | Gay Brewer and Billy Casper | Tony Jacklin and Peter Oosterhuis | 3 & 2 | USA |
| 3 | Jack Nicklaus and Tom Weiskopf | Clive Clark and Eddie Polland | 3 & 2 | USA |
| 4 | Lee Trevino and Homero Blancas | Maurice Bembridge and Brian Huggett | halved | halved |
Session 5: singles, 22 September 1973 (AM)
Session: USA 5½, Great Britain & Ireland 2½ · running score USA 13½, Great Britain & Ireland 10½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain & Ireland | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Casper | Brian Barnes | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 2 | Tom Weiskopf | Bernard Gallacher | 3 & 1 | USA |
| 3 | Homero Blancas | Peter Butler | 5 & 4 | USA |
| 4 | Tommy Aaron | Tony Jacklin | 3 & 1 | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 5 | Gay Brewer | Neil Coles | halved | halved |
| 6 | J. C. Snead | Christy O'Connor Snr | 1 up | USA |
| 7 | Jack Nicklaus | Maurice Bembridge | halved | halved |
| 8 | Lee Trevino | Peter Oosterhuis | halved | halved |
Session 6: singles, 22 September 1973 (PM)
Session: USA 5½, Great Britain & Ireland 2½ · running score USA 19, Great Britain & Ireland 13.
| Match | USA | Great Britain & Ireland | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Homero Blancas | Brian Huggett | 4 & 2 | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 2 | J. C. Snead | Brian Barnes | 3 & 1 | USA |
| 3 | Gay Brewer | Bernard Gallacher | 6 & 5 | USA |
| 4 | Billy Casper | Tony Jacklin | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 5 | Lee Trevino | Neil Coles | 6 & 5 | USA |
| 6 | Tom Weiskopf | Christy O'Connor Snr | halved | halved |
| 7 | Jack Nicklaus | Maurice Bembridge | 2 up | USA |
| 8 | Arnold Palmer | Peter Oosterhuis | 4 & 2 | Great Britain & Ireland |
USA team, 1973
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tommy Aaron | United States | 0-2-0 | 0 | |
| Homero Blancas | United States | yes | 2-1-1 | 2½ |
| Gay Brewer | United States | 2-1-1 | 2½ | |
| Billy Casper | United States | 4-2-0 | 4 | |
| Lou Graham | United States | yes | 0-1-1 | ½ |
| Dave Hill | United States | 0-1-0 | 0 | |
| Jack Nicklaus | United States | 4-1-1 | 4½ | |
| Arnold Palmer | United States | 2-3-0 | 2 | |
| Chi-Chi Rodríguez | United States | yes | 0-1-1 | ½ |
| J. C. Snead | United States | 3-1-0 | 3 | |
| Lee Trevino | United States | 3-1-2 | 4 | |
| Tom Weiskopf | United States | yes | 3-2-1 | 3½ |
Great Britain & Ireland team, 1973
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Barnes | Scotland | 2-4-0 | 2 | |
| Maurice Bembridge | England | 2-2-2 | 3 | |
| Peter Butler | England | 0-3-0 | 0 | |
| Clive Clark | England | yes | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| Neil Coles | England | 1-3-1 | 1½ | |
| Bernard Gallacher | Scotland | 2-2-0 | 2 | |
| John Garner | England | did not play | ||
| Brian Huggett | Wales | 3-0-1 | 3½ | |
| Tony Jacklin | England | 3-2-1 | 3½ | |
| Peter Oosterhuis | England | 3-1-2 | 4 | |
| Eddie Polland | Northern Ireland | yes | 0-2-0 | 0 |
| Christy O'Connor Snr | Ireland | 1-3-1 | 1½ |
What happened at the 1973 Ryder Cup
Peter Butler made the first hole-in-one in Ryder Cup history, at the 16th in the Day 2 morning foursomes.
Bernard Gallacher, who had won both Day 1 matches, missed Day 2 with food poisoning as GB&I's lead disappeared.
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.