Brian Barnes obituary | Golf

With a pipe in his mouth and a bottle of vodka in his bag, Brian Barnes, who has died aged 74 of cancer, cut a colourful, instantly recognisable figure on the European golfing circuit during his 1970s heyday.

Obituary

Brian Barnes obituary

Maverick golfer celebrated for beating Jack Nicklaus twice in one day

With a pipe in his mouth and a bottle of vodka in his bag, Brian Barnes, who has died aged 74 of cancer, cut a colourful, instantly recognisable figure on the European golfing circuit during his 1970s heyday.

A powerful, dashing man at 1.88m (6ft 2in) and 100kg (16st), Barnes was large in stature as well as public persona. Frequently decked out in eccentric shorts, smoking as he swung the driver or wielded the putter, he was an effervescent, maverick character who rarely pleased the golfing authorities but nearly always made the crowds happy.

He was also a very good golfer, achieving nine wins on the European Tour and making six appearances against USA in the Ryder Cup between 1969 and 1979, including in 1975 in Pennsylvania, where he famously beat Jack Nicklaus twice in a day.

A long, accurate hitter, despite having a rather disjointed backswing, Barnes had 23 professional wins, with three Top 10 finishes at the Open, of which his best was fifth at Muirfield in 1972. Later he achieved success in seniors golf.

Brian Barnes, pipe on the go, in the Open, 1976. Photograph: Colorsport/Rex/Shutterstock

Born to Scottish parents, Tom and Jessie, in Addington, Surrey, Barnes went to Millfield school in Somerset and was taught golf by his father, who was secretary at the nearby Burnham and Berrow club, where the young Brian played golf from the age of nine. In 1964, as a 19-year-old, he won the British Youths Open Amateur Championship, after which he turned professional, having signed up as a “Butten boy” to be given training at Sundridge Park golf club in Kent, where the businessman Ernest Butten had sponsored a residential school for young golfers under the tutelage of the former Open champion Max Faulkner. The school helped Barnes to develop his game and it also threw him into the orbit of Faulkner’s daughter, Hilary, whom he married in 1968.

In 1971 Barnes joined the Scottish PGA and subsequently played for Scotland in internationals, despite having represented England up to that point. His first European tour victory was at the 1972 Martini International, and over the next decade he became one of the most consistent of European golfers, winning seven titles in a five-year spell from 1974, including the Dutch, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian opens.

It was in the midst of that excellent streak that he twice dispatched Nicklaus at the 1975 Ryder Cup at Laurel Valley. The first of the two wins came in the Sunday morning singles matches, when he beat the then 14-time major champion by the comfortable margin of 4&2. Nicklaus had been scheduled to play someone else in the afternoon singles, but persuaded his captain, Arnold Palmer, to change the pairings so he could seek revenge – warning Barnes that he would not be allowed to win for a second time. The American began with two birdies, but his opponent saw him off again, albeit by the narrower margin of 2&1.

Barnes played 25 matches in six successive Ryder Cups, including three on his last appearance in 1979. Often in partnership with his friend Bernard Gallacher, he had a respectable record during an era when USA were dominant, winning 10, halving one and losing 14 of his encounters.

Brian Barnes and his caddie, Jim Sullivan, at the PGA championship, Royal Birkdale, 1978. Photograph: ANL/Rex/Shutterstock

His final European tour win came in the Tournament Players Championship at Dalmahoy in Scotland in 1981, by which time his drinking habits had started to take their toll. In the throes of his victory at the Scottish PGA championship at the same course that year, he produced a celebratory beer from his bag on the last hole, took swigs from it along the fairway and then used the can to mark his ball on the green before knocking in the winning putt.

Barnes was accustomed to taking a supply of vodka and orange around most courses, and would also imbibe before and after play, later claiming he had been drunk when he engineered his double over Nicklaus. Although he had a gregarious air and appeared full of confidence, in reality he admitted to being painfully shy, and explained that he used alcohol to loosen himself up. By the early 90s he was drinking so much that he was having suicidal thoughts, and in 1993 he checked himself into the Priory for a successful drying-out period.

Brian Barnes competing in the 1972 Open at Muirfield, where he came fifth. Photograph: Colorsport/Rex/Shutterstock

He became a regular analyst for Sky TV’s golf coverage and joined the European seniors tour in 1995, winning the British Senior Open at Royal Portrush that year and successfully defending his title at the same venue 12 months later. After taking the Canada Senior Open in 1998 he was increasingly plagued by rheumatoid arthritis, and could play only after injections in his knuckles.

Compelled to retire in 2000, Barnes later maintained a connection with the game by hiring himself out as a playing partner and coach at his home course at West Chiltington in Sussex, which he had designed. In 2012 he made a low-key competitive comeback by appearing in the British Par 3 Championship.

Hilary died in 2014. Barnes is survived by their children, Didi and Guy.

Brian William Barnes, golfer, born 3 June 1945; died 9 September 2019

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