Editing Ryder Cup (section)

===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.