Forty years on, how Jacklin resurrected Ryder Cup

With Bethpage Black in New York set to host the 2025 Ryder Cup from Sept. 26-28, attention turned this week to Tony Jacklin, the Englishman who helped resurrect a competition in crisis 40 years ago. His role as Europe’s defibrillator at The Belfry in 1985 and his involvement in a landmark 1987 away victory are celebrated in a retrospective that links one moment of leadership to decades of European ascent.

In 1983 the Ryder Cup was in danger of dying. Decades of American dominance had sucked the jeopardy and therefore the interest out of the biennial contest between the United States and Great Britain. The addition of Irish players in 1973 had made minimal impact. Emphatic defeats continued. At the request of American great Jack Nicklaus, GB&I had morphed into Europe by 1979. But still the US were romping home. By six points in '79. By nine in '81. "It wouldn't have lasted another two matches," said Tony Jacklin, the most important captain in Ryder Cup history. The now 81-year-old will be at Bethpage for this week's latest instalment as he marks a "scarcely believable" 40 years since being Europe's defibrillator, at The Belfry in 1985.

Jacklin backed up that first win by masterminding a first away triumph by any team from this side of the Atlantic in 1987. It was an incredible reversal in fortunes. From one win in 40 years, to two in two. That the two-time major winner was even involved was remarkable in itself. The Englishman, who blazed a trail as the best player from these shores throughout the 1960s and '70s, played in seven Ryder Cups during that period before eventually declaring himself "done" after being left out of the 1981 side. He knew something had to change but was "frustrated and angry" with the approach of some of his peers.

From vanquished to visionary, player to pioneer, this is how Jacklin resurrected the Ryder Cup. at The Belfry in 1985, and the era that followed would redefine the competition for a generation. "I was in shock," Jacklin told BBC Sport when he was approached six months before the 1983 matches in Florida. "I was in shock that I was being asked to captain the side." He said he needed time to think, then laid out a plan once he accepted the role. "I said I needed first-class tickets on Concorde, the best clothes, a team room, our caddies to travel with us. They said yes to everything. And then I said 'what about Seve'? I knew he was as mad as I was. I was told 'well you've accepted the job so he's your problem now'. I explained the vision and he listened."

Jacklin then turned his attention to Seve Ballesteros, the European icon who could help carry the weight of rebuilding. He met Ballesteros in Southport, at the Prince of Wales hotel, and over breakfast sold him the dream. Ballesteros, who had won the Masters earlier that year, was unsettled by tour politics but agreed to support the plan if the group could pull together. "Seve was venting about everything, but he listened," Jacklin recalled. "I told him the things that I had insisted upon. And then I said 'Seve, you are indispensable and I can't do it without you.' He said 'OK, I'll help you'." Jacklin then headed to Palm Beach Gardens to meet Nicklaus to discuss accommodation options and the all-important team room. Time was short, and the qualification criteria had been set: the top 12 would qualify, with Jacklin not having final say over the lineup. But the coming crop of players—Faldo, Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle and Ian Woosnam among them—provided a spine that would dominate the rest of the decade.

The 1983 matches in Florida were level going into the singles at 8-8, the first time parity had occurred. Ballesteros helped anchor a European surge, but the US still held the edge. By the end of the singles, the Americans prevailed in a tightly fought encounter, a result that underscored how far Europe still had to go. A pivotal moment in that week became part of Ryder Cup lore: a missed putt by Stadler on the 18th on Saturday morning. Stadler stabbed the ball wide of the hole, briefly giving Europe a glimmer of momentum. The stakes were high and the narrative was dramatic. As the dust settled, statistics suggested a longer-term shift: of the 16 matches played after that moment, Europe claimed 10½ points to the US’s 5½. It was a sign that the tides could be turning.

The Europe team, however, was far from done learning how to win on American soil. Ballesteros, Faldo, Langer, and Woosnam delivered in the top eight matches, and Ballesteros’s partnership with Way produced a crucial point in a grueling see-saw. Sam Torrance’s putt and an iconic celebration would ultimately come to symbolize the turning of the tide, and a final tally that helped Europe begin to chip away at the long US stranglehold. By the end, Europe had clawed back enough to dominate the late 1980s and redefine the Ryder Cup as a European-led competition.

The 1985 Ryder Cup at The Belfry proved the scale of the transformation. Europe trailed early but surged in the afternoon fourballs to pull ahead, and the momentum carried into the singles. Faldo, who had been one of Jacklin’s three captain’s picks, asked to be rested after struggling with a swing change. He later explained that the team came first, a sentiment Jacklin echoed: "This is the most selfless thing we do, whether as a captain or player. Your own individual achievements and ego, leave them outside, they don't go into that team room." The home side pressed on, and the campaign culminated in a famous moment when Sam Torrance rolled in a crucial putt to seal victory for Europe. The final score was 16½-11½, a result that represented not just a win but a turning point.

That Belfry success laid the groundwork for further European momentum under captains who followed Jacklin’s model. The 1987 Ryder Cup, hosted in the United States, produced Europe’s first away victory under the modern format, a watershed moment that underscored the global reach of the competition and the enduring shift in power away from the United States. The narrative from that era—teams built on European depth, shared leadership, and a focus on preparation and team culture—became a defining feature of the Ryder Cup in the years to come. Ballesteros, Faldo, Langer, and a rising generation of Europeans became a generation of pioneers who helped the competition reset its balance of power and rekindle interest around the world.

Reflecting in later years, Jacklin said the moment when the European team finally seized momentum in the mid-1980s was the beginning of a new era. "It was fantastic, but it was just really the beginning. We didn't know it at the time but the ramifications of that victory were going to rumble on for years to come," he said. In the wider arc, his leadership helped convert Ryder Cup fixtures from mismatched showcases into a high-stakes, worldwide event that has continued to grow in prestige and intensity. He remains one of the most influential figures in Ryder Cup history, a captain who could bridge generations and galvanize a team when it mattered most.

As Bethpage prepares to host the Ryder Cup in 2025, organizers and players alike look back on Jacklin’s legacy as a reminder of how leadership, collaboration, and a willingness to push for bold changes can revive even the most storied sports rivalries. The competition’s modern era owes much to the 1980s transformation that Jacklin helped engineer—a transformation that turned a near-dead event into a dynamic showcase of Europe’s golf strength and its emergence as a global force in the sport.

As the 2025 edition at Bethpage approaches, the Ryder Cup’s history serves as a map: moments of crisis can be transformed into opportunities with the right leadership, the right players, and a shared belief that the team can achieve something greater than the sum of its parts. The story of Jacklin’s era—his demands, his negotiations with Ballesteros, and the daring structural changes he helped usher in—remains a touchstone for players and captains who seek to write the next chapter for Europe in the biennial battle that continues to captivate sport, nation, and fans around the world.

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