Editing Ryder Cup (section)

==Founding of the Cup==
[[File:Ryder Cup Tartan (9184986058).jpg|thumb|The Ryder Cup. An event sponsored by English businessman [[Samuel Ryder]], the figure on top is modeled after professional golfer [[Abe Mitchell]], Ryder's private coach.<ref>Prezioso, Andrew (25 September 2014) [http://www.rydercup.com/usa/news/nine-facts-about-ryder-cup-trophy-you-may-not-have-known Nine things to you know about the Ryder Cup trophy]. rydercup.com</ref>]]

===Gleneagles 1921===
On 27 September 1920 ''Golf Illustrated'' wrote a letter to the [[Professional Golfers' Association of America]] with a suggestion that a team of 12 to 20 American professionals be chosen to play in the 1921 Open Championship, to be financed by popular subscription.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll2/id/5335/rec/1 |magazine=Golf Illustrated |date=November 1920 | page=27 |title=U.S. Professionals to Seek British Title |access-date=6 August 2013 |via=LA84}}</ref> At that time no American golfer had won The Open Championship. The idea was that of James D. Harnett, who worked for the magazine. The PGA of America replied positively and announced the idea in the November 1920 issue. The fund was called the ''British Open Championship Fund''. By the following spring, the idea had been firmed up.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll2/id/5391/rec/2 |magazine=Golf Illustrated |date=March 1921 |page=32 |title=Month at a Glance |access-date=6 August 2013 |via=LA84}}</ref> A team of 12 would be chosen, who would sail in time to play in a warm-up tournament at Gleneagles (the [[Glasgow Herald Tournament|''Glasgow Herald'' 1000 Guinea Tournament]]) before The Open at St. Andrews, two weeks later. The team of 12 was chosen by PGA President George Sargent and PGA Secretary Alec Pirie, with the assistance of [[USGA]] Vice-president Robert Gardner.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://digital.la84.org/digital/collection/p17103coll2/id/5448/rec/3 |magazine=Golf Illustrated |date=May 1921 |page=32 |title=Month at a Glance |access-date=6 August 2013 |via=LA84}}</ref> A team of 11 sailed from New York on the {{RMS|Aquitania}} on 24 May 1921 together with James Harnett, [[Harry Hampton (golfer)|Harry Hampton]] deciding at the last minute that he could not travel.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/05/25/98695351.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1921/05/25/98695351.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |newspaper=The New York Times |date=25 May 1921 |title=Golf Stars Leave for British Links |access-date=6 August 2013}}</ref>

The idea for a 12-a-side International Match between the American and Great Britain professionals was reported in ''The Times'' on 17 May, with [[James Douglas Edgar]] being reported as the probable 12th player.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=17 May 1921 |page=12 |title=The American Professionals}}</ref> Edgar was already in the United Kingdom. The match would be played at Gleneagles on Monday 6 June, the day before the start of the 1000 Guinea Tournament. With [[Jim Barnes]] indisposed, the match eventually became a 10-a-side contest, Edgar not being required for the American team. The match consisted of 5 foursomes in the morning and 10 singles in the afternoon, played on the King's Course. The match was won by Great Britain by 9 matches to 3, 3 matches being halved.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=r5ZAAAAAIBAJ&pg=5829%2C4051487 |newspaper=The Glasgow Herald |date=7 June 1921 |title=Gleneagles – International Golf |access-date=6 August 2013 |via=Google News Archive}}</ref>

