<P> Since 1979, a player can play a maximum of 5 matches (2 foursomes, 2 fourballs and a singles match), however from 1963 to 1975 it was possible to play 6 matches (2 foursomes, 2 fourballs and 2 singles matches). </P> <P> The captains have always selected the players and chosen the playing order in each group of matches . When the contest involved 36 - hole matches, it was usual for the captain to be one of the players . The USA only had two non-playing captains in this period: Walter Hagen in 1937 and Ben Hogan in 1949 while Great Britain had non-playing captains in 1933, 1949, 1951 and 1953 . With the change to 18 - hole matches and the extension to three days, it became more difficult to combine the roles of captain and player and Arnold Palmer in 1963 was the last playing captain . The captains have always been professional golfers and the only captain who never played in the Ryder Cup was J.H. Taylor, the 1933 British captain . </P> <P> The selection process for the Ryder Cup players has varied over the years . In the early contests the teams were generally decided by a selection committee but later qualification based on performances was introduced . The current system by which most of the team is determined by performances with a small number of players selected by the captain (known as "wild cards" or "captain's picks") gradually evolved and has been used by both sides since 1989 . </P> <P> For the 2014 Ryder Cup both teams had 9 players qualifying based on performances with the remaining 3 players selected by the captain . For those players gaining automatic qualification the Europeans used a system, introduced in 2004, using two tables; one using prize money won in official European Tour events and a second based on World Ranking points gained anywhere in the world . Both tables used a 12 - month qualifying period finishing at the end of August . The American system, introduced in 2008, was based on prize money earned in official PGA Tour events during the current season and prize money earned in the major championships in the previous season . The qualifying period ended after the PGA Championship . </P>

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