Golf legends confirm special match ahead of Ryder Cup

Golf legends Sir Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Sam Torrance will contest a special Ryder Cup anniversary match at The Belfry next week.

The match will see Faldo and Woosnam compete against Lyle and Torrance on the famous Brabazon Course in North Warwickshire, England, on Tuesday 19 August.

It's been set up as a special 40th anniversary match to celebrate Team Europe's first Ryder Cup win against the United States at The Belfry in 1985.

Faldo, Woosnam, Lyle and Torrance all played their part in that memorable week.

The anniversary match will be contested over arguably five of the Brabazon's best holes: the 10th, 11th, 16th, 17th and 18th.

It will be a fourball match play format.

The match is taking place at the start of the DP World Tour's Betfred British Masters hosted by Faldo himself from 21-24 August.

Automatic qualification for Luke Donald's 2025 European Ryder Cup team will also conclude following the final round of the British Masters.

Donald will then reveal his six captain's picks after the tournament, something we predicted here at GolfMagic last week.

Faldo, Woosnam, Lyle and Torrance boast an incredible 32 Ryder Cup appearances along with nine major titles, six of which belong to Faldo.

Sky Sports Golf's Wayne 'Radar' Riley will be striding the fairways to call the action, along with Josh Antmann.

The special anniversary match can be viewed on the Ryder Cup Europe YouTube channel and on international broadcast platforms.

The 1985 Ryder Cup saw Tony Jacklin's European team defeat Lee Trevino's United States by five points, 16.5-11.5.

That was the exact same score Europe defeated United States at the 2023 Ryder Cup.

The win for Europe 40 years ago at The Belfry marked their first in the biennial contest, having competed as Great Britain & Ireland until 1977.

It marked the first loss for the United States at a Ryder Cup since 1957.

Torrance holed the decisive winning putt from 22 feet on the par-4 18th to bring the house down for British and European fans.

Faldo said:

"The 1985 Ryder Cup really marked a turning point in Ryder Cup history. For so long, it felt like an American victory was a foregone conclusion. But under the brilliant captaincy of Tony Jacklin, and with a crop of world-class European players emerging, we finally broke through and that win at The Belfry started a period of European dominance in the event."

"Today, the Ryder Cup is known for being fiercely contested and 1985 was the start of that. It’s going to be great fun catching up with my old teammates, sharing old stories, and getting our competitive juices flowing. It’s also a brilliant way to kick start the Betfred British Masters, which I’m hosting for the third time. The tournament promises to have a strong Ryder Cup narrative running through it as the final qualifying event for players to earn their spot in the upcoming match at Bethpage Black."

The 2025 Ryder Cup takes place at Bethpage Black in New York from 26-28 September.

Luke Donald is once again the captain for the European side, while Keegan Bradley takes over from Zach Johnson as skipper of the stars and stripes.

USA are marginal 4/6 favourites to win the 2025 Ryder Cup, with Europe the outsiders at 6/4.

You have to go all the way back to Medinah in 2012 for the last time an away team won the Ryder Cup.

Europe memorably overturned a four-point deficit heading into the Sunday Singles that week, going on to win 14.5-13.5.