Since the event took place not too long after the victorious Desert Storm war in the Middle East, a patriotic, pro-American sentiment was running high all across the U.S.. The Americans, led by captain Dave Stockton, set the mood by posing for a military-inspired photo/poster, and some Team USA players showed up wearing battle-fatigues-inspired golf caps for Day 1 of the matches.
The “war” rhetoric fanned the flames for some unfortunate spectator behavior, Team Europe players claimed.
The Americans said they were simply honoring troops taking part in Operation Desert Storm; the Europeans said some of the Americans’ actions crossed the line from patriotism to jingoism.
Regardless, the tone was set. It continued with accusations of rules violations back-and-forth between Paul Azinger and Seve Ballesteros; accusations of gamesmanship; and again when Team USA withdrew an injured Steve Pate from singles (resulting in an automatic half-point to both sides) with an injury whose legitimacy was questioned by Team Europe.
During the matches, the USA jumped to a 3-1 lead after the opening foursomes and led 4.5 to 3.5 after Day 1. The “Spanish Armada” – Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal – prevented an early American runaway by winning both its Day 1 matches. (That pairing was 3-0-1 for the week, and Ballesteros led both teams with a 4-0-1 individual mark.)
In the Day 2 foursomes, the USA again won the session 3-1, building an overall 7.5 to 4.5 lead. Things appeared bleak for Europe, until the Europeans almost ran the table in the afternoon fourballs, taking the session 3.5 to 0.5.
Which sent the 1991 Ryder Cup into the Sunday singles session tied 8-8. As the holder of the Cup, Europe needed six out of 12 available singles points to retain it; USA needed 6.5 of a possible 12 singles points to win the Cup back.
Afterward, Calcavecchia walked down to the beach next to The Ocean Course, sank into the sand and cried.
It all came down to the final match on the course, Hale Irwin vs. Bernhard Langer, and the match reached the final green all square. Langer needed to win the hole to win the match and retain the Ryder Cup for Europe. Irwin needed to halve the match to win back the Cup for USA.
Irwin struggled to get in the hole, Langer conceding him a short bogey putt. Which left Langer 45 feet from the cup with two putts to win. But Langer ran his first putt six feet past the hole, and then, attempting to slide the ball past two spike markes, slid his par putt past the cup. A half-point for Team USA, a half-point for Team Europe – and a 14.5-13.5 victory for the Americans.
Team Rosters
Europe
Seve Ballesteros, Paul Broadhurst, Nick Faldo, David Feherty, David Gilford, Mark James, Bernhard Langer, Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal, Steven Richardson, Sam Torrance, Ian Woosnam
USA
Paul Azinger, Chip Beck, Mark Calcavecchia, Fred Couples, Raymond Floyd, Hale Irwin, Wayne Levi, Mark O’Meara, Steve Pate, Corey Pavin, Payne Stewart, Lanny Watkins
Day 1 Results
Foursomes
Seve Ballesteros/Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, def. Paul Azinger/Chip Beck, U.S., 2 and 1
Raymond Floyd/Fred Couples, U.S., def. Bernard Langer/Mark James, Europe, 2 and 1
Lanny Wadkins/Hale Irwin, U.S., def. David Gilford/Colin Montgomerie, Europe, 4 and 2
Payne Stewart/Mark Calcavecchia, U.S., def. Nick Faldo/Ian Woosnam, Europe, 1-up
Fourballs
Sam Torrance/David Feherty, Europe, halved with Lanny Wadkins/Mark O’Meara, U.S.
Seve Ballesteros/Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, def. Paul Azinger/Chip Beck, U.S., 2 and 1
ryder cup golfer payne stewart 1991
Payne Stewart
Steven Richardson/Mark James, Europe, def. Corey Pavin/Mark Calcavecchia, U.S., 5 and 4
Raymond Floyd/Fred Couples, U.S., def. Nick Faldo/Ian Woosnam, Europe, 5 and 3
Day 2 Results
Foursomes
Hale Irwin/Lanny Wadkins, U.S., def. David Feherty/Sam Torrance, Europe, 4 and 2
Mark Calcavecchia/Payne Stewart, U.S., def. Mark James/Steven Richardson, Europe, 1-up
Paul Azinger/Mark O’Meara, U.S., def. Nick Faldo/David Gilford, Europe, 7 and 6
Seve Ballesteros/Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, def. Fred Couples/Raymond Floyd, U.S., 3 and 2
Fourballs
Ian Woosnam/Paul Broadhurst, Europe, def. Paul Azinger/Hale Irwin, U.S., 2 and 1
Bernhard Langer/Colin Montgomerie, Europe, def. Corey Pavin/Steve Pate, U.S., 2 and 1
Mark James/Steven Richardson, Europe, def. Lanny Wadkins/Wayne Levi, U.S., 3 and 1
Seve Ballesteros/Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, halved with Payne Stewart/Fred Couples, U.S.
Day 3 Results
Singles
David Gilford, Europe, halved with Steve Pate, U.S.
David Feherty, Europe, def. Payne Stewart, U.S., 2 and 1
Nick Faldo, Europe, def. Raymond Floyd, U.S., 2-up
Colin Montgomerie, Europe, halved with Mark Calcavecchia, U.S.
Corey Pavin, U.S., def. Steven Richardson, Europe, 2 and 1
Seve Ballesteros, Europe, def. Wayne Levi, U.S., 3 and 2
Paul Azinger, U.S., def. Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, 2-up
Chip Beck, U.S., def. Ian Woosnam, Europe, 3 and 1
Paul Broadhurst, Europe, def. Mark O’Meara, U.S., 3 and 1
Fred Couples, U.S., def. Sam Torrance, Europe, 3 and 2
Lanny Wadkins, U.S., def. Mark James, Europe, 3 and 2
Hale Irwin, U.S., halved with Bernhard Langer, Europe
Player Records (wins-losses-halves)
Europe
Seve Ballesteros, 4-0-1
Paul Broadhurst, 2-0-0
Nick Faldo, 1-3-0
David Feherty, 1-1-1
David Gilford, 0-2-1
Mark James, 2-3-0
Bernhard Langer, 1-1-1
Colin Montgomerie, 1-1-1
Jose Maria Olazabal, 3-1-1
Steven Richardson, 2-2-0
Sam Torrance, 0-2-1
Ian Woosnam, 1-3-0
USA
Paul Azinger, 2-3-0
Chip Beck, 1-2-0
Mark Calcavecchia, 2-1-1
Fred Couples, 3-1-1
Raymond Floyd, 2-2-0
Hale Irwin, 2-1-1
Wayne Levi, 0-2-0
Mark O’Meara, 0-2-1
Steve Pate, 0-1-1
Corey Pavin, 1-2-0
Payne Stewart, 2-1-1
Lanny Wadkins, 3-1-1