Father-and-Son Golfers in the Ryder Cup

Has any father-and-son duo of golfers both played in the Ryder Cup? Yes, there have been a very small number of father-and-son Ryder Cuppers — all of them (so far) on the GB&I/Europe side.

The Ryder Cup was first played in 1927. Today is it contested every other year between two, 12-player squads, one representing the United States, the other representing Europe. For one member of a family (dad) to get into a Ryder Cup squad is quite an achievement; for a second member (son) to come along later and also do it is quite rare.

Father-and-Son Ryder Cup Players

So far, just two pairs of fathers-and-sons have played in the Ryder Cup:

• Percy Alliss and Peter Alliss. Dad Percy played in the Ryder Cups of 1929, 1933, 1935 and 1937. Son Peter played in 1953, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967 and 1969.
• Antonio Garrido and Ignacio Garrido. The Garridos each played in one Ryder Cup, Antonio in 1979 and Ignacio in 1997.

When Peter Alliss played his first in 1953, he made the Allisses the first father-son Ryder Cup duo, but also, at that time, just the second set of relatives to play in the event, after the Whitcombe brothers. (See also: Brothers Who Played in the Ryder Cup) Two British golfers connect Percy Alliss' last team in the 1937 Ryder Cup to Peter Alliss' first team in the 1953 Ryder Cup. Henry Cotton was a fellow player to Percy in 1937, and Peter's team captain in 1953. Dai Rees played on both squads, but did not partner either Alliss.

In the case of the Garridos, Antonio and Seve Ballesteros were partners in four matches during the 1979 Ryder Cup, winning one and losing three. Ballesteros was then Ignacio's team captain in the 1997 Ryder Cup. Nick Faldo was also a teammate to both.

Father-in-Law/Son-in-Law

What about father-son combos related not by blood, but by marriage? There is one father-in-law/son-in-law duo in Ryder Cup history:

• Max Faulkner and Brian Barnes. Barnes married Faulkner's daughter. Max Faulkner played in the Ryder Cups of 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953 and 1957. Brian Barnes played in 1969, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977 and 1979.

Bonus: Uncles and Nephews

Since we are on the subject of pairs of older-and-younger relatives who both played in the Ryder Cup, we can also point out that there are three pairs of uncles-and-nephews who played in the competition:

• Christy O'Connor Sr. (1955, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969) and Christy O'Connor Jr. (1975, 1989), Team GB&I/Europe
• Sam Snead (1937, 1947, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1959) and J.C. Snead (1971, 1973, 1975), Team USA
• Bob Goalby (1963) and Jay Haas (1983, 1995, 2004), Team USA