Ryder Cup Captains: The Full List

The list of Ryder Cup captains goes back to 1927, when the biennial tournament began. Every other year, the best male, professional golfers from Europe and the United States face off in this match play tournament, each team led by its captain.

The European Tour selects the captain for Team Europe, the PGA of America chooses Team USA's captain. Each captain then is able to pick his own assistants, as well as several members of the team (the majority of Ryder Cup players are automatic selections via points lists).

The most-frequent Ryder Cup captain was Walter Hagen, who led Team USA in each of the first six tournaments.

The List: Ryder Cup Captains

(Click on a year to view the final score, golf course, team rosters and match scores from that Ryder Cup. A "-w" following the captain's name indicates the winning captain. In the event no "-w" appears next to either name, that Ryder Cup was a draw.)

(Related: The history and full list of Ryder Cup assistant captains)

Year Europe USA
2025 Luke Donald tba
2023 Luke Donald-w Zach Johnson
2021 Padraig Harrington Steve Stricker-w
2018 Thomas Bjorn-w Jim Furyk
2016 Darren Clarke Davis Love III-w
2014 Paul McGinley-w Tom Watson
2012 Jose Maria Olazabal-w Davis Love III
2010 Colin Montgomerie-w Corey Pavin
2008 Nick Faldo Paul Azinger-w
2006 Ian Woosnam-w Tom Lehman
2004 Bernhard Langer-w Hal Sutton
2002 Sam Torrance-w Curtis Strange
1999 Mark James Ben Crenshaw-w
1997 Seve Ballesteros-w Tom Kite
1995 Bernard Gallacher-w Lanny Wadkins
1993 Bernard Gallacher Tom Watson-w
1991 Bernard Gallacher Dave Stockton-w
1989 Tony Jacklin Raymond Floyd
1987 Tony Jacklin-w Jack Nicklaus
1985 Tony Jacklin-w Lee Trevino
1983 Tony Jacklin Jack Nicklaus-w
1981 John Jacobs Dave Marr-w
1979 John Jacobs Billy Casper-w

Prior to 1979, the teams were the United States and, from 1973-77, Great Britain and Ireland; or, prior to 1973, Great Britain.

Year GB&I USA
1977 Brian Huggett Dow Finsterwald-w
1975 Bernard Hunt Arnold Palmer-w
1973 Bernard Hunt Jack Burke Jr.-w
1971 Eric Brown Jay Hebert-w
1969 Eric Brown Sam Snead
1967 Dai Rees Ben Hogan-w
1965 Harry Weetman Byron Nelson-w
1963 John Fallon Arnold Palmer-w
1961 Dai Rees Jerry Barber-w
1959 Dai Rees Sam Snead-w
1957 Dai Rees-w Jack Burke Jr.
1955 Dai Rees Chick Harbert-w
1953 Henry Cotton Lloyd Mangrum-w
1951 Arthur Lacey Sam Snead-w
1949 Charles Whitcombe Ben Hogan-w
1947 Henry Cotton Ben Hogan-w
1937 Charles Whitcombe Walter Hagen-w
1935 Charles Whitcombe Walter Hagen-w
1933 J.H. Taylor-w Walter Hagen
1931 Charles Whitcombe Walter Hagen-w
1929 George Duncan-w Walter Hagen
1927 Ted Ray Walter Hagen-w

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Photo credit: Tony Jacklin, public domain via Wikimedia Commons

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