Brian William Barnes (3 June 1945 – 9 September 2019) was a Scottish professional golfer. He won nine times on the European Tour between 1972 and 1981, and twice won the Senior British Open.

Barnes played in six consecutive Ryder Cup matches from 1969 to 1979. He was 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.

Early life and amateur career Barnes was born in Addington, Surrey, England, to Scottish parents, and represented England at international level. He was educated at St. Dunstan's School, Burnham-on-Sea, and Millfield School in Somerset.

Barnes was taught golf by his father, who was Secretary at Burnham and Berrow Golf Club. He won the British Youths Open Amateur Championship in 1964, having represented England in the youth international against Scotland that preceded the championship. He turned professional soon afterwards.

Professional career Barnes became one of the "Butten boys", a group of young British professional golfers who were part of a training programme, funded by Ernest Butten, an entrepreneur and joint founder of PA Consulting Group. Starting in 1963, Butten had funded a residential golf school at Sundridge Park in Bromley, Kent. Max Faulkner was employed as the teaching professional.

After turning professional Barnes continued to be considered an English golfer, representing England in the 1967 R.T.V. International Trophy. In 1971 he joined the Scottish PGA and subsequently played for Scotland in international competitions.

Barnes won the Flame Lily Open in Rhodesia in March 1967 and won two British tournaments, the Agfa-Gevaert Tournament and the Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship, in 1969. In 1970 he won the Wills Masters in Australia.

Barnes was one of the leading European Tour golfers in the early years after the tour was founded in 1972. He placed between 4th and 8th on the Order of Merit every year from 1972 to 1980. He won nine events on the Tour between 1972 and 1981. He also played regularly on the African Safari Circuit, winning the Zambia Open in 1979 and the Kenya Open and Zambia Open in 1981.

Barnes completed all four rounds of the Open Championship 16 times in succession from 1967 to 1982 and had three top ten finishes, the best of them a tie for fifth in 1972. He played in the Masters Tournament in 1972 and 1973 but missed the cut on both occasions.

Barnes played for Great Britain & Ireland and finally Europe in six consecutive Ryder Cup matches 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, the pair having 5 wins and a half in their 10 matches playing together. He is, however, best remembered for beating Jack Nicklaus twice in one day in 1975.

After the 1984 season, when Barnes fell to 79th on the Order of Merit ranking, he only played a few tournaments the following year and retired to run a golf course in Sussex, England together with Max Faulkner; West Chillington. He made a semi-comeback in 1989 and played a full schedule of 25 tournaments, 46 years old, in 1991, reaching a 4th place finish at the Portuguese Open and finished 12th at the British Masters.

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 following year, the first man to successfully defend the title. He topped the European Seniors Tour Order of Merit in 1995, and went on the play the Champions Tour in the late 1990s with moderate success. Arthritis hampered this recovery and forced him to leave tournament golf in 2000.

Barnes was responsible for one of the worst putting performances ever seen in a professional tournament. During the 1968 French Open, he 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.Zullo, Allan, Astonishing but True Golf Facts, Andrew McMeels Publishing, Forest Fairview, North Carolina, 2001.

Personal life Barnes married Hilary Faulkner, the daughter of Max Faulkner, in 1968; they had two children, Didi and Guy. Hilary died in 2014. After having heavy alcohol drinking habits during his life and golf career, in early 1993, Barnes checked himself in for a successful drying-out period, remained sober and continued his golf career, two years later with great success in senior tournaments.Brian Barnes obituary, Maverick golfer celebrated for beating Jack Nicklaus twice in one day by Peter Mason,The Guardian, 12 September 2019DRY RUN MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME, BRIAN BARNES IS BACK ON HIS GAME NOW THAT HE'S OFF THE BOTTLE by Tim Rosaforte, Sports Illustrated, 8 July 1996 Barnes died on 9 September 2019 of cancer, at the age of 74; he was with his son and daughter at home.

