2004 Ryder Cup

The 35th Ryder Cup Matches were held September 17–19 at the Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. The European team won the competition by a margin of 18½ to 9½ points, the winning putt being made by Colin Montgomerie, who maintained his record of never losing in any of his seven Ryder Cup singles matches. The victory margin was the largest by a European team in the history of the event, and the largest by either side since 1981, when Team USA defeated Team Europe by the same score. It was also the largest margin of defeat for the USA on home soil.

Format

The Ryder Cup is a match play event, with each match worth one point. The competition format changed slightly from used from that used from 1991 to 2002, with the order of play swapped on the second day:

• Day 1 (Friday) — 4 four-ball (better ball) matches in a morning session and 4 foursome (alternate shot) matches in an afternoon session
• Day 2 (Saturday) — 4 four-ball matches in a morning session and 4 foursome matches in an afternoon session
• Day 3 (Sunday) — 12 singles matches

With a total of 28 points, 14½ points were required to win the Cup, and 14 points were required for the defending champion to retain the Cup. All matches were played to a maximum of 18 holes.

Teams

Team USA
Name	Residence	Notes
Hal Sutton	Shreveport, Louisiana	Non-playing captain
Chad Campbell	Lewisville, Texas	Seventh in Cup points
Stewart Cink	Duluth, Georgia	Captain's Pick
Chris DiMarco	Orlando, Florida	Eighth in Cup points
Fred Funk	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida	Ninth in Cup points
Jim Furyk	Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida	Fourth in Cup points
Jay Haas	Greenville, South Carolina	Captain's Pick
Davis Love III	Sea Island, Georgia	Third in Cup points
Phil Mickelson	Rancho Santa Fe, California	Second in Cup points
Kenny Perry	Franklin, Kentucky	Fifth in Cup points
Chris Riley	Las Vegas, Nevada	Tenth in Cup points Makes Cup debut
David Toms	Shreveport, Louisiana	Sixth in Cup points
Tiger Woods	Windermere, Florida	First in Cup points

Team Europe
Name	Residence	Notes
Bernhard Langer	Anhausen, Germany Boca Raton, Florida, USA	Non-playing captain
Paul Casey	Weybridge, England, UK Scottsdale, Arizona, USA	Eighth in World points Sixth in Cup points
Darren Clarke	Chobham, England, UK	Third in World and Cup points
Luke Donald	High Wycombe, England, UK Chicago, Illinois, USA	Ninth in World points Captain's Pick
Sergio García	Borriol, Spain	Second in World points 23rd in Cup points
Pádraig Harrington	Dublin, Ireland	First in World points Fifth in Cup points
David Howell	Weybridge, England, UK	13th in World points Seventh in Cup points Makes Cup debut
Miguel Ángel Jiménez	Málaga, Spain	Fourth in World points First in Cup points
Thomas Levet	Warfield, England, UK	Seventh in World points Fourth in Cup points
Paul McGinley	Sunningdale, England, UK	Eleventh in World points Eighth in Cup points
Colin Montgomerie	Troon, Scotland, UK	19th in World points 16th in Cup points Captain's Pick
Ian Poulter	Milton Keynes, England, UK	Tenth in World points Ninth in Cup points
Lee Westwood	Worksop, England, UK	Fifth in World points Second in Cup points

Thursday practice

Friday's matches

Morning four-ball

U.S. captain Hal Sutton put his top pairing of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the first match of the Ryder Cup, hoping to come out to a quick lead. The decision backfired on Sutton, as the Woods/Mickelson pairing fell behind almost from the start, eventually losing. Only a 7-foot par putt by Chris Riley on the 18th hole of his match kept Team USA from being shut out by Team Europe. Team USA never had the lead during any of the first day's four-ball matches.

	Results
Woods/Mickelson	2 & 1	Montgomerie/Harrington
Love III/Campbell	5 & 4	Clarke/Jiménez
Riley/Cink	halved	McGinley/Donald
Toms/Furyk	4 & 3	García/Westwood
½	Session	3½
½	Overall	3½

Afternoon foursomes

The afternoon alternate-shot session was almost as good for Team Europe as the morning session. Mickelson and Woods lost an early lead in their match, leaving Woods winless in the first day of his last three Ryder Cups. Team USA picked up its first full point, but Europe ended the day with a 6½–1½ lead, its largest lead after the first day in Ryder Cup history.

	Results
Haas/DiMarco	3 & 2	Jiménez/Levet
Love III/Funk	4 & 2	Harrington/Montgomerie
Mickelson/Woods	1 up	Clarke/Westwood
Perry/Cink	2 & 1	Donald/García
1	Session	3
1½	Overall	6½

Saturday's matches

Morning four-ball

	Results
Haas/DiMarco	halved	García/Westwood
Riley/Woods	4 & 3	Clarke/Poulter
Campbell/Furyk	1 up	Casey/Howell
Cink/Love III	3 & 2	Harrington/Montgomerie
2½	Session	1½
4	Overall	8

Afternoon foursomes

	Results
Haas/DiMarco	5 & 4	Clarke/Westwood
Mickelson/Toms	4 & 3	Jiménez/Levet
Furyk/Funk	1 up	Donald/García
Love III/Woods	4 & 3	Harrington/McGinley
1	Session	3
5	Overall	11

Sunday's singles matches

	Results
Tiger Woods	3 & 2	Paul Casey
Phil Mickelson	3 & 2	Sergio García
Davis Love III	halved	Darren Clarke
Jim Furyk	6 & 4	David Howell
Kenny Perry	1 up	Lee Westwood
David Toms	1 up	Colin Montgomerie
Chad Campbell	5 & 3	Luke Donald
Chris DiMarco	1 up	Miguel Ángel Jiménez
Fred Funk	1 up	Thomas Levet
Chris Riley	3 & 2	Ian Poulter
Jay Haas	1 up	Pádraig Harrington
Stewart Cink	3 & 2	Paul McGinley
4½	Session	7½
9½	Overall	18½

References

• Ryder Cup 2004 / The Official Site of the 35th Ryder Cup Matches. The PGA of America, Ryder Cup Limited, and Turner Sports Interactive. Retrieved on 2007-03-14..
• Ryder Cup. BBC Sport. Retrieved on 2007-03-14..