Miller Barber

Miller Barber
Personal information
Nickname	Mr. X
Born	(1931-03-31) March 31, 1931 (age 81) Shreveport, Louisiana
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	200 lb (91 kg; 14 st)
Nationality	United States
Career
College	University of Arkansas
Turned professional	1958
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour Champions Tour
Professional wins	40
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	11
Champions Tour	24
Other	1 (regular) 4 (senior)
Best results in Major Championships
Masters Tournament	7th: 1969
U.S. Open	6th/T6: 1969, 1970
The Open Championship	10th: 1969
PGA Championship	T4: 1971

Miller Barber (born March 31, 1931) is an American professional golfer who enjoyed significant success on the PGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s, and a greater degree of success on the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour) in the 1980s.

Career

Barber was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. He graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1954, turned professional four years later, and won his first PGA Tour event in 1964. He notched up eleven tour wins in total, but did not win a major championship. The closest he came was in 1969 at the U.S. Open at Houston, where he held a three-shot lead over the field after three rounds, but shot 78 in the last round to finish three shots behind winner Orville Moody. Also in 1969, Barber entered the final round of the Masters Tournament two shots out of the lead and was paired in Sunday's final group but shot a final round 74 to finish 7th. He played on the Ryder Cup team in 1969 and 1971, and in the latter year was ranked sixth on the McCormack rankings.

In 1973, Barber won the longest regulation tournament in PGA Tour history. The World Open Golf Championship played at Pinehurst Country Club was a 144-hole affair. Barber won it by three strokes over Ben Crenshaw.

Barber became eligible to play on the Senior PGA Tour around a year after it was founded. He was one of the dominant players on the tour throughout the 1980s, competing on even terms with players who had had much more distinguished earlier careers, such as Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer. His 24 wins on the Tour included five senior majors, three of them U.S. Senior Opens.

As of September 25, 2009, Barber held the record for combined PGA Tour and Champions Tour starts at 1292.^[1]

Barber played with an unusual looped backswing / downswing, but squared up very consistently through impact; several other PGA Tour players, including Jim Furyk, have had success with similar methods.

Professional wins (40)

PGA Tour wins (11)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning Score	Margin of Victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Nov 22, 1964	Cajun Classic Open Invitational	-7 (72-70-68-67=277)	5 strokes	Gay Brewer, Jack Nicklaus
2	May 28, 1967	Oklahoma City Open Invitational	-10 (70-72-68-68=278)	Playoff	Gary Player
3	Apr 28, 1968	Byron Nelson Golf Classic	-10 (67-68-65-70=270)	1 stroke	Kermit Zarley
4	Jan 17, 1969	Kaiser International Open Invitational	-9 (68-67=135)	1 stroke	Bruce Devlin
5	Apr 20, 1970	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	-10 (68-71-69-70=278)	Playoff	Bob Charles, Howie Johnson
6	Jan 24, 1971	Phoenix Open Invitational	-23 (65-64-67-65=261)	2 strokes	Billy Casper, Dan Sikes
7	Jan 23, 1972	Dean Martin Tucson Open	-15 (68-73-67-65=273)	Playoff	George Archer
8	Nov 17, 1973	World Open Golf Championship	+2 (68-74-73-74-67-73-72-69=570)	3 strokes	Ben Crenshaw
9	Sep 22, 1974	Ohio Kings Island Open	-7 (68-68-69-72=277)	3 strokes	George Johnson
10	Oct 2, 1977	Anheuser-Busch Golf Classic	-16 (71-66-70-65=272)	2 strokes	George Archer
11	Jan 15, 1978	Phoenix Open	-12 (68-69-70-65=272)	1 stroke	Jerry Pate, Lee Trevino

PGA Tour playoff record (3-4)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1964	Pensacola Open	Arnold Palmer, Gary Player	Lost 18-hole playoff (Player:71, Palmer:72, Barber:74)
2	1967	Oklahoma City Open	Gary Player	Won with birdie on third extra hole
3	1970	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	Bob Charles, Howie Johnson	Won with birdie on second extra hole
4	1972	Dean Martin Tucson Open	George Archer	Won with birdie on third extra hole after 18-hole playoff (Archer:72, Barber:72)
5	1973	Greater New Orleans Open	Jack Nicklaus	Lost to birdie on second extra hole
6	1973	Liggett Meyers Open	Bert Greene	Lost to birdie on fifth extra hole
7	1976	San Antonio Texas Open	Butch Baird	Lost to birdie on first extra hole

Other wins (1)

• 1962 Metropolitan Open

Senior PGA Tour wins (24)

• 1981 (3) Peter Jackson Champions, Suntree Seniors Classic, PGA Seniors' Championship
• 1982 (3) U.S. Senior Open, Suntree Classic, Hilton Head Seniors International (tie with Dan Sikes)
• 1983 (4) Senior Tournament Players Championship, Merrill Lynch/Golf Digest Commemorative Pro-Am, United Virginia Bank Seniors, Hilton Head Seniors International
• 1984 (4) Roy Clark/Skoal Bandit Senior Challenge, U.S. Senior Open, Greater Syracuse Senior's Pro Classic, Denver Post Champions of Golf
• 1985 (3) Sunrise Senior Classic, U.S. Senior Open, PaineWebber World Seniors Invitational
• 1986 (1) MONY Senior Tournament of Champions
• 1987 (2) Showdown Classic, Newport Cup
• 1988 (2) Showdown Classic, Fairfield Barnett Classic
• 1989 (2) MONY Senior Tournament of Champions, Vintage Chrysler Invitational

Senior majors are shown in bold.

Other senior wins (4)

• 1985 Shootout at Jeremy Ranch (with Ben Crenshaw)
• 1987 Mazda Champions (with Nancy Lopez)
• 2002 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Jim Ferree)
• 2003 Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf - Demaret Division (with Jim Ferree)

Results in major championships

DNP = Did not play
DQ = Disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (5)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1981	PGA Seniors' Championship	−7 (68−72−68−73=281)	2 strokes	Arnold Palmer
1982	U.S. Senior Open	−2 (72−74−71−65=282)	4 strokes	Gene Littler, Dan Sikes
1983	Senior Players Championship	−10 (71−69−70−68=278)	1 stroke	Gene Littler
1984	U.S. Senior Open (2)	+6 (74−71−70−71=286)	2 strokes	Arnold Palmer
1985	U.S. Senior Open(3)	−3 (71−72−71−71=285)	4 strokes	Roberto De Vicenzo

U.S. national team appearances

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1969 (winners), 1971 (winners)

See also

• Golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Golfers with most Champions Tour wins
• Golfers with most Champions Tour major championship wins

References

External links

• Miller Barber at the PGA Tour official site

Miller Barber in the Ryder Cup v t e United States Ryder Cup team – 1969 Tommy Aaron • Miller Barber • Frank Beard • Billy Casper • Dale Douglass • Raymond Floyd • Dave Hill • Gene Littler • Jack Nicklaus • Dan Sikes • Ken Still • Lee Trevino Sam Snead (non-playing captain) Tied: 16 – 16 v t e United States Ryder Cup team – 1971 Miller Barber • Frank Beard • Billy Casper • Charles Coody • Gardner Dickinson • Gene Littler • Jack Nicklaus • Arnold Palmer • Mason Rudolph • J. C. Snead • Dave Stockton • Lee Trevino Jay Hebert (non-playing captain) Won: 18.5 – 13.5