Peter Butler (golfer)

Peter Joseph Butler (born 25 March 1932) is an English professional golfer.[1] He was one of the leading British golfers of the 1960s and early 1970s. He won a number of important tournaments, played in four Ryder Cup matches between 1965 and 1973 and featured in the top 60 on the British and later European Tour Order of Merit every year from 1959 to 1978.

Peter Butler
Personal information
Full namePeter Joseph Butler
Born (1932-03-25) 25 March 1932
Birmingham, West Midlands, England
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Nationality England
ResidenceLeatherhead, Surrey, England
Career
Turned professional1947
Former tour(s)European Tour
European Seniors Tour
Professional wins26
Number of wins by tour
European Senior Tour1
Other25
Best results in major championships
Masters TournamentT13: 1964, 1966
PGA ChampionshipDNP
U.S. OpenDNP
The Open Championship6th: 1973

Golf career

Butler turned professional as a teenager in 1947, becoming an assistant to Bill Button at Harborne Golf Club, Birmingham.[2] He played in the 1949 PGA Assistants' Championship, which was restarted that year, but finished a distant 38 strokes behind the winner.[3] He had more success the following year, finishing in 6th place.[4] The leading 16 players qualified for the Gor-Ray match-play tournament which had prize money of £580. Butler lost in the first round. Over the next few years Butler had considerable success at the local level but had limited success at the national level although he was a runner-up in the 1955 Coombe Hill Assistants' Tournament behind Peter Mills.[5]

In 1958 Butler became joint professional with Button at Harborne and played more regularly on the British circuit. He had achieved little success when in May 1959 he was the surprise winner of the Swallow-Penfold Tournament. Rounds of 75-72-67-66 gave him a one stroke win ahead of Harry Weetman and the £1,000 first prize. Butler had trailed Weetman by eight strokes after the first two rounds.[6][7] Butler had his second important success in 1962, winning the Yorkshire Evening News Tournament four ahead of Ken Bousfield and taking another £1,000 prize. Like his 1959 win, this was also something of a surprise since he had achieved relatively little in the interim period.[8]

1963 started with his third £1,000 win, the Schweppes PGA Close Championship where he finished two strokes ahead of Bobby Walker. The event was played at Royal Birkdale in a strong wind with bare greens. His winning score of 306 was the highest for an important tournament in living memory. Butler trailed John Jacobs by 10 shots at the start of the final day but scored 77 and 76 while Jacobs had two rounds of 83 to drop to third place.[9][10] Butler was runner-up in the Swallow-Penfold Tournament in May and won the 36-hole Bowmaker Tournament in July.[11][12] Despite his good season, a number of poor finishes left him 14th in the Ryder Cup rankings, the leading 10 making the team.[13]

Butler spent the early part of 1964 playing on the PGA Tour only returning after the Masters Tournament to which he received an invitation. He was tied for 4th place after three rounds but a final round 75 dropped him out of the top 10. The following week he defended his Schweppes PGA Close Championship title, finishing tied for third, and then won the Cox Moore Tournament the week after, beating Bernard Hunt by a stroke.[14][15] Butler returned to America to play in the Carling World Open. After two rounds he was only a stroke behind the leader but he faed in the last two rounds.[16] He was runner-up in the News of the World Match Play, losing 3&2 to Neil Coles. Coles and Butler received invitations to the inaugural Piccadilly World Match Play Championship. Butler played Arnold Palmer and was two up with seven holes to play. Palmer then won four holes in a row and won by one hole. Butler took £1,000 for losing this first-round match.[17]

Butler had another good season in 1965. He continued his good run in the Schweppes PGA Close Championship, losing in a sudden-death playoff to Peter Alliss, and in May he won the Martini International.[18] Qualification for the 1965 Ryder Cup was based on performances in 1964 and 1965, Butler finishing in third place in the points list to make the team.[19] He had a disappointing Ryder Cup, gaining just two halves in his five matches, although his three losses all went to the final hole. The Ryder Cup was immediately followed by the Piccadilly Medal which Butler won two strokes from Dai Rees.[20]

1966 was a disappointing season although he started well in both the Masters Tournament and the Open Championship. In the Masters he was the 36-hole co-leader before finishing tied for 13th.[21] He was second, behind Jack Nicklaus, at the half-way stage of the Open but finished with rounds of 80 and 75 to drop into joint 15th place. Butler had a better start to 1967 finishing runner-up in the Agfa-Gevaert Tournament and the French Open.[22] He also won the Bowmaker Tournament for the second time with a final round of 61.[23] Butler's poor 1966 season meant he was outside the top-10 in the Ryder Cup points list and he missed out on a place in the 1967 Ryder Cup.[24] The year finished on a successful note with a win in the Piccadilly Medal.[25]

