Doug Barron

His father introduced him to golf at the age of 3. After getting a marketing degree from Mississipi State, he turned pro in 1992. After a couple of years playing mini-tour events. Got onto the Korn Ferry Tour in 1995 and in his first year finished 103rd on the money list, Also played in 1996 finishing 47th, his best finish T-3rd at the Shreveport Open and 5th at the Philadelphia Open. At the end of 1996 finished 3rd at the PGA Tour Qualifying tournament thus getting his PGA Tour card in 1997.
Was able to play on the PGA Tour for the next five years and for the first four got into the top-125 of the money list to keep his card.
Struggled in 2001 and when he finished 37th at Qualifying school it meant a return trip to the Korn Ferry Tour. He bounced back and forth between the tours and had his best year in 2005 when in 24 events he made 11 cuts with two top-ten finishes including his career-best finish on the PGA Tour T-3rd at the Byron Nelson Classic finishing four shots back of winner Ted Purdy. Barron finished 110th on the money list with $731,990. In 2006 he struggled only making $388,226 to finish 164th on the money list. After that, he only played in one more event on the PGA Tour missing the cut at the St. Jude Classic. But that start in Memphis proved costly for him as he took a random drug test and it was revealed he had taken supplemental testosterone and a beta block.
Indeed, Barron had been on beta-blockers since suffering a mitral valve prolapse, a potentially serious heart problem, as a teenager. He had begun taking testosterone two years before the PGA Tour testing program was enacted after physicians found he had the testosterone of an 80-year-old man.
He argued that he was taking them on the advice of doctors, the former to address low testosterone, the latter for a heart murmur. He was suspended for a year and sued the PGA Tour. The suspension was lifted in the fall of 2010, the suit was settled and he was granted a therapeutic use exemption for testosterone. By the time that happened Barron stopped playing golf, he felt the best years were gone.
But he never played in another PGA Tour or Korn Ferry tour event. On the PGA Tour, he played in 238 events making 111 cuts with 12 top-ten finishes. He won a total of $2,724,280. On the Korn Ferry Tour, he played in 137 events making 68 cuts with 18 top-ten finishes. He was runner-up five times, four in 2002 at the SAS Carolina Classic, Samsung Canadian PGA, Fort Smith CLassic, and the Utah Classic. In 2004 he was T-2nd at the Samsung Canadian PGA. He won a total of $550,111 on the Korn Ferry tour. His best finish was 2002, he was 3rd on the money list and in 19 starts finished in the top-ten, seven times.
Barron stopped playing professionally. He spent time with his kids and just hung out in Memphis. He did some teaching and started a credit-card processing business. When he got close to his 50th birthday in 2019 he started playing in some mini-tour events in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. Before his 50th birthday, Barron decided to book a flight for Manchester, England, and try to qualify for the Senior British Open. On the day of the ten-year celebration of Barron getting a sponsor exemption to play in the 2009 St. Jude Classic which caused his problems with the drug suspension, he qualified for the Senior British Open and in his first PGA Tour Champions start shot a final round 67 to finish T-5th, four shots back of winner Bernhard Langer. The $72,960 was the sixth biggest check he had ever earned and was enough to pay off his expenses. But the great performance didn't do anything for Barron's status on the Champions Tour. He wanted to play at the Dicke's Sporting Goods Open but he had to make it through a Thursday qualifier just to get into the Monday qualifier. Despite a sore back, he shot 66 to lead the qualifier and make it into the tour tournament. Barron shot 65, 68, and 66 at En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, N.Y., to win wire to wire and by two shots over Fred Couples. Barron became just the 13th qualifier to win in the history of the PGA Tour Champions and the first since Willie Wood at the 2012 Dick's Sporting Goods Open. Just like that Barron's life completely changed as he earned a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour Champions. So for 2019, Barron played the rest of the year, participating in ten events, and had three top-ten finishes. His last top ten of the year was a T-3rd at the SAS Championship, five shots back of winner Jerry Kelly. He finished the year 34th in the Schwab Cup listing.
2020 & 2021 Notes: Played in 36 PGA Tour Champions events with nine top-tens and finished 10th in the Charles Schwab Cup. Was T-6th at the 2020 Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai then T-3rd at the Morocco Champions, four shots back of winner Brett Quigley. After that, his next best finish in 2020 was T-13th at the Dominion Energy Charity. In 2021 his best finish was T-5th at the Mitsubishi Electric Classic, four shots back of winner Dicky Pride. He was T-3rd at the Principal Charity, two shots back of the winner Stephen Ames. Won for a second time on the PGA Tour Champions at the 2021 Shaw Charity Classic, beating runner-up Steve Flesch by two shots. Posted three consecutive 64s to shoot 18-under 192, his lowest career 54-hole total on the Champions Tour. Was co-leader entering the final round of the 2021 Ally Challenge, shot 72, and finished T-4th three shots back of winner Joe Durant. Co-led the first and second rounds at the 2021 Ascension Charity Classic, who 72 in the final round to finish T-6th, three shots back of the David Toms/Dicky Pride playoff. With rounