1981 Ryder Cup 1981 Ryder Cup The 24th Ryder Cup Matches were held 18–20 September 1981 at the Walton Heath Golf Club in Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, England, southwest of London. The United States team won the competition by a score of 18½ to 9½ points. To date, it remains the largest margin of defeat for a European team (since 1979) at the Ryder Cup. Seve Ballesteros was not selected for the European team after an ongoing dispute with the European Tour concerning appearance money. Tony Jacklin was also left off the team. It was the sixth and final Ryder Cup for Jack Nicklaus as
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