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Ryder Cup record?
Steven LynchSeptember 25, 2014
I was watching an old Ryder Cup film from 1997, and Fred Couples won his singles 8&7. Is this the biggest victory in Ryder Cup history? asked Paul Smith from Hull
That victory by Fred Couples at Valderrama in 1997, over the unfortunate Ian Woosnam, kick-started an epic final day in which Europe - 10.5-5.5 up at the start - just clung on to win. The Europeans managed only four points out of 12 in the singles, but that gave them a narrow victory by 14.5 points to 13.5.
Couples's 8 and 7 victory (for the uninitiated, it means he was eight holes up with only seven holes to play, so there was no point continuing) equalled the Ryder Cup record for an 18-hole singles match, set by Tom Kite in defeating Howard Clark at The Belfry in 1989. That came during another nailbiter - the teams finished all square at 14-all, but Europe retained the trophy as they'd won the previous one in 1987.
The biggest singles victory by a British or European player has been 5 and 4, which has happened eight times now since 1961 - most recently by Ian Poulter over Matt Kuchar at Celtic Manor in 2010.
Back in 1929, Britain's George Duncan walloped the great Walter Hagen 10 and 8 in a 36-hole singles. Hagen exacted partial revenge in the next tournament, in 1931, when he and his partner Densmore Shute hammered Duncan and Arthur Havers 10 and 9 in their foursome, a record margin equalled by America's Ed Oliver and Lew Worsham over Henry Cotton and Arthur Lees in 1947.
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