Golf is generally viewed as the ultimate individual sport, although there’s a very notable exception to that rule in the form of the Ryder Cup. Some players have thrived under the pressure they have to deal with in that unique environment, while plenty of others have failed to rise to the occasion based on how they fared in their matches.
No golfers have posted a better record at the Ryder Cup than these guys
Approximately 200 golfers have played at least one match at the Ryder Cup since the team that was formerly reserved for players from the United Kingdom and Ireland expanded to all of Europe in 1979, and while it was first played in 1927, I’m limiting this to what is essentially the Modern Era.
It would also be foolish to list guys here who only ended up competing in a handful of matches, so I’m setting the cutoff at six. That means it only includes golfers who participated in multiple tournaments, as five matches is the most a single person can compete in during a single iteration of the Ryder Cup.
If there wasn’t a minimum threshold, Jack Nicklaus would be at the top thanks to the 4-0 record he posted (Paul Broadhurst is the only other person with a spotless record and no ties thanks to his 2-0 showing).
1. Lee Trevino: 6-1-1 (.812)
Lee Trevino somewhat surprisingly only played for the United States a couple of times, although he was 39 years old when he made his debut at The Greenbrier in 1979. He went 2-1-1 while helping the squad get the win and outdid himself a couple of years later with a spotless 4-0 record during the team’s victory in enemy territory.
2. Larry Nelson: 9-3-1 (.731)
Larry Nelson made his Ryder Cup debut the same year as Trevino and got off to one of the hottest starts possible by going 4-0 before outdoing himself with a 5-0 tear in 1981. However, he had to wait six years to get a third opportunity, and his grand return at Muirfield Village left a lot to be desired when you consider he was 0-3-1 during Team USA’s loss.
T3. Chip Beck: 6-2-1 (.722)
Chip Beck played in three consecutive Ryder Cups starting in 1989 and did what he could to help the American cause with a 3-0-1 record during the team’s tie with Europe at The Belfry. He went 1-2 during America’s dramatic win at Kiawah Island in 1991, but bounced back upon his return to The Belfry with a 2-0 effort.
T3. Paul Way: 6-2-1 (.722)
Paul Way was only 20 years old when he joined Europe’s Ryder Cup team for the first time in 1983. The Englishman went 3-1-1 in that losing effort, and followed it up with a 3-1 record two years later while getting his first win with the team in his last time as a member of it.
5. Tom Watson: 8-3-1 (.701)
There probably isn’t a more notable name on this list than Tom Watson, who won eight majors and 39 PGA Tour tournaments during his legendary career.
He was also no slouch at the Ryder Cup, as he went 3-1 and 4-1 while contributing to the two victories the United States got in 1981 and 1983 (he went 1-1-1 in the aforementioned tie in 1989, which marked his third and final appearance).
6. Luke Donald: 10-4-1 (.700)
There isn’t a single person on this list who competed in more individual matches than the 15 Luke Donald ended up with under his belt by the time he brought his Ryder Cup career to an end after four tournaments.
He was 2-1-1 in his debut at Oakand Hills in 2004, went 3-0 and 3-1 in his next two, and ended up at 2-2 in his swan song at Medinah in 2012 in the miracle that ensured he was on the winning team every single time he played.
These are the golfers with the worst individual record at the Ryder Cup
There are (somewhat aptly) 13 golfers who were never able to get a win in a match at the Ryder Cup, including five guys who never got another shot after kicking things off at 0-3. However, there are more than a few others who were unable to take advantage of the opportunities they arguably shouldn’t have gotten in hindsight based on how they fared.
1. Matt Fitzpatrick: 1-7 (.125)
2025 marks the fourth time Matt Fitzpatrick will be playing for Europe at the Ryder Cup, and I don’t think it’s unfair to wonder if he’s a great Locker Room Guy more than anything else when you consider he got the chance to head to Bethpage Black as a captain’s pick in spite of a record that doesn’t really support that decision.
There’s always a chance he could turn the corner, but the 31-year-old Englishman was 0-5 heading into the showdown at Marco Simone and was still a net negative by the time it ended despite getting his first win while teamed up with Rory McIlroy for a match against Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa.
2. Fuzzy Zoeller: 1-8-1 (.150)
Fuzzy Zoeller saw plenty of action while competing in the Ryder Cup three times, but he certainly did not make the most of those opportunities.
Zoeller made his Ryder Cup debut at The Greenbrier after winning The Masters in 1979, and the United States managed to get the win in spite of the 1-4 record he had while competing in all five events. He set a low bar for himself, but he was never able to surpass it after going 0-1 in 1983 and 0-3 in the loss at The Belfry in 1985.
T3. Peter Oosterhuis: 2-5 (.286)
There are three guys here who have an identical winning percentage, including two Europeans who ended up with the same underwhelming record during their relatively short-lived Ryder Cup careers.
The first is Peter Oosterhuis, who (like Zoeller) competed for the first time in 1979 en route to finishing at 2-2 for the event. He was invited back to contribute two years later, but the Englishman didn’t get the nod again after going 0-3 as the Europeans got absolutely embarrassed on their home turf.
T3. Des Smyth: 2-5 (.286)
Those two Ryder Cups that Oosterhuis played in were also the only ones where Des Smyth got the chance to compete, and he got off to a rough start by going 0-2 in 1979. There was really nowhere to go from up but there, and while his 2-3 showing in 1981 was an improvement, he never got another chance to improve on it.
T3. Bubba Watson: 4-10 (.286)
Bubba Watson represented the United States four times between 2010 and 2018 (he failed to make the cut in 2016).
However, he was never able to post a winning record (or be on a winning team) in any of the Ryder Cups he played in; his 2-2 showing at Medinah in 2012 was his best, while his 0-3 record at Gleneagles was his nadir.
6. Ben Crenshaw: 3-8-1 (.292)
Ben Crenshaw was a two-time winner at The Masters who played in the Ryder Cup four times between 1981 and 1995, but he had a bit more luck at Augusta National than he did at the international affair.
He did get off to a respectable start by posting a 3-2-1 record between his first two events as a member of the American squads that triumphed at Walton Heath in 1981 and PGA National in 1983. However, it was all downhill from there, as he closed out his Ryder Cup career on a 0-6 run.
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The 12 Golfers With The Best (And Worst) Individual Record At The Ryder Cup
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