Barry Lane


Barry Douglas Lane is an English professional golfer.

Early life

Lane was born in Henley-on-Thames but grew up in Bracknell. He only took up golf at the age of 14 but became an assistant professional at nearby Downshire Golf Club in 1976, at the age of 16. He was an assistant at Downshire for 8 years.

Professional career

Lane first played on the European Tour in 1982, after three failed attempts at Q-School. From 1982 to 1984 he had little success on the tour, playing only a small number of events, and failed to qualify for the tour in 1985. He did have some success in non-tour events, winning the 1983 PGA Assistants' Championship at Coombe Hill. The win earned him a place in the World Assistants' Championship in Florida in December, which he won by 6 strokes.
Lane qualified for the European Tour again in 1986 and, playing 20 events, finished 71st in the Order of Merit. He improved again in 1987, finishing 27th in the Order of Merit with five top-10 finishes. In October 1987 he also had his biggest prize to date, £20,000, for winning the inaugural Equity & Law Challenge, an unofficial money event on the tour. Lane won the 36-hole event, in which points were gained for birdies and eagles, with a score of 15, one ahead of Bill Malley.
Lane played 26 successive seasons, from 1986 to 2011, on the European Tour. Lane's best years came in the early to mid-nineties, when he made the top ten of the Order of Merit three times, with a best of fifth in 1992. He won four European Tour events between 1988 and 1994. He had a relatively bad period in his later thirties, but after the turn of the millennium his form improved again and he picked up his fifth win on the Tour at the 2004 Daily Telegraph Damovo British Masters.
Lane has won several professional tournaments not on the European Tour, most lucratively the 1995 Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf. This event was a precursor of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and Lane's prize was US$1,000,000, which was a rare level of prize in golf at that time.
Lane made his only Ryder Cup appearance in Europe's home defeat at The Belfry in 1993, losing all three of his matches. He has represented England in the World Cup and the Alfred Dunhill Cup several times, and has played for the Rest of the World Team in the UBS Cup three times.
On turning 50 in June 2010, Lane joined the European Senior Tour. He quickly claimed his first win at the Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open that August. Lane continued his good form in 2011, playing a mixture of regular and senior European Tour events, and winning twice more on the senior tour. Since then he has had further wins the 2012, 2016, 2017 and twice in 2019.

Professional wins (19)

European Tour wins (5)

European Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
11988Torras Hostench Barcelona Open Nick Faldo, Mark Mouland,
David Whelan		Whelan won with par on fourth extra hole
Faldo and Mouland eliminated by birdie on first hole
21992Roma Masters José María CañizaresLost to birdie on second extra hole
31995Smurfit European Open Bernhard LangerLost to birdie on second extra hole

Other wins (5)

European Senior Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12014MCB Tour Championship Paul WesselinghLost to par on sixth extra hole
22019Senior Italian Open Marc FarryWon with birdie on second extra hole

Japan PGA Senior Tour wins (1)

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

Summary

"T" = Tied

Team appearances