Barton Holan Bryant (November 18, 1962 – May 31, 2022) was an American professional golfer who played on the

PGA Tour The PGA Tour (stylized in all capital letters as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in the United States and North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also ...

and

PGA Tour Champions PGA Tour Champions (formerly the Senior PGA Tour and the Champions Tour) is a men's professional senior golf tour, administered as a branch of the PGA Tour. History and format The Senior PGA Championship, founded in 1937, was for many year ...

Early life

Bryant was born in

Gatesville, Texas Gatesville is a city in and the county seat of Coryell County, Texas, United States. Its population was 16,135 at the 2020 census. The city has five of the nine prisons and state jails for women operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. ...

, the son of a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

pastor. He attended

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public land-grant research university based primarily in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest public institution of higher education in New Mexico and one of the state's tw ...

, where he was a two-time All-American as a member of the golf team.

Professional career

Bryant turned professional in 1986. Bryant did not win on the

until his 187th start, the 2004

Valero Texas Open The Texas Open, known as the Valero Texas Open for sponsorship reasons, is a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, played near San Antonio, Texas. It dates back years to 1922, when it was first called the Texas Open; San Antonio-based Val ...

. His entire career was plagued by injuries and he graduated from PGA Tour Q School six times before his win. At 41 he was the oldest first time winner on the tour in nine years. In 2005 he won the

Memorial Tournament The Memorial Tournament is a PGA Tour golf tournament founded in 1976 by Jack Nicklaus. It is played on a Nicklaus-designed course at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, a suburb north of Columbus. The golf course passes through a large n ...

and the season ending

Tour Championship The Tour Championship (stylized as the TOUR Championship) is a golf tournament that is part of the PGA Tour. It has historically been one of the final events of the PGA Tour season; prior to 2007, its field consisted exclusively of the top 30 ...

to finish ninth on the money list with earnings of $3,249,136, which was more than he had earned in total in his first eighteen seasons on the PGA and Nationwide tours from 1986 to 2003, during which his best money list finish on the main tour was 80th. His good run of form also propelled him into the top-50 of the Official World Golf Ranking. The win at Memorial was particularly memorable. Bryant's tee shot on the 72nd hole found a

hazard A hazard is a potential source of harm Harm is a moral and legal concept. Bernard Gert construes harm as any of the following: * pain * death * disability * mortality * loss of abil ity or freedom * loss of pleasure. Joel Feinberg giv ...

. He was able to get it up and down for par and secure his one-shot victory over Fred Couples. Bryant's elder brother

Brad Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

has won on both the PGA Tour and the Champions Tour. Bryant won his first Champions Tour event at the 2013

Dick's Sporting Goods Open The Dick's Sporting Goods Open is a PGA Tour Champions event in Endicott, New York. It debuted in July 2007, supplanting the B.C. Open, a former PGA Tour event from 1971 through 2006. It is sponsored by Dick's Sporting Goods, founded in adjacent B ...

, making him the 1,000th winner in Champions Tour history.

Personal life

Bryant was married to the former Cathy Cox for 34 years until she died of brain cancer in April 2017.

Death

Bryant died on May 31, 2022, in a car accident in

Polk City, Florida Polk City is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,562 at the 2010 census. As of 2018, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 2,422. It is part of the Lakeland– Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistic ...

, at the age of 59.

Professional wins (9)

PGA Tour wins (3)

Other wins (3)

*1988

Florida Open The Florida Open is the Florida state open golf tournament, open to both amateur and professional golfers. It is now organized by the Florida State Golf Association (FSGA). It has been played annually since 1942 at a variety of courses around the ...

*1990 North Dakota Open *1994

PGA Tour Champions wins (2)

PGA Tour Champions playoff record (0–2)

Other senior wins (1)

*2013

Liberty Mutual Insurance Legends of Golf Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society f ...

- Raphael Division (with

Ian Baker-Finch Ian Michael Baker-Finch (born 24 October 1960) is an Australian professional golfer and sports commentator, who is best known for winning The Open Championship in 1991. Early years Baker-Finch was born in Nambour, Queensland, Australia. He gre ...

)

Results in major championships

CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied

Results in The Players Championship

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

Results in World Golf Championships

QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
"T" = Tied

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bryant, Bart American male golfers New Mexico State Aggies men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Golfers from Texas Golfers from Florida People from Gatesville, Texas People from Winter Garden, Florida Road incident deaths in Florida 1962 births 2022 deaths