[1][2] At the 1959 Ryder Cup there had been informal discussions between the US and British PGAs about changing the format of the contest.

[3] By August 1960 the US PGA had agreed to the proposal as it related to the 1961 event,[4] the change being formalised later that year.

Source: [6] The British team was determined using the 1961 Order of Merit with the 1961 Open Championship and News of the World Match Play winners receiving automatic places.

With Arnold Palmer winning the Open, nine players qualified after the Carling-Caledonian Tournament: O'Connor, Hunt, Alliss, Bousfield, Coles, Rees, Panton, Moffitt and Haliburton.

[8] Weetman gained his place when three of the four semi-finalists in the News of the World Match Play were already in the team and the fourth (Peter Thomson, an Australian) was ineligible.