Barry Lane is an enigmatic public speaker and talented golfer, using his experience of failures leading to success to influence others. He first played on the European Tour in 1982, yet 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.
Barry’s first taste with success came in 1983, during the PGA Assistants' Championship at Coombe Hill. His win earned him a place at the World Assistants' Championship in Florida, which he won by 6 strokes. Barry 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 1987, Barry received £20,000 for winning the inaugural Equity & Law Challenge.
Established on the tour, Barry played 26 successive seasons from 1986 to 2011. Barry’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. Maintaining his streak of success, Barry 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 in 2004. Over his highly successful career, Barry has won several professional tournaments off of 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 Barry’s prize was $1,000,000, which was a rare amount in golf at that time. He has represented England in the World Cup and the Alfred Dunhill Cup several times, playing for the World Team in the UBS Cup three times.
Turning 50, Barry quickly claimed his first win at the Cleveland Golf and Srixon Scottish Senior Open. Barry continued his good form in 2011, playing a mixture of regular and senior European Tour events, winning twice more on the Senior tour. Since then he has won the 2012 Speedy Services Wales Senior Open, the 2016 MCB Tour Championship and the 2017 Willow Senior Golf Classic.
