1977 Ryder Cup: USA wins at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club
USA won the 1977 Ryder Cup 12½–7½ over Great Britain & Ireland at Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1977 in the Ryder Cup room, or every year on the Ryder Cup results list.
- Dates
- 15 September 1977 to 17 September 1977
- Course
- Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club, Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, England
- Edition
- 22nd Ryder Cup
- Teams
- USA v Great Britain & Ireland
- Result
- USA 12½, Great Britain & Ireland 7½ · USA won by 5 points
- Points to win
- 10½ (holder retains with 10)
- USA captain
- Dow Finsterwald
- Great Britain & Ireland captain
- Brian Huggett
- Holder after
- USA
Session 1: foursomes, 15 September 1977 (all day)
Session: USA 3½, Great Britain & Ireland 1½ · running score USA 3½, Great Britain & Ireland 1½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain & Ireland | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lanny Wadkins and Hale Irwin | Bernard Gallacher and Brian Barnes | 3 & 1 | USA |
| 2 | Dave Stockton and Jerry McGee | Neil Coles and Peter Dawson | 1 up | USA |
| 3 | Raymond Floyd and Lou Graham | Nick Faldo and Peter Oosterhuis | 2 & 1 | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 4 | Ed Sneed and Don January | Eamonn Darcy and Tony Jacklin | halved | halved |
| 5 | Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson | Tommy Horton and Mark James | 5 & 4 | USA |
Session 2: four-ball, 16 September 1977 (all day)
Session: USA 4, Great Britain & Ireland 1 · running score USA 7½, Great Britain & Ireland 2½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain & Ireland | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Watson and Hubert Green | Brian Barnes and Tommy Horton | 5 & 4 | USA |
| 2 | Ed Sneed and Lanny Wadkins | Neil Coles and Peter Dawson | 5 & 3 | USA |
| 3 | Jack Nicklaus and Raymond Floyd | Nick Faldo and Peter Oosterhuis | 3 & 1 | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 4 | Dave Hill and Dave Stockton | Tony Jacklin and Eamonn Darcy | 5 & 3 | USA |
| 5 | Hale Irwin and Lou Graham | Mark James and Ken Brown | 1 up | USA |
Session 3: singles, 17 September 1977 (all day)
Session: USA 5, Great Britain & Ireland 5 · running score USA 12½, Great Britain & Ireland 7½.
| Match | USA | Great Britain & Ireland | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lanny Wadkins | Howard Clark | 4 & 3 | USA |
| 2 | Lou Graham | Neil Coles | 5 & 3 | USA |
| 3 | Don January | Peter Dawson | 5 & 4 | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 4 | Hale Irwin | Brian Barnes | 1 up | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 5 | Dave Hill | Tommy Horton | 5 & 4 | USA |
| 6 | Jack Nicklaus | Bernard Gallacher | 1 up | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 7 | Hubert Green | Eamonn Darcy | 1 up | USA |
| 8 | Raymond Floyd | Mark James | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 9 | Tom Watson | Nick Faldo | 1 up | Great Britain & Ireland |
| 10 | Jerry McGee | Peter Oosterhuis | 2 up | Great Britain & Ireland |
USA team, 1977
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raymond Floyd | United States | 1-2-0 | 1 | |
| Lou Graham | United States | 2-1-0 | 2 | |
| Hubert Green | United States | yes | 2-0-0 | 2 |
| Dave Hill | United States | 2-0-0 | 2 | |
| Hale Irwin | United States | 2-1-0 | 2 | |
| Don January | United States | 0-1-1 | ½ | |
| Jerry McGee | United States | yes | 1-1-0 | 1 |
| Jack Nicklaus | United States | 1-2-0 | 1 | |
| Ed Sneed | United States | yes | 1-0-1 | 1½ |
| Dave Stockton | United States | 2-0-0 | 2 | |
| Lanny Wadkins | United States | yes | 3-0-0 | 3 |
| Tom Watson | United States | yes | 2-1-0 | 2 |
Great Britain & Ireland team, 1977
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brian Barnes | Scotland | 1-2-0 | 1 | |
| Ken Brown | Scotland | yes | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| Howard Clark | England | yes | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| Neil Coles | England | 0-3-0 | 0 | |
| Eamonn Darcy | Ireland | 0-2-1 | ½ | |
| Peter Dawson | England | yes | 1-2-0 | 1 |
| Nick Faldo | England | yes | 3-0-0 | 3 |
| Bernard Gallacher | Scotland | 1-1-0 | 1 | |
| Tommy Horton | England | 0-3-0 | 0 | |
| Tony Jacklin | England | 0-1-1 | ½ | |
| Mark James | England | yes | 0-3-0 | 0 |
| Peter Oosterhuis | England | 3-0-0 | 3 |
What happened at the 1977 Ryder Cup
20-year-old Nick Faldo, then the youngest Ryder Cup player, went 3-0, including a 1 up singles win over Tom Watson.
GB&I halved the singles session 5-5 but still lost by 5, and talks during the week led to continental Europeans joining from 1979.
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.