Butler had one of his best seasons in 1968, winning the Penfold Tournament, after beating Dave Thomas in a playoff, the French Open and the W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament and finishing second in the Order of Merit.[26][27] Butler made the team for the 1969 Ryder Cup as one of the leading six p in the Order of Merit in late July.[28] In August 1969 he had his first important win in Ireland, the R.T.V. International Trophy, The win took to the top of the Order of Merit and he was selected to represent England in the World Cup.[29] Butler was runner-up in the Dunlop Masters the week before the Ryder Cup.[30] In the Ryder Cup, Butler lost his foursomes and fourball matches, both at the final hole, but won both his singles matches on the final day to help Britain to tie the match.

Although he had a less successful season Butler was again selected to play in the 1970 World Cup in Argentina. In August 1971 Butler won the Classic International, an event he had helped to organise and lost in a playoff to Tony Jacklin in the Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf.[31][32] As in 1969, Butler was one of the leading six in the Order of Merit when the 1971 Ryder Cup was selected in late August and made the team automatically. He played in both the foursomes sessions on the opening day, winning one and losing the other. He was then ill and didn't play on the other two days.

Butler played regularly on the European Tour from its foundation in 1972 until 1979. He never won on the tour but was runner-up four times, twice in 1972 at the John Player Trophy and the W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament and in the 1975 Sun Alliance Match Play Championship, where he lost at the 23rd hole of the final, and the 1977 Callers of Newcastle, where he lost a four-man playoff. He was 7th in the Order of Merit in 1972 and 11th in 1973. He had his best finish in the Open in 1973 finishing in sixth place. Qualification for the most of the 1973 Ryder Cup team was based on performances in events in 1972 and 1973 and Butler finished in the sixth place in the final table to ensure his place. At the Ryder Cup at Muirfield, he recorded the first ever hole-in-one in the history of the event.[33] Butler also played in the 1973 World Cup in Marbella, Spain.

After turning 50, Butler was a regular competitor in the PGA Seniors Championship. He was runner-up four times, in 1982, 1984, 1986 and 1989, losing in a four-man sudden-death playoff in 1982, just two months after his 50th birthday. He was one of the founders of the European Seniors Tour and finished fourth on the Order of Merit in its 1992 debut season, even though, at sixty, he was ten years past the minimum age. His only senior win came the following year at the Lawrence Batley Seniors.

Butler was captain of the PGA in 1972.[34]

Professional wins (26)

Important European wins (14)
No.DateTournamentWinning scoreMargin of
victory		Runner(s)-up
1 23 May 1959 Swallow-Penfold Tournament 75-72-67-66=280 1 stroke Harry Weetman
2 23 Jun 1962 Yorkshire Evening News Tournament 70-69-67-67=273 4 strokes Ken Bousfield
3 6 Apr 1963 Schweppes PGA Close Championship 74-79-77-76=306 2 strokes Bobby Walker
4 2 Jul 1963 Bowmaker Tournament 65-67=132 2 strokes Ken Bousfield, Brian Huggett,
Kel Nagle
5 25 Apr 1964 Cox Moore Tournament 70-68-72-69=279 1 stroke Bernard Hunt
6 22 May 1965 Martini International 70-69-67-69=275 4 strokes Jean Garaïalde, Bernard Hunt
7 12 Oct 1965 Piccadilly Tournament 68-65-65-69=267 2 strokes Dai Rees
8 4 Jul 1967 Bowmaker Tournament 70-61=131 1 stroke Peter Thomson
9 11 Oct 1967 Piccadilly Tournament 68-67-64-64=263 2 strokes Brian Huggett
10 4 May 1968 Penfold Tournament 68-75-66-72=281 Playoff Dave Thomas
11 18 Jul 1968 French Open 67-68-68-69=272 4 strokes Sebastián Miguel, Peter Townsend
12 17 Aug 1968 W.D. & H.O. Wills Tournament 67-70-72-72=281 2 strokes Bill Large
13 10 Aug 1969 R.T.V. International Trophy 67-67-68-71=273 3 strokes Bernard Hunt, Cobie Legrange
14 7 Aug 1971 Classic International 68-74-68-67=277 1 stroke Kim Dabson

Other wins (11)

European Senior Tour wins (1)
No. Date Tournament Winning score Margin of
victory		 Runner-up
1 30 Jul 1993 Lawrence Batley Seniors −5 (70-65-72=207) 1 stroke Michael Murphy