The British team was: [[George Duncan (golfer)|George Duncan]] (captain), [[James Braid (golfer)|James Braid]], [[Arthur Havers]], [[Abe Mitchell]], [[James Ockenden]], [[Ted Ray (golfer)|Ted Ray]], [[James Sherlock (golfer)|James Sherlock]], [[John Henry Taylor|J.H. Taylor]], [[Josh Taylor (golfer)|Josh Taylor]], and [[Harry Vardon]]. The American team was: [[Emmet French]] (captain), [[Clarence Hackney]], [[Walter Hagen]], [[Charles Hoffner]], [[Jock Hutchison]], [[Tom Kerrigan (golfer)|Tom Kerrigan]], [[George McLean (golfer)|George McLean]], [[Fred McLeod (golfer)|Fred McLeod]], [[Bill Mehlhorn]] and [[Wilfrid Reid]]. Gold medals were presented by [[Katharine Stewart-Murray, Duchess of Atholl]], to each member of the teams at the conclusion of the Glasgow Herald tournament on Saturday afternoon. The medals "had on one side crossed flags, The Union Jack and Stars and Stripes surmounted by the inscription "For Britain" or "For America" as the case may be, and on the other side "America v Britain. First international golf match at "The Glasgow Herald" tournament, Gleneagles, 6 June 1921"<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=GGgVawPscysC&dat=19210613&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |newspaper=The Glasgow Herald |date=13 June 1921 |title=Mitchell's Win – "The Glasgow Herald" tournament |access-date=24 September 2014 |via=Google News Archive}}</ref>

After the Glasgow Herald Tournament most of the American team travelled to [[St Andrews]] to practice for The 1921 Open Championship, for which qualifying began on 20 June. However, Walter Hagen and Jock Hutchison played in a tournament at [[Kinghorn]] on 14 and 15 June. Hagen had a poor first round and didn't turn up for the second day. Hutchison scored 74 and 64 and took the £50 first prize.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=t5ZAAAAAIBAJ&pg=4320%2C5106382 |title=Golf – Kinghorn tournament – Hutchison's easy win |newspaper=The Glasgow Herald |date=16 June 1921 |page=11 |via=Google News Archive}}</ref> At St Andrews, Hutchison led the qualifying and then won The Open itself. So, despite losing the International Match, the American team achieved its main objective, winning the British Open.

A match between American and British amateur golfers was played at [[Royal Liverpool Golf Club]] (Hoylake) in 1921, immediately before The Amateur Championship. This match was followed by the creation of the [[Walker Cup]], which was first played in 1922.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.2013walkercup.com/history.php |publisher=2013 Walker Cup |title=History of the Walker Cup match |year=2013 |access-date=9 August 2013}}</ref> However the 1921 Gleneagles match did not immediately lead to a corresponding match between the professionals.

===Wentworth 1926===
It was common at this time for a small number of professionals to travel to compete in each other's national championship. In 1926, a larger than usual contingent of American professionals were travelling to Britain to compete in the [[1926 Open Championship|Open Championship]], two weeks before their own [[1926 U.S. Open (golf)|Championship]]. In February it was announced that [[Walter Hagen]] would select a team of four American professionals (including himself) to play four British professionals in a match before the Open Championship.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=20 February 1926 |page=5 |title=Professional International Match}}</ref> The match would be a stroke play competition with each playing the four opposing golfers over 18 holes.<ref name=fry>{{cite book |title=Samuel Ryder: The Man Behind the Ryder Cup |last=Fry |first=Peter |publisher=Wright Press |date=July 2000 |isbn=978-0-9539087-0-7}}</ref> In mid-April, it was announced that "A golf enthusiast, who name has not yet been made public" was ready to donate a cup for an annual competition.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The New York Times |date=17 April 1926 |title=Cup Offered for Golf Match Between U.S. and British Pros}}</ref> Later in April it was announced that [[Samuel Ryder]] would be presenting a trophy "for annual competition between British and American professionals." with the first match to be played on 4 and 5 June "but the details are not yet decided",<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=26 April 1926 |page=6 |title=The "Ryder" Trophy}}</ref> and then in May it was announced that the match would be a match-play competition, 8-a-side, foursomes on the first day, singles on the second.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=18 May 1926 |page=3 |title=Professional International Match}}</ref> Eventually, at Hagen's request, 10 players competed for each team.<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=4 June 1926 |page=6 |title=The "Ryder" Cup – To-day's International Match}}</ref> Samuel Ryder (together with his brother James) had sponsored a number of British professional events starting in 1923.<ref name=fry/>

The match resulted in 13–1 victory for the British team (1 match was halved). The American point was won by [[Bill Mehlhorn]] with [[Emmet French]] being all square. Medals were presented to the players by the American ambassador [[Alanson B. Houghton]].

