When the 2025 Ryder Cup made headlines across the world and broke TV viewing figure records it was entirely in keeping with what the event has become. Players want to play in it, fans want to watch it, the media wants to cover it, and multi-national corporations want to back it.

But it hasn’t always been that way. When the Ryder Cup Almost Died reveals the chaotic state of the Ryder Cup before it was transformed into one of sport’s fiercest contests. The United States team was as elite and glamorous as ever, but their opponents were amateurish, better at fighting each other than the Americans, and its administrators were forever tinkering with the format in ever more desperate attempts to avoid genuine change.

Through first-hand interviews (Jack Nicklaus, Tony Jacklin, Paul McGinley, Sir Nick Faldo, Sam Torrance, Bernard Langer and many more), the book features colourful period detail, a cast of flawed characters, and remarkable stories of organisational mayhem that provides striking contrasts with the modern-day Ryder Cup.

It also celebrates the golfing heroes whose convictions and courage saved the match from becoming a meaningless fiasco: the Americans who lobbied for change and the Europeans who never lost hope amid endless disappointments.