Amateur wins 1964 British Youths Open Amateur Championship

Professional wins (26) European Tour wins (9) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up110 Jun 1972Martini International−7 (72-69-70-66=277)1 stroke Jack Newton211 Aug 1974Dutch Open−5 (71-69-71=211)5 strokes Peter Oosterhuis, Simon Owen, Glenn Ralph34 May 1975French Open−7 (68-69-71-73=281)2 strokes Neil Coles, Eamonn Darcy, Dale Hayes, John O'Leary45 Sep 1976Sun Alliance Match Play Championship4 and 3 Craig Defoy522 Apr 1978Spanish Open−12 (67-75-70-64=276)2 strokes Howard Clark618 Jun 1978Greater Manchester Open−5 (69-71-69-66=275)Playoff Bob Charles, Denis Durnian, Nick Job715 Apr 1979Portuguese Open −5 (69-75-71-72=287)2 strokes Francisco Abreu86 May 1979Italian Open−7 (73-70-71-67=281)Playoff Dale Hayes913 Sep 1981Haig Whisky TPC−8 (73-70-71-62=276)Playoff Brian Waites

European Tour playoff record (3–2) No.YearTournamentOpponent(s)Result11977Dunlop Masters Guy HuntLost to par on third extra hole21977Italian Open Ángel GallardoLost to birdie on fourth extra hole31978Greater Manchester Open Bob Charles, Denis Durnian, Nick JobWon with birdie on first extra hole41979Italian Open Dale HayesWon with birdie on fourth extra hole51981Haig Whisky TPC Brian WaitesWon with par on fourth extra hole

Safari Circuit wins (3) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up11 Apr 1979Zambia Open−12 (71-64-72-73=280)3 strokes Sandy Lyle215 Mar 1981Benson & Hedges Kenya Open−10 (65-70-71-68=274)1 stroke Bernard Gallacher, Sandy Lyle331 Mar 1981Zambia Open (2)−16 (70-67-69-70=276)1 stroke Howard Clark, John Morgan

Australasian wins (1) 1970 Wills Masters

Other wins (11) 1967 Flame Lily Open (Rhodesia) 1969 Agfa-Gevaert Tournament, Coca-Cola Young Professionals' Championship 1977 Skol Tournament 1978 Northern Open, Skol Tournament 1980 Skol Tournament 1981 Scottish Professional Championship 1982 Scottish Professional Championship 1985 Northern Open 1989 Wilson Club Professionals' Championship

Senior PGA Tour wins (3) LegendSenior major championships (2)Other Senior PGA Tour (1) No. DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up130 Jul 1995Senior British Open−7 (67-67-77-70=281)Playoff Bob Murphy228 Jul 1996Senior British Open (2)−11 (72-65-66-74=277)3 strokes Bob Charles, David Oakley321 Jun 1998AT&T Canada Senior Open Championship−12 (68-68-68=204)2 strokes Tom Jenkins, Dana Quigley, Bruce Summerhays

Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11995Senior British Open Bob MurphyWon with eagle on third extra hole

European Seniors Tour wins (2) LegendSenior major championships (2)Other European Seniors Tour (0) No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin ofvictoryRunner(s)-up130 Jul 1995Senior British Open−7 (67-67-77-70=281)Playoff Bob Murphy228 Jul 1996Senior British Open (2)−11 (72-65-66-74=277)3 strokes Bob Charles, David Oakley

European Seniors Tour playoff record (1–0) No.YearTournamentOpponentResult11995Senior British Open Bob MurphyWon with eagle on third extra hole

Results in major championships Tournament19651966196719681969Masters TournamentThe Open ChampionshipCUTCUTT25T6T40 Tournament1970197119721973197419751976197719781979Masters TournamentCUTCUTThe Open ChampionshipT32645T10T44T2314T36T34T50 Tournament1980198119821983198419851986198719881989Masters TournamentThe Open ChampionshipT58T14T35CUT Tournament1990199119921993199419951996Masters TournamentThe Open ChampionshipCUTT60 Note: Barnes only played in the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship.

CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" indicates a tie for a place

Senior major championships Wins (2) YearChampionshipWinning scoreMarginRunner(s)-up1995Senior British Open−7 (67-67-77-70=281)Playoff1 Bob Murphy1996Senior British Open (2)−11 (72-65-66-74=277)3 strokes Bob Charles, David Oakley 1Defeated Murphy with an eagle on the third hole of a sudden-death playoff.

Results timeline Tournament 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 The Tradition2430T9WDSenior PGA ChampionshipT4T23CUTWDWDU.S. Senior OpenT11T17T49T4WDT58Senior Players Championship3WDT39T14T12The Senior Open Championship11WD3T27WD

CUT = missed the halfway cut "T" indicates a tie for a place

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) Datsun International (representing Great Britain and Ireland): 1976 PGA Cup (representing Europe): 1990

See also Fall 1969 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates List of golfers with most European Tour wins

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