2006 Ryder Cup: Winner, Match Scores, Player Records

Jose Maria Olazabal led Europe at the 2006 Ryder Cup

The 2006 Ryder Cup was the 36th time this match play tournament between teams representing Europe and the United States was played. For the second consecutive time, Team Europe won by a 9-point margin. Following this result, the all-time standings were 24 wins for Team USA, 10 for Europe, with two draws.

Final Score: Europe 18.5, United States 9.5

Dates Played: September 22-24, 2006

Golf Course: The K Club in County Kildare, Ireland

Team Captains: Tom Lehman for the United States, Ian Woosnam for Europe.

Vice Captains: David Ogrin, Corey Pavin, Loren Roberts, Duffy Waldorf for Team USA; Peter Baker, Des Smyth, David J. Russell for Team Europe

Team Rosters:

  • USA — Chad Campbell, Stewart Cink, Chris DiMarco, Jim Furyk, J.J. Henry, Zach Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Vaughn Taylor, David Toms, Scott Verplank, Brett Wetterich, Tiger Woods
  • Europe — Paul Casey, Darren Clarke, Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, David Howell, Robert Karlsson, Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie, Jose Maria Olazabal, Henrik Stenson, Lee Westwood
Match Notes: Europe's victory over the USA in the 2006 Ryder Cup matched the biggest win yet (9-point margin of victory) by Europe in the Ryder Cup. Europe had a chance to break that record, but Paul McGinley conceded a long putt to J.J. Henry on the final hole of their singles match, resulting in a halved match.

The victory was the third straight for Team Europe, and its fifth win out of the last six Cups.

Europe won each of the four doubles sessions on Days 1 and 2 by a 2.5 to 1.5 score, then dominated the final-day singles session for good measure. Of the 28 matches played, only six were won by Team USA golfers. Only Tiger Woods and Scott Verplank had winning records on the American side; Phil Mickelson was 0-4-1.

On the European side, Sergio Garcia and Lee Westwood each earned four points for the team, while Darren Clarke, Luke Donald and Jose Maria Olazabal all went 3-0-0. Clarke was playing barely a month after the death of his wife from breast cancer.

Clarke and Westwood were both captain's picks and went a combined 6-0-2, making them the most successful captain's picks (combined) to this point in Cup history.

For Olazabal, it was the last of eight times he was selected for Team Europe and seven times he played for Team Europe (he withdrew one year due to injury). He ended his Ryder Cup playing career (he later captained) with 20.5 points earned on an 18-8-5 record, one of the event's most successful playing careers.

There were two holes-in-one, by Paul Casey and Scott Verplank, just the fifth and sixth aces in Ryder Cup history.

2006 Ryder Cup Results

Day 1

Four-Ball
  • Tiger Woods/Jim Furyk, USA, def. Padraig Harrington/Colin Montgomerie, 1-up
  • Stewart Cink/J.J. Henry, USA, halved with Paul Casey/Robert Karlsson, Europe
  • Sergio Garcia/Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, def. David Toms/Brett Wetterich, USA, 3 and 2
  • Darren Clarke/Lee Westwood, Europe, def. Phil Mickelson/Chris DiMarco, USA, 1-up
Score after first session: Europe 2.5, USA 1.5

Foursomes

  • Chad Campbell/Zach Johnson, USA, halved with Padraig Harrington/Paul McGinley, Europe
  • Stewart Cink/David Toms, USA, halved with David Howell/Henrik Stenson, Europe
  • Phil Mickelson/Chris DiMarco, USA, halved with Lee Westwood/Colin Montgomerie, Europe
  • Luke Donald/Sergio Garcia, Europe, def. Tiger Woods/Jim Furyk, USA, 2-up
Score of second session: Europe 2.5, USA 1.5
Cumulative score after Day 1: Europe 5, USA 3

Day 2

Four-Ball
  • Stewart Cink/J.J. Henry, USA, halved with Paul Casey/Robert Karlsson, Europe
  • Sergio Garcia/Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, def. Phil Mickelson/Chris DiMarco, 3 and 2
  • Darren Clarke/Lee Westwood, Europe, def. Tiger Woods/Jim Furyk, USA, 3 and 2
  • Scott Verplank/Zach Johnson, USA, def. Henrik Stenson/Padraig Harrington, Europe, 2 and 1
Score of third session: Europe 2.5, USA 1.5
Cumulative score after three sessions: Europe 7.5, USA 4.5

Foursomes

  • Sergio Garcia/Luke Donald, Europe, def. Phil Mickelson/David Toms, USA, 2 and 1
  • Chad Campbell/Vaughn Taylor, USA, halved with Colin Montgomerie/Lee Westwood, Europe
  • Paul Casey/David Howell, Europe, def. Stewart Cink/Zach Johnson, USA, 5 and 4
  • Jim Furyk/Tiger Woods, USA, def. Padraig Harrington/Paul McGinley, Europe, 3 and 2
Score of fourth session: Europe 2.5, USA 1.5
Cumulative score after Day 2: Europe 10, USA 6

Day 3

Singles
  • Colin Montgomerie, Europe, def. David Toms, USA, 1-up
  • Stewart Cink, USA, def. Sergio Garcia, Europe, 4 and 3
  • Paul Casey, Europe, def. Jim Furyk, USA, 2 and 1
  • Tiger Woods, USA, def. Robert Karlsson, Europe, 3 and 2
  • Luke Donald, Europe, def. Chad Campbell, USA, 2 and 1
  • J.J. Henry, USA, halved with Paul McGinley, Europe
  • Darren Clarke, Europe, def. Zach Johnson, USA, 3 and 2
  • Henrik Stenson, Europe, def. Vaughn Taylor, USA, 4 and 3
  • David Howell, Europe, def. Brett Wetterich, USA, 5 and 4
  • Jose Maria Olazabal, Europe, def. Phil Mickelson, USA, 2 and 1
  • Lee Westwood, Europe, def. Chris DiMarco, USA, 2-up
  • Scott Verplank, USA, def. Padraig Harrington, Europe, 4 and 3
Score of fifth session: Europe 8.5, USA 3.5
Overall and final score: Europe 18.5, USA 9.5

2006 Ryder Cup Player Records

(Records are listed as wins-losses-halves.)

United States
Chad Campbell, 0-1-2
Stewart Cink, 1-1-3
Chris DiMarco, 0-3-1
Jim Furyk, 2-3-0
J.J. Henry, 0-0-3
Zach Johnson, 1-2-1
Phil Mickelson, 0-4-1
Vaughn Taylor, 0-1-1
David Toms, 0-3-1
Scott Verplank, 2-0-0
Brett Wetterich, 0-2-0
Tiger Woods, 3-2-0

Europe
Paul Casey, 2-0-2
Darren Clarke, 3-0-0
Luke Donald, 3-0-0
Sergio Garcia, 4-1-0
Padraig Harrington, 0-4-1
David Howell, 2-0-1
Robert Karlsson, 0-1-2
Paul McGinley, 0-1-2
Colin Montgomerie, 1-1-2
Jose Maria Olazabal, 3-0-0
Henrik Stenson, 1-1-1
Lee Westwood, 3-0-2

Previous and next:
2004 Ryder Cup | 2008 Ryder Cup

Photo credit: Jose Maria Olazabal (pictured in 2009) by Graeme Bird is licensed under CC BY 2.0

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