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| | | | 1953 Wentworth Golf Club, Wentworth, England | | | |
| Captains: Lloyd Mangrum (US), Henry Cotton (GB) | USA 6 1/2 GB 5 1/2 | | | 
1953 Great Britain Team | |
In the most hotly contested Ryder Cup Matches since 1933, the Americans
didn't gain a victory until the waning hour of the singles matches when
Bernard Hunt missed a putt on the 18th green at Wentworth Golf Club to
halve with Dave Douglas. Earlier, teammate Peter Alliss took a six at the
final hole to drop a 1-up decision to Jim Turnesa. The American team
didn't include Ben Hogan, who was enjoying his greatest year and one of
the greatest seasons in golf history. Hogan limited his play to 72-hole,
four-day medal play events. This precluded his participating in both the
PGA Championship (which was conducted too early following his British Open
victory) and the Ryder Cup Matches. Both the PGA Championship and Ryder
Cup Matches had 36-hole matches during this period. Walter Burkemo took
Hogan's place and was joined by newly-crowned Canadian Open champion
Douglas, Ted Kroll and former U.S. Open champion Cary Middlecoff. Also
among the rookies was Ireland's Harry Bradshaw, who gained a start in the
opening day foursomes while veterans Dai Rees and Max Faulkner were held
out of the competition by Captain Henry Cotton. In an effort to build
camaraderie before the Matches, Cotton took his players to London to see
the play Guys and Dolls. However, the relaxation didn't help his
team as the U.S. took a 3-1 lead after the foursomes. Alliss and Hunt,
unfortunately, shouldered the burden in the waning moments of the singles.
Alliss chunked a chip shot on the 18th green and eventually suffered a
double bogey six for his halve with Turnesa. Hunt walked through a crowd
up the final fairway. He had pushed his second shot near a big tree short
and right of the green. He overshot the green with his approach and needed
three putts from there to lose the hole and halve with Douglas. Following
the Matches, U.S. Captain Lloyd Mangrum said he would "never, never
captain an American team again because of the 9,000 deaths I suffered in
the last hour." |
| | | | Great Britain | United States | | | Foursomes | | | | | | | | | H Weetman & P Alliss | 0 | D Douglas & E Oliver (2 & 1) | 1 | | E C Brown & J Panton | 0 | L Mangrum & S Snead (8 & 7) | 1 | | J Adams & B J Hunt | 0 | T Kroll & J Burke (7 & 5) | 1 | | F Daly & H Bradshaw (1 hole) | 1 | W Burkemo & C Middlecoff | 0 | | Singles | | | | | | | | | D J Rees | 0 | J Burke (2 & 1) | 1 | | F Daly (9 & 7) | 1 | T Kroll | 0 | | E C Brown (2 holes) | 1 | L Mangrum | 0 | | H Weetman (1 hole) | 1 | S Snead | 0 | | M Faulkner | 0 | C Middlecoff (3 & 1) | 1 | | P Alliss | 0 | J Turnesa (1 hole) | 1 | | B J Hunt (halved) | ½ | D Douglas (halved) | ½ | | H Bradshaw (3 & 2) | 1 | F Haas | 0 | | | USA 6 1/2GB 5 1/2 | | | |
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