Watching the world’s best players go head-to-head for individual glory is one of the most compelling sights in world sport, but it offers a completely new dimension when they join together to represent Team Europe against the United States.
Therefore, the question is: who has won the most fourball points for Europe in The Ryder Cup?
Ian Woosnam – ten and a half points
The 1991 Masters Champion shares the record for the most fourballs points won, recording ten and a half points from his 14 matches across eight Ryder Cups.
On his debut at the biennial showpiece in 1983 at PGA National Golf Club in Florida, he won half a point in his first match alongside Sam Torrance, before the duo lost 5&4 to Tom Watson and Bob Gilder the following morning.
However, he won five fourballs points from his next six matches across three Ryder Cups, winning points alongside Nick Faldo and Paul Way, before triumphing in five successive fourballs matches with Paul Broadhurst, Peter Baker (twice), Costantino Rocca and Thomas Bjørn.
José Maria Olazábal – ten and a half points
The man with whom Woosnam shares the honour of being Europe’s highest all-time fourballs points scorer is a fellow Green Jacket recipient.
Olazábal made his Ryder Cup bow four years later than the Welshman at Muirfield Village in Ohio, but wasted no time in making his mark on the competition. Playing alongside his great friend and compatriot Seve Ballesteros, the duo won five and a half points from seven fourballs matches, losing just once to Larry Mize and Hal Sutton.
He won his final point as a duo with Ballesteros in 1993 but went on to form equally successful partnerships alongside fellow Spaniards in future Ryder Cups. The 23-time European Tour winner won half a point alongside Ignacio Garrido in 1997, one and a half points with Miguel Angel Jimenez and two points with Europe’s all-time record points scorer, Sergio Garcia, in 2006.
His only fourballs point won with a non-Spaniard came while playing for a Spanish captain – Ballesteros – at a Spanish venue in 1997 at Club de Golf Vaderrama when he and Rocca defeated Davis Love III and Phil Mickelson in the first match of The Ryder Cup.
Sergio Garcia – nine and a half points
Sergio Garcia made history at Le Golf National in 2018 when he defeated Rickie Fowler in the Sunday’s single matches and moved ahead of Nick Faldo in the list of all-time points scorers for Team Europe.
He has a point percentage of 62 per cent and of the 25 and a half points he’s earned for Team Europe’s cause since his debut in 1999, he has won nine and a half points in fourballs matches.
He began his Ryder Cup career alongside Jesper Parnevik when the duo won three and a half points from a possible four at The Country Club, which included a fourballs win against Mickelson and Jim Furyk and a half against Love III and David Duval.
He then won his first fourballs match with Lee Westwood at The Belfry in 2002 before going half a point better in 2004, with the duo earning one and a half points.
The 2017 Masters Champion teamed up with Olazábal at The K Club in 2006, winning both of their fourballs matches, and has since won one fourballs match with each of Rafa Cabrera Bello, Luke Donald and Rory McIlroy, in addition to half a point with Paul Casey.
