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The Ryder Cup through the years

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

From Arnold Palmer's dominance to the doomed Tiger-Phil pairing to Team Europe's recent string of titles, we look back at the Ryder Cup's rich history:

1963: United States wins 23-9

East Lake Golf Club: Arnold Palmer served as playing captain, in the last time that would happen in a Ryder Cup. This one was at Bobby Jones' home course in Atlanta. Although Jack Nicklaus had won his third major title earlier in the year, he was not eligible for the Ryder Cup because of membership rules then in place by the PGA of America. The Americans didn't lose a match in any of the afternoon sessions. Palmer went 4-2 as a player, while the team was led by Billy Casper (4-0-1) and Dow Finsterwald (4-1-1). Tony Lema was also 3-0-2. -- Bob Harig

1967: United States wins 23½ to 8½

Champions Golf Club: Ben Hogan captained the U.S. side for a third time, and the Americans won easily in Houston. Perhaps the biggest news to come out of the event was Hogan's benching Palmer in the morning matches on the second day because he was annoyed that Palmer had taken several members of the GB&I team for a ride on his plane. Palmer, who flew his plane directly over the course and scared a few of his passengers in the process, was reprimanded by the Federal Aviation Administration for the stunt. It didn't hurt his golf, though, as Palmer went 5-0 in his other matches. -- Harig

1969: United States 16, GB&I 16

Royal Birkdale Golf Club: The famous Concession at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, saw the entire match come down to the 18th hole singles on Sunday, with both teams at 15½ points. The entire match hung in the balance, as Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin -- Nicklaus had won seven majors to that point, Jacklin had won The Open earlier that year -- were tied after Jacklin won the 17th hole.

When both players reached the green of the 18th hole in regulation, it came down to putting. Jacklin went first and left his birdie effort approximately 2 feet from the hole. Nicklaus was closer, with a chance to win it outright, but ran his past some 4½ feet. There was a chance to lose right there, but Nicklaus made the putt, then picked up Jacklin's marker. He later said he didn't think it was in the spirit of the competition to make the Englishman have to hole the putt. It was the first time the Ryder Cup ever ended in a tie. -- Harig

1973: United States wins 19-13

Muirfield: For the first time, the Ryder Cup went to Scotland, which was somewhat remarkable in that the competition was confined to Great Britain and Ireland. Jack Burke Jr. got a second crack at the captaincy after presiding over a rare U.S. defeat in 1957. This was a close Ryder Cup, as the two sides were tied at 8 after two days. But on the strength of an 11-5 singles advantage, the U.S. pulled away to an easy victory. Nicklaus led the Americans with 4½ points, with Billy Casper getting 4. -- Harig

1979: United States wins 17-11

The Greenbrier: For the first time, continental Europe joined Great Britain and Ireland to form a European team. It didn't matter much at The Greenbrier in West Virginia. Even without Tom Watson, who left on the eve of the matches to be home for the birth of his daughter, and with Europe having a newcomer who would help change the Ryder Cup in Spain's Seve Ballesteros, the Americans were in control. The format was changed to the current system that sees eight matches on Friday, eight matches on Saturday and 12 singles on Sunday. Larry Nelson, playing in his first Ryder Cup, went 5-0, the last American to sweep all of his matches. -- Harig

1981: United States wins 18½-9½

Walton Heath Golf Club: It had become a typical sight: the American team celebrating after winning the Ryder Cup. This time it came at Walton Heath in Surrey, England, and the outcome was the same as it had been for the past 12 Ryder Cups, with a thrashing of Team Europe. Four players -- Tom Kite, Larry Nelson, Nicklaus and Lee Trevino -- didn't lose a match all week for U.S. captain Dave Marr. -- Kevin Maguire

1983: Americans win yet again 14½-13½

PGA National Golf Club: Lanny Wadkins and Team USA kept their win streak alive in the biennial matches, but only by the slightest of margins. The 33-year-old Wadkins' approach shot on the final hole of his singles match against Jose Maria Canizares stopped a foot from the hole, which gave the American a half-point, and that was enough to secure a 14½ to 13½ win. -- Maguire

1985: Team Europe beats U.S. 16½-11½

The Belfry: For decades, the European Ryder Cup team couldn't beat the Americans. That changed in 1985, when captain Tony Jacklin celebrated the first non-U.S. victory since 1957. Only one player had a losing record for Team Europe, while seven Americans finished under .500 for the week in Sutton Coldfield, England. -- Maguire

1987: Europeans beat Team USA 15-13

Muirfield Village Golf Club: The Ryder Cup matches started in 1927, but not until 60 years later did Team Europe win on American soil. That victory came with Jacklin, left, leading the squad as captain and Ballesteros as its top man inside the ropes. The Spaniard went 4-1-0 in five matches as the Europeans beat Team USA in Dublin, Ohio. Not only did the Europeans win, but they did so against U.S. captain Jack Nicklaus on the course the Golden Bear designed and where he held his yearly PGA Tour event, the Memorial Tournament. -- Maguire

