Brian Barnes (golfer)
Brian Barnes
— Golfer —
Brian William Barnes
(1945-06-03) 3 June 1945
Addington, Surrey, England
238 lb (108 kg; 17.0 st)
Storrington, Sussex, England
Turned professional
Former tour(s)
European Seniors Tour
Professional wins
Number of wins by tour
European Senior Tour
Best results in major championships
CUT: 1972, 1973
5th: 1972
Order of Merit winner
Brian William Barnes (born 3 June 1945) is a professional golfer. He was born in Addington, Surrey, England, and lives in England, but generally represented Scotland at the international level. Barnes was educated at Millfield School in Somerset.[1]
Barnes is noted for having beaten Jack Nicklaus twice in one day in singles match play, during the 1975 Ryder Cup on 21 September, winning 4&2 in the morning round and 2&1 in the afternoon session.
Career outline
Barnes was taught golf by his father who was Secretary at Burnham and Berrow Golf Clubs and later became a pupil (and future son-in-law) of Max Faulkner, the 1951 Open champion. He turned professional in 1964.[2]
Barnes was one of the leading European Tour golfers of the 1970s. He placed between 4th and 8th on the Order of Merit every year from 1971 to 1980 (the 1971 money list was semi-official, and the European Tour formally commenced in 1972). He won nine events on the Tour between 1972 and 1981, and also won professional events in Africa, Australia and Canada. He had three top ten finishes at The Open Championship, the best of them a tie for fifth in 1972.
In 1995, Barnes became eligible to play in senior tournaments, and was very successful. He won the Senior British Open Championship in 1995 and became the first man to successfully defend the title in 1996. He topped the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit in 1995, and went on the play the US Champions Tour in the late 1990s with moderate success. Arthritis hampered his career and forced him to leave tournament golf in 2000.
Barnes played for Great Britain & Ireland and finally Europe in six consecutive Ryder Cups from 1969 to 1979. He has a 10-14-1 win-loss-tie record including a 5-5-0 record in singles matches (there were two sets of singles matches in some of the Ryder Cups in which he participated). He had a successful partnership with Bernard Gallacher in foursomes and four-ball matches but is best remembered for beating Jack Nicklaus twice in one day in 1975.
Barnes was responsible for one of the most atrocious putting performances ever seen in a professional tournament. During the 1968 French Open, Barnes missed a short putt on the par-3 8th hole. Angry with the miss, he then tried to rake the ball into the cup, but missed. He then hit the ball back and forth while it was still moving. After all of the missed putts and penalty strokes were counted, Barnes had scored a 15 for the hole.[3]
Amateur wins (1)
1964 British Youths Open Amateur Championship
Professional wins (20)
European Tour wins (9)
Winning score
Margin of
Runner(s)-up
1 10 Jun 1972 Martini International −7 (72-69-70-66=277) 1 stroke Jack Newton
2 11 Aug 1974 Dutch Open −5 (71-69-71=211) 5 strokes Peter Oosterhuis, Simon Owen,
Glenn Ralph
3 4 May 1975 French Open −7 (68-69-71-73=281) 2 strokes Neil Coles, Eamonn Darcy,
Dale Hayes, John O'Leary
4 5 Sep 1976 Sun Alliance Match Play Championship 4&3 Craig Defoy
5 22 Apr 1978 Spanish Open −12 (67-75-70-64=276) 2 strokes Howard Clark
6 18 Jun 1978 Greater Manchester Open −5 (69-71-69-66=275) Playoff Bob Charles, Denis Durnian,
Nick Job
7 15 Apr 1979 Portuguese Open −5 (69-75-71-72=287) 2 strokes Francisco Abreu
8 6 May 1979 Italian Open −7 (73-70-71-67=281) Playoff Dale Hayes
9 13 Sep 1981 Haig Whisky TPC −8 (73-70-71-62=276) Playoff Brian Waites
Other wins (11)
1967 Flame Lily (SA)
1969 Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship, Agfa-Gevaert Tournament
1970 Wills Masters (Australia)
1978 Northern Open
1979 Zambia Open
1981 Benson & Hedges Kenya Open, Zambia Open, Scottish Professional Championship
1982 Scottish Professional Championship
European Seniors Tour wins (2)
1 30 Jul 1995 Senior British Open −7 (67-67-77-70=281) Playoff Bob Murphy
2 28 Jul 1996 Senior British Open −11 (72-65-66-74=277) 3 strokes Bob Charles, David Oakley
Champions Tour wins (1)
Margin of victory
Runners-up
1 21 Jun 1998 AT&T Canada Senior Open Championship −12 (68-68-68=204) 2 strokes Tom Jenkins, Dana Quigley, Bruce Summerhays
Results in major championships
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship CUT CUT T25 T6 T40
Masters Tournament DNP DNP CUT CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T32 64 5 T10 T44 T23 14 T36 T34 T50
Masters Tournament DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP
The Open Championship T58 T14 T35 DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP CUT
The Open Championship CUT DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP T60 DNP DNP DNP
Note: Barnes only played in the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship.
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied
Yellow background for top-10.
Team appearances
Ryder Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland/Europe): 1969 (tie), 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1979
World Cup (representing Scotland): 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977
R.T.V. International Trophy (representing England): 1967 (winners)
Double Diamond International (representing Scotland): 1972, 1973 (winners), 1974 (captain), 1975 (captain), 1976 (captain), 1977 (captain)
Marlboro Nations' Cup/Philip Morris International (representing Scotland): 1972, 1973 (winners), 1976
Sotogrande Match/Hennessy Cognac Cup (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1974 (winners), 1976 (winners), 1978 (winners), 1980 (winners, captain)
PGA Cup (representing Europe): 1990
↑ "Distinguished Old Millfieldians". Old Millfieldian Society. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
↑ http://www.sporting-heroes.net/golf-heroes/displayhero.asp?HeroID=2798
↑ Zullo, Allan, "Astonishing but True Golf Facts", Andrew McMeels Publishing, Forest Fairview, North Carolina, 2001.
Brian Barnes at the European Tour official site
Brian Barnes at the PGA Tour official site
Brian Barnes in the Ryder Cup
Great Britain Ryder Cup team – 1969
Peter Alliss
Maurice Bembridge
Peter Butler
Alex Caygill
Neil Coles
Bernard Gallacher
Brian Huggett
Bernard Hunt
Tony Jacklin
Christy O'Connor
Peter Townsend
Eric Brown (non-playing captain)
Tied: 16 – 16
Harry Bannerman
Peter Oosterhuis
Lost: 13.5 – 18.5
Great Britain and Ireland Ryder Cup team – 1973
Clive Clark
Eddie Polland
Bernard Hunt (non-playing captain)
Lost: 13 – 19
Eamonn Darcy
Tommy Horton
Guy Hunt
Christy O'Connor Jnr
John O'Leary
Norman Wood
Howard Clark
Nick Faldo
Mark James
Brian Huggett (non-playing captain)
Lost: 7.5 – 12.5
European Ryder Cup team – 1979
Antonio Garrido
Sandy Lyle
Des Smyth
John Jacobs (non-playing captain)