1977 Ryder Cup 1977 Ryder Cup The 22nd Ryder Cup Matches were held at the Royal Lytham & St Annes Golf Club in Lytham St Annes, England. The United States team won the competition by a score of 12½ to 7½ points. The event was the last time that a Great Britain and Ireland team would compete for the Ryder Cup. During the competition, officials from the PGA of America and the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland discussed the possibility of allowing players from continental Europe to participate in the Cup, and Jack Nicklaus also advocated this change in a meeting with
Ryder Cup because the Olympic Games had moved the timeslot for the 2016 PGA Championship which took place already at the end of July. Team Europe retained its old system of qualification and wild cards. An opening ceremony takes place on the afternoon before play begins. Since 2012, there has been a celebrity match played before the Ryder Cup contest. Celebrities were paired with former Ryder Cup captains in 2012 and 2014. Since 2016 there have been separate matches for celebrities and past captains. Celebrities have included sportspeople Michael Phelps, Scottie Pippen, Martina Navratilova, Alessandro Del Piero and Andriy Shevchenko, and actors