Playoff record

European Tour playoff record (0–1)

No.YearTournamentOpponentsResult
1 1977 Callers of Newcastle John Fourie, Ángel Gallardo,
Tommy Horton		 Fourie won with par on second extra hole
Butler and Horton eliminated by par on first hole

Results in major championships
Tournament 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959
Masters Tournament
The Open Championship CUT CUT T30 CUT
Tournament 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
Masters Tournament T13 CUT T13 T24 CUT CUT
The Open Championship 35 T20 CUT CUT T30 CUT T16 CUT CUT CUT
Tournament 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979
Masters Tournament CUT
The Open Championship CUT T25 T15 6 31 T10 T15 59 CUT

Note: Butler only played in the Masters Tournament and The Open Championship.

  Top 10
  Did not play

CUT = Missed the half-way cut (3rd round cut in 1968, 1970 and 1979 Open Championships)
"T" indicates a tie for a place

Summary
TournamentWins2nd3rdTop-5Top-10Top-25EventsCuts made
Masters Tournament00000373
U.S. Open00000000
The Open Championship0000272312
PGA Championship00000000
Totals00002103015
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 7 (1971 Open Championship – 1978 Open Championship)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 1 (twice)

Team appearances
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References
  1. Alliss, Peter (1983). The Who's Who of Golf. Orbis Publishing. p. 220. ISBN 0-85613-520-8.
  2. "The Peter Butler Bowl 2014". Harborne Golf Club. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  3. "Assistants' Championship". The Times. 8 April 1949. p. 2.
  4. "Assistants' Golf Championship". The Times. 8 April 1950. p. 6.
  5. "Mills leading assistants". The Glasgow Herald. 13 May 1955. p. 4.
  6. "Narrow win by Butler". The Glasgow Herald. 25 May 1959. p. 4.
  7. "Butler surprises his betters". The Times. 25 May 1959. p. 3.
  8. "Butler Wins Moortown Tournament". The Glasgow Herald. 25 June 1962. p. 9.
  9. "Close Championship won by Butler". The Glasgow Herald. 8 April 1963. p. 10.
  10. "Butler's proud victory sweeps away doubt". The Times. 8 April 1963. p. 4.
  11. "Swallow-Penfold win for Hunt". The Glasgow Herald. 13 May 1963. p. 10.
  12. "Butler's victory with 67 at Sunningdale". The Glasgow Herald. 3 July 1963. p. 9.
  13. "Brothers in". The Glasgow Herald. 23 September 1963. p. 10.
  14. "Grubb's victory in P.G.A. tournament". The Glasgow Herald. 20 April 1964. p. 4.
  15. "Butler's victory by one stroke". The Glasgow Herald. 27 April 1964. p. 6.
  16. "Carling World Title for Nichols". The Glasgow Herald. 31 August 1964. p. 10.
  17. "Open Champions out of Piccadilly". The Glasgow Herald. 10 October 1964. p. 5.
  18. "Butler's four-shot win in Martini". The Glasgow Herald. 24 May 1965. p. 5.
  19. "British team for Ryder Cup match". Glasgow Herald. 26 July 1965. p. 4.
  20. "Rees Fails By Two Strokes To Catch Butler". The Times. 13 October 1965. p. 3.
  21. Harney, Butler forge into lead at Masters
  22. "Agfa winner considering croquet putting". The Glasgow Herald. 15 May 1967. p. 11.
  23. "Butler's 61 equals lowest British tournament round". The Glasgow Herald. 5 July 1967. p. 6.
  24. "Will wins Ryder Cup place". Glasgow Herald. 17 July 1967. p. 4.
  25. "Butler sweeps to Victory". The Times. 12 October 1967. p. 13.
  26. "Butler wins Penfold at extra hole". The Glasgow Herald. 6 May 1968. p. 6.
  27. "Butler manages to shut out weather". The Times. 19 August 1968. p. 9.
  28. "Alliss preferred to Horton". The Times. 21 July 1969. p. 6.
  29. "Brown angry over Scots named". The Times. 12 August 1969. p. 10.
  30. Jacobs, Raymond (15 September 1969). "Legrange wins from the front". Glasgow Herald. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  31. "Classic title for organiser Butler". The Glasgow Herald. 9 August 1971. p. 4.
  32. "Jacklin upholds his reputation". The Herald (Glasgow). 23 August 1971. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  33. Gay rally for Yanks
  34. "Past PGA Captains". PGA. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  35. "KCC Midland Open". PGA. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
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