1979 Ryder Cup: USA wins at The Greenbrier (Greenbrier Course)
USA won the 1979 Ryder Cup 17–11 over Europe at The Greenbrier (Greenbrier Course) in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, United States.
Updated October 23, 2026
See 1979 in the Ryder Cup room, or every year on the Ryder Cup results list.
- Dates
- September 14, 1979 to September 16, 1979
- Course
- The Greenbrier (Greenbrier Course), White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, United States
- Edition
- 23rd Ryder Cup
- Teams
- USA v Europe
- Result
- USA 17, Europe 11 · USA won by 6 points
- Points to win
- 14½ (holder retains with 14)
- USA captain
- Billy Casper
- Europe captain
- John Jacobs
- Holder after
- USA
Session 1: four-ball, September 14, 1979 (AM)
Session: USA 3, Europe 1 · running score USA 3, Europe 1.
| Match | USA | Europe | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lanny Wadkins and Larry Nelson | Antonio Garrido and Seve Ballesteros | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 2 | Lee Trevino and Fuzzy Zoeller | Ken Brown and Mark James | 3 & 2 | USA |
| 3 | Andy Bean and Lee Elder | Peter Oosterhuis and Nick Faldo | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 4 | Hale Irwin and John Mahaffey | Bernard Gallacher and Brian Barnes | 2 & 1 | Europe |
Session 2: foursomes, September 14, 1979 (PM)
Session: USA 2½, Europe 1½ · running score USA 5½, Europe 2½.
| Match | USA | Europe | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hale Irwin and Tom Kite | Ken Brown and Des Smyth | 7 & 6 | USA |
| 2 | Fuzzy Zoeller and Hubert Green | Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido | 3 & 2 | Europe |
| 3 | Lee Trevino and Gil Morgan | Sandy Lyle and Tony Jacklin | halved | halved |
| 4 | Lanny Wadkins and Larry Nelson | Bernard Gallacher and Brian Barnes | 4 & 3 | USA |
Session 3: foursomes, September 15, 1979 (AM)
Session: USA 1, Europe 3 · running score USA 6½, Europe 5½.
| Match | USA | Europe | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee Elder and John Mahaffey | Tony Jacklin and Sandy Lyle | 5 & 4 | Europe |
| 2 | Andy Bean and Tom Kite | Nick Faldo and Peter Oosterhuis | 6 & 5 | Europe |
| 3 | Fuzzy Zoeller and Mark Hayes | Bernard Gallacher and Brian Barnes | 2 & 1 | Europe |
| 4 | Lanny Wadkins and Larry Nelson | Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido | 3 & 2 | USA |
Session 4: four-ball, September 15, 1979 (PM)
Session: USA 2, Europe 2 · running score USA 8½, Europe 7½.
| Match | USA | Europe | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lanny Wadkins and Larry Nelson | Seve Ballesteros and Antonio Garrido | 5 & 4 | USA |
| 2 | Hale Irwin and Tom Kite | Tony Jacklin and Sandy Lyle | 1 up | USA |
| 3 | Lee Trevino and Fuzzy Zoeller | Bernard Gallacher and Brian Barnes | 3 & 2 | Europe |
| 4 | Lee Elder and Mark Hayes | Nick Faldo and Peter Oosterhuis | 1 up | Europe |
Session 5: singles, September 16, 1979 (AM and PM)
Session: USA 8½, Europe 3½ · running score USA 17, Europe 11.
| Match | USA | Europe | Result | Point to |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lanny Wadkins | Bernard Gallacher | 3 & 2 | Europe |
| 2 | Larry Nelson | Seve Ballesteros | 3 & 2 | USA |
| 3 | Tom Kite | Tony Jacklin | 1 up | USA |
| 4 | Mark Hayes | Antonio Garrido | 1 up | USA |
| 5 | Andy Bean | Michael King | 4 & 3 | USA |
| 6 | John Mahaffey | Brian Barnes | 1 up | USA |
| 7 | Lee Elder | Nick Faldo | 3 & 2 | Europe |
| 8 | Hale Irwin | Des Smyth | 5 & 3 | USA |
| 9 | Hubert Green | Peter Oosterhuis | 2 up | USA |
| 10 | Fuzzy Zoeller | Ken Brown | 1 up | Europe |
| 11 | Lee Trevino | Sandy Lyle | 2 & 1 | USA |
| 12 | Gil Morgan | Mark James | halved | halved |
USA team, 1979
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andy Bean | United States | yes | 2-1-0 | 2 |
| Lee Elder | United States | yes | 1-3-0 | 1 |
| Hubert Green | United States | 1-1-0 | 1 | |
| Mark Hayes | United States | yes | 1-2-0 | 1 |
| Hale Irwin | United States | 3-1-0 | 3 | |
| Tom Kite | United States | yes | 3-1-0 | 3 |
| John Mahaffey | United States | yes | 1-2-0 | 1 |
| Gil Morgan | United States | yes | 0-0-2 | 1 |
| Larry Nelson | United States | yes | 5-0-0 | 5 |
| Lee Trevino | United States | 2-1-1 | 2½ | |
| Lanny Wadkins | United States | 4-1-0 | 4 | |
| Fuzzy Zoeller | United States | yes | 1-4-0 | 1 |
Europe team, 1979
| Player | Nationality | Rookie | W-L-H | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seve Ballesteros | Spain | yes | 1-4-0 | 1 |
| Brian Barnes | Scotland | 3-2-0 | 3 | |
| Ken Brown | Scotland | 1-2-0 | 1 | |
| Nick Faldo | England | 3-1-0 | 3 | |
| Bernard Gallacher | Scotland | 4-1-0 | 4 | |
| Antonio Garrido | Spain | yes | 1-4-0 | 1 |
| Tony Jacklin | England | 1-2-1 | 1½ | |
| Mark James | England | 0-1-1 | ½ | |
| Michael King | England | yes | 0-1-0 | 0 |
| Sandy Lyle | Scotland | yes | 1-2-1 | 1½ |
| Peter Oosterhuis | England | 2-2-0 | 2 | |
| Des Smyth | Ireland | yes | 0-2-0 | 0 |
What happened at the 1979 Ryder Cup
Larry Nelson went 5-0-0, the first player to win five matches at one Ryder Cup, and four of those wins came against Seve Ballesteros.
Ken Brown and Mark James were fined by the British PGA for misconduct (team uniform, missed meetings, behaviour at the dinner), and Brown was banned from international play for 12 months.
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.