1991: United States wins 14½-13½

Kiawah Island Golf Resort: All Bernhard Langer needed to do was make this 6-foot putt, and Europe would retain the Ryder Cup. The look on his face says it all, as he missed and halved his match with Hale Irwin. That gave the United States a slim victory in what became known as "The War by the Shore" at Kiawah Island's Ocean Course in South Carolina. -- Maguire

1993: Team USA 15, Team Europe 13

The Belfry: Led by captain Tom Watson, the U.S. won this closely contested battle in a match that came down to singles matches late Sunday afternoon. Davis Love III defeated Costantino Rocca to parlay a one-point deficit entering the final session into a clinching victory. That was the last time the American side won a Ryder Cup on European soil. -- Jason Sobel

1995: Team Europe wins 14½-13½

Oak Hill Country Club: The second Team Europe title on U.S. turf was its first come-from-behind victory on a Sunday afternoon. Bernard Gallacher's team trailed by two points going into the last session but rallied for a win. Among the singles winners for Europe were highly ranked Nick Faldo and Colin Montgomerie, but it was the least-heralded team member, rookie Philip Walton, who secured the clinching point against Jay Haas. -- Sobel

1999: Team USA takes back title 14½-13½

The Country Club (Brookline, Massachusetts): With his team trailing 10-6 on Saturday evening, and no team having ever come back from a deficit that large, U.S. captain Ben Crenshaw wagged his finger to the assembled press corps and foreshadowed the next day by claiming, "I've got a good feeling about this." His feeling was proven right Sunday, as the U.S. team put together the greatest comeback to that point in Ryder Cup history. The most memorable moment was a 45-foot birdie putt by Justin Leonard on the 17th hole, which clinched the victory when Jose Maria Olazabal missed his putt to halve the hole. -- Sobel

2002: Team Europe wins 15½-12½

The Belfry: Postponed one year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, this edition of the Ryder Cup held a somber undertone for much of the festivities. In the first Ryder Cup that included Tiger Woods (who went 2-2-1 for the week), it was Phil Mickelson's singles loss against Phillip Price that swung momentum in the Europeans' favor. They won 15½-12½, the team's largest margin of victory since 1985. -- Sobel

2004: Team Europe wins again 18½-9½

Oakland Hills Country Club (Bloomfield Township, Michigan): A dozen years later, we're still talking about U.S. captain Hal Sutton's ill-fated decision to pair Woods and Mickelson for two matches on Friday -- matches they would lose. Momentum never swung toward the U.S. side, as European captain Bernhard Langer instructed his players to charm the opposing crowd and largely take them out of play. The 18½-9½ differential was the largest for the European side and largest overall since 1981. -- Sobel

2006: Europe 18½, USA 9½

The K Club: Europe cruised to victory in Ireland, claiming all five sessions, but the focus was on captain's pick Darren Clarke, whose wife, Heather, had died from cancer just two months before. The reception he got on the first tee and the tears that flowed in victory stood out for their depth of emotion. There were also two aces, from Scott Verplank -- the first by an American in the competition's history -- and Paul Casey. -- Leo Spall

2008: USA 16½, Europe 11½

Valhalla Golf Club: Anthony Kim's opening 5-and-4 defeat of Sergio Garcia led the way as Paul Azinger's side turned the tables. Team USA's six rookies played their part too, as they made a Ryder Cup statement and the mood was encapsulated by the celebrations of a great victory. Kim, Hunter Mahan and Boo Weekley flew down the clubhouse stairs carrying champagne to meet the crowd. -- Spall

2010: Europe 14½, USA 13½

Celtic Manor Resort: The rain that weekend in South East Wales would be hard to forget, and it pushed the competition into Monday. On the fourth day, Graeme McDowell went head-to-head with Hunter Mahan in a gladiatorial contest in the last of the singles matches -- the decider. The European's 15-foot birdie on the 16th put his team 2-up, and on the next hole, it was all over. -- Spall

2012: Europe 14½, USA 13½

Medinah Country Club: It started out as the Ballesteros Ryder Cup, with Europe's players wearing the image of the late legend on their sleeves, and it ended up being remembered as the competition's "miracle" or "meltdown," depending which side you supported. Europe trailed 10-6 on Saturday night, but Ian Poulter's memorable Saturday afternoon showing in the fourball gave the team momentum, and the first five matches on Sunday were theirs. If Poulter turned the tide, Rory McIlroy also made a name for himself -- as the guy who nearly missed his tee time because he thought he was in a different time zone. -- Spall

2014: Europe 16½, USA 11½

Gleneagles: Jamie Donaldson, Sir Alex Ferguson and Mickelson stole the show here for three different reasons. Europe's Donaldson, a late qualifier for the team, sealed the contest with an awesome wedge approach shot to within 18 inches of the 15th hole, and Keegan Bradley conceded. Before that, Ferguson, then the Manchester United manager, had stolen some of the limelight with a motivational talk for Paul McGinley's side. Afterward, Mickelson hit the headlines for his frank views on Tom Watson's captaincy. -- Spall