The U.S. dominated in the return of the Ryder Cup in 1947

The 1947 Ryder Cup was seen as the “saving” of the event when it was preposed by Portland businessman Robert A. Hudson, who paid for the expenses of the teams and chaired the event. He even met the British team in New York, threw a lavish party at the Waldorf-Astoria, and accompanied them on the four-day rail journey across the U.S. to Portland.

Ten years had passed since the last staging of the Ryder Cup in 1937 England. The break out of war put a stress on the safety and planning of future tournaments after 1937. World War II had forced officials to abandon the tournament for many years. This left many players deep into their primes still showing up in Portland in 1947 Ryder Cup rookies. Captain Ben Hogan, Herman Barron, Jimmy Demaret, E.J. Harrison, Herman Keiser, Lloyd Mangrum, Ed Oliver, and Lew Worsham were all in the thirties and rookies. In fact, eight out of the ten United States players were first timers other than Byron Nelson and Sam Snead. This was the first of only two Ryder Cups for Hogan as a player and the second and final appearance for Byron Nelson, later the non-playing captain in 1965. Hogan was to be a non-playing captain in 1949 and 1967.

Foursome, Singles Matches U.S 11–1 Great Britain

The United States flat out stomped Great Britain during the foursome Saturday round matches. They swept the Brits 4-0 and seemed to never look back. The US was led by the pairings of Ed Oliver & Lew Worsham and Sam Snead & Lloyd Mangrum both 6 up on their opponents. With wet conditions the United States continued to stride through onto Sunday with momentum winning 7-1 improving the count to 11-1. Out of the eight players they put up for single matches only one lost. The only British victory in the competition came when Sam King beat Herman Keiser 4 & 3. The wet and rainy conditions of Portland made for unfavorable conditions for both sides although. In future years the Ryder Cup was held in more southern states like North Carolina (1951) and Southern California (1955).