Jim Barnes

Jim Barnes

Jock Hutchison, actor Richard Dix,
and Barnes in 1922
Personal information
Full name James Martin Barnes
Nickname Long Jim[1]
Big Jim[1]
Born (1886-04-08)April 8, 1886
Lelant, Cornwall, England
Died May 24, 1966(1966-05-24) (aged 80)
East Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Nationality  England
Spouse Caroline Mary Barnes[1]
Children Caroline, Jean[1]
Career
Turned professional 1906
Former tour(s) PGA Tour
Professional wins 28
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour 21 (tied 29th all time)
Other 4
Best results in major championships
(wins: 4)
Masters Tournament NYF
U.S. Open Won 1921
The Open Championship Won 1925
PGA Championship Won: 1916, 1919
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 1989 (member page)

James Martin Barnes (April 8, 1886 – May 24, 1966) was a leading figure in the early years of professional golf in the United States. He is one of three native Britons (with Tommy Armour and Rory McIlroy) to win three different major professional championships.

Early life

Barnes was born on April 8, 1886[2] in Lelant, Cornwall. Barnes was like many golfers of his era, and worked as a caddie and a club-maker's apprentice while growing up. He moved to the United States and turned professional in 1906, but never became an American citizen. He arrived in San Francisco, and later worked in Vancouver, British Columbia, Spokane, Washington, and Tacoma, Washington, and then at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs.[3]

Golf career

From 1923–26, he was resident professional at the Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club in Temple Terrace, Florida, which hosted the 1925 Florida Open (dubbed "The Greatest Field of Golfers Ever to Play in Florida") as well as the 1926 Florida Open with over one hundred contestants and a $5,000 cash prize. In 1925–26 his good friend and fellow golfer Fred McLeod wintered with him and they worked with James Kelly Thomson from North Berwick.

Barnes was also known as "Long Jim" for his height of 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m). He later moved west to the Oakland, California, area where he resided for many years. Barnes authored several books on golf technique, and died at age 80 in East Orange, New Jersey.

He won four majors:

Barnes' two PGA titles were the first in the event; there was no tournament in 1917 or 1918 because of World War I. His winning margin in the 1921 U.S. Open was nine strokes, a record which was not broken until Tiger Woods won by 15 strokes in 2000.

Barnes was one of the most prolific tournament winners of the first few seasons of the PGA Tour, which was also founded in 1916. He won 21 times on the tour in total. He led the tournament winners list in four seasons: 1916 with three, 1917 with two (shared with Mike Brady), 1919 with five and 1921 with four. In 1940, Barnes was honored as one of the 12 golfers to be inducted in the PGA's inaugural Hall of Fame. Later he was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1989.[5]

Professional wins

PGA Tour wins (21)

Major championships are shown in bold.

Other wins

Note: This list may be incomplete

Major championships

Wins (4)

YearChampionship54 holesWinning scoreMarginRunner(s)-up
1916 PGA Championship n/a 1 up Scotland United States Jock Hutchison
1919 PGA Championship (2) n/a 6 & 5 Scotland United States Fred McLeod
1921 U.S. Open 7 shot lead +9 (69-75-73-72=289) 9 strokes United States Walter Hagen, Scotland United States Fred McLeod
1925 The Open Championship 5 shot deficit 70-77-79-74=300 1 stroke England Archie Compston, Jersey Ted Ray

Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958

Results timeline

Tournament 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919
U.S. Open T18 T4 T13 T4 3 DNP DNP T11
The Open Championship DNP DNP DNP DNP DNP NT NT NT
PGA Championship NYF NYF NYF NYF 1 NT NT 1
Tournament 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
U.S. Open T6 1 T24 T12 DNP T29 CUT T24 T36 T21
The Open Championship T5 T7 T2 DNP T7 1 T14 T13 T6 T7
PGA Championship R16 2 R32 QF 2 DNP R32 DNP R16 DNP
Tournament 1930 1931 1932
U.S. Open T39 DNP T55
The Open Championship T6 DNP DNP
PGA Championship DNQ DNP DNP

Note: Barnes never played in the Masters Tournament.

NYF = Tournament not yet founded
NT = No tournament
DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
DNQ = Did not qualify for match play portion
R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Kalb, Elliott (2006). "Jim Barnes: The Forgotten Champion". Who's better, who's best in golf?: Mr. Stats sets the record straight on the Top 50 Golfers of All Time. McGraw-Hill. pp. 159–63. ISBN 0-07-146977-X. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  2. ↑ https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/DGS-004764154_00195?cc=1769414
  3. ↑ Missildine, Harry (May 29, 1966). "Barnes was giant in his day". Spokesman-Review. p. 1-sports. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  4. ↑ "1925 Jim Barnes". The Open. Archived from the original on October 16, 2013. Retrieved October 16, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Jim Barnes". World Golf Hall of Fame. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
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