The match was widely reported as being for the "Ryder Cup". However ''Golf Illustrated'' for 11 June states that because of uncertainty following the [[1926 United Kingdom general strike|general strike]] in May, which led to uncertainty about how many Americans would be visiting Britain, Samuel Ryder had decided to withhold the cup for a year. It has also been suggested that because Walter Hagen chose the American team rather than the American PGA, that only those Americans who had travelled to Britain to play in the Open were available for selection and that it contained a number of players born outside the United States, also contributed to the feeling that the match ought to be regarded as unofficial.<ref name=fry/> In addition the Americans "had only just landed in England and were not yet in full practice."<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=The Times |date=6 April 1927 |page=7 |title=The Ryder Cup}}</ref>

The British team was: [[Ted Ray (golfer)|Ted Ray]] (Captain), [[Aubrey Boomer]], [[Archie Compston]], [[George Duncan (golfer)|George Duncan]], [[George Gadd]], [[Arthur Havers]], [[Herbert Jolly]], [[Abe Mitchell]], [[Fred Robson]] and [[Ernest Whitcombe]]. The American team was: [[Walter Hagen]] (Captain), [[Tommy Armour]], [[Jim Barnes]], [[Emmet French]], [[Joe Kirkwood, Sr.|Joe Kirkwood]], [[Fred McLeod (golfer)|Fred McLeod]], [[Bill Mehlhorn]], [[Joe Stein]], [[Cyril Walker (golfer)|Cyril Walker]] and [[Al Watrous]]. While all ten of the British players subsequently played in the Ryder Cup only three of the Americans did (Hagen, Mehlhorn and Watrous). Armour, Barnes, Kirkwood, McLeod and Walker were excluded by the policy of requiring players to be born in the USA while French and Stein were never selected.

===Worcester 1927===
{{Main|1927 Ryder Cup}}
The 1927 competition was organized on a much more formal basis. A Ryder Cup "Deed of Trust" was drawn up formalising the rules of the contest, while each of the PGA organisations had a selection process. In Britain, ''Golf Illustrated'' launched a fund to raise £3,000 to fund professional golfers to play in the [[1927 U.S. Open (golf)|U.S. Open]] and the Ryder Cup. Ryder contributed £100 and, when the fund closed with a shortfall of £300, he made up the outstanding balance himself. Although not in the rules at that time, the American PGA restricted their team to those born in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rydercup.com/2010/usa/history/index.cfm |title=The History of the Ryder Cup |publisher=Ryder Cup |access-date=24 September 2014}}</ref>

In early 1928 it became clear that an annual contest was not practical and so it was decided that the second contest should be in 1929 and then every two years thereafter.<ref name=fry/>

For the 1929 UK contest at Moortown GC, Leeds, the American PGA again restricted their team to those born in the USA but in late 1929 the Deed of Trust was revised requiring all players to be born in{{refn|Prior to the 2002 Ryder Cup, the PGA of America changed its eligibility rules, extending eligibility for Team USA to all individuals born with U.S. citizenship, plus those who acquired U.S. citizenship before age 18.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.espn.co.uk/golf/sport/story/146498.html |title=Rules ravage Pettersson's Ryder bid – for both teams |first=Alex |last=Dimond |work=[[ESPN (UK)]] |date=18 April 2012 |access-date=24 September 2014}}</ref>}} and resident in their respective countries, as well as being members of their respective Professional Golfers' Association.<ref name=fry/>