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| | | | 1949 Ganton Golf Club, Scarborough, England | | | |
| Captains: Ben Hogan (US), Charles Whitcombe (GB) | USA 7 GB 5 | | | 
1949 Great Britain Team | |
The U.S. Team was without three of America's top players. Non-playing
Captain Ben Hogan was still crippled from his February 1949 automobile
accident, while Byron Nelson had retired from serious competition and U.S.
Open winner Cary Middlecoff was not a PGA member, and couldn't compete.
But the Americans found enough reserve power when needed. On the eve of
the Matches, Hogan raised a small controversy when he complained about the
grooves on the clubs of some of the British players. This was Hogan's
retaliation for an incident in 1947 when Britain's Henry Cotton asked for
an inspection of Hogan's clubs. No "illegal" grooves were discovered at
that time. Hogan's objections, however, were on target. The British team
met with Royal and Ancient Rules of Golf Committee member Bernard Darwin
that evening and Darwin said the clubs should be repaired to meet
conforming standards. The clubs were brought back to Glanton Golf Club in
Scarborough, where host professional Jock Ballantine spent the evening
filing away the prohibited grooves. The following day, the British jumped
off to a 3-1 lead in the foursomes before the Americans rallied and
dominated the singles, 6-2. The keys to the U.S. recovery were in Clayton
Heafner's 3-4-3-3 finish to defeat Richard Burton, 3 and 2; Jimmy
Demaret's 7 and 6 rout of Arthur Lees and Lloyd Mangrum's 4 and 3 win over
Fred Daly. Robert A. Hudson, whose generosity in funding the British team
resulted in saving the Ryder Cup Matches in 1947, was appointed "Honorary
Secretary" of the 1949 U.S. Ryder Cup Team. |
| | | | Great Britain | United States | | | Foursomes | | | | | | | | | M Faulkner & J Adams (2 & 1) | 1 | E J Harrison & J Palmer | 0 | | F Daly & K Bousfield (4 & 2) | 1 | R Hamilton & S Alexander | 0 | | C H Ward & S L King | 0 | J Demaret & C Heafner(4 & 3) | 1 | | R Burton & A Lees (1 hole) | 1 | S Snead & L Mangrum | 0 | | Singles | | | | | | | | | M Faulkner | 0 | E J Harrison (8 & 7) | 1 | | J Adams (2 & 1) | 1 | J Palmer | 0 | | C H Ward | 0 | S Snead (6 & 5) | 1 | | D J Rees (6 & 4) | 1 | R Hamilton | 0 | | R Burton | 0 | C Heafner (3 & 2) | 1 | | S L King | 0 | C Harbert (4 & 3) | 1 | | A Lees | 0 | J Demaret (7 & 6) | 1 | | F Daly | 0 | L Mangrum (4 & 3) | 1 | | | USA 7GB 5 | | | |
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