Miller Westford Barber, Jr. (March 31, 1931 – June 11, 2013) was an American

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

who enjoyed significant success 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 k ...

in the 1960s and 1970s, and a greater degree of success on the Senior PGA Tour (now the

Champions Tour 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 years ...

) in the 1980s.

Career

Barber was born in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

. He spent much of his life in Texarkana, Texas. He graduated from the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

in 1954, turned professional four years later, and won his first PGA Tour event in 1964. He earned 11 career tour wins, 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 Orville James Moody (December 9, 1933 – August 8, 2008) was an American professional golfer who won numerous tournaments in his career. He won the U.S. Open in 1969, the last champion in the 20th century to win through local and sectional qu ...

. Earlier in April 1969, Barber entered the final round of the

Masters Tournament The Masters Tournament (usually referred to as simply The Masters, or the U.S. Masters outside North America) is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, the Masters is the first maj ...

two shots out of the lead and was paired in Sunday's final group but shot a final round 74 (which included a birdie from under a tree on the 72nd hole) and finished in 7th place. He played on the

Ryder Cup The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...

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 The Hall of Fame tournament was a golf tournament on the PGA Tour from 1973 to 1982. It was played at the Pinehurst Country Club in Pinehurst, North Carolina which was home to the World Golf Hall of Fame at the time. It was first played in 1973 a ...

played at

Pinehurst Country Club Pinehurst Resort is a golf resort in Pinehurst, North Carolina in the United States. It has hosted a number of prestigious golf tournaments including three U.S. Open (golf), U.S. Open Championships, one U.S. Women's Open, three United States Amat ...

was a 144-hole affair. Barber won by three strokes over

Ben Crenshaw Ben Daniel Crenshaw (born January 11, 1952) is a retired American professional golfer who has won 19 events on the PGA Tour, including two major championships: the Masters Tournament in 1984 and 1995. He is nicknamed ''Gentle Ben''. Professiona ...

. 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 Lee Buck Trevino (born December 1, 1939) is an American retired professional golfer who is regarded as one of the greatest players in golf history. He was inducted to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1981. Trevino won six major championships and ...

and

Arnold Palmer Arnold Daniel Palmer (September 10, 1929 – September 25, 2016) was an American professional golfer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most charismatic players in the sport's history. Dating back to 1955, he won numerous ev ...

. His 24 wins on the tour included five senior majors, three of them

U.S. Senior Open The U.S. Senior Open is one of the five major championships in senior golf, introduced in 1980. It is administered by the United States Golf Association (USGA) and is recognized as a major championship by both the PGA Tour Champions and the Eu ...

s. Barber holds the record for combined PGA Tour and Champions Tour starts at 1,297. Barber played with an unusual looped backswing/downswing, but squared up very consistently through impact. Several other PGA Tour players, including

Jim Furyk James Michael Furyk (born May 12, 1970) is an American professional golfer who plays on the PGA Tour and the PGA Tour Champions. In 2010, he was the FedEx Cup champion and PGA Tour Player of the Year. He has won one major championship, the 200 ...

, have had success with similar methods.

Death

Barber died June 11, 2013 at the age of 82 of

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

Scottsdale, Arizona , settlement_type = City , named_for = Winfield Scott , image_skyline = , image_seal = Seal of Scottsdale (Arizona).svg , image_blank_emblem = City of Scottsdale Script Logo.svg , nick ...

. Barber was survived by his wife of 43 years, Karen, and sons Larry and Richard and stepsons Casey, Doug, Brad.

Professional wins (43)

PGA Tour wins (11)

''*Note: The 1969 Kaiser International Open Invitational was shortened to 36 holes due to weather.'' PGA Tour playoff record (3–4)

Other wins (1)

*1962

Metropolitan Open The Metropolitan Open is a golf tournament organized by the Metropolitan Golf Association. In the early 20th century it was one of the top events in the country and was retroactively given PGA Tour-level status. History The tournament has been ...

Senior PGA Tour wins (24)

''*Note: The 1982 Hilton Head Seniors International was shortened to 36 holes due to inclement weather.'' Senior PGA Tour playoff record (1–1)

Japan Senior wins (2)

*1985 Coca-Cola Grandslam Championship *1991 Fuji Electric Grandslam Championship

Other senior wins (5)

*1982 Vintage Invitational *1985

Shootout at Jeremy Ranch The Uniting Fore Care Classic was a golf tournament on the Champions Tour from 1982 to 2002. It was played in Park City, Utah, at the Jeremy Ranch Golf Club (1982–1992) and the Park Meadows Golf Club (1993–2002). It was played at stroke play eac ...

(with

) *1987 Mazda Champions (with

Nancy Lopez Nancy Marie Lopez (born January 6, 1957) is an American former professional golfer. She became a member of the LPGA Tour in 1977 and won 48 LPGA Tour events, including three major championships. Amateur career Lopez won the New Mexico Women's ...

) *2002

Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf The Bass Pro Shops Legends of Golf at Big Cedar is a golf tournament in Missouri on the PGA Tour Champions. Since 2014, it has been played at Big Cedar Lodge in Ridgedale on the par-3 Top of the Rock course, designed by Jack Nicklaus and the 18- ...

- Demaret Division (with

Jim Ferree Purvis Jennings "Jim" Ferree (born June 10, 1931) is an American professional golfer who played on the PGA Tour and the Senior PGA Tour. Born in Pinebluff, North Carolina, Ferree grew up in Winston-Salem and graduated from Reynolds High Sch ...

) *2003

- Demaret Division (with

)

Results in major championships

DQ = disqualified
CUT = missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1970 and 1974 Open Championships)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary

*Most consecutive cuts made – 12 (1966 U.S. Open – 1970 U.S. Open) *Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (1968 PGA – 1969 PGA)

Champions Tour major championships

Wins (5)

U.S. national team appearances

Professional *

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

(winners),

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

(winners)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barber, Miller American male golfers Arkansas Razorbacks men's golfers PGA Tour golfers PGA Tour Champions golfers Winners of senior major golf championships Ryder Cup competitors for the United States Golfers from Shreveport, Louisiana People from Texarkana, Texas Deaths from lymphoma Deaths from cancer in Arizona 1931 births 2013 deaths