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)
Other wins (11)
European Seniors Tour wins (2)
Champions Tour wins (1)
Results in major championships
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
References
External links
Scotland
Jack Newton
Peter Oosterhuis, 
Simon Owen,
Eamonn Darcy,
Dale Hayes, 
Craig Defoy
Francisco Abreu
Bob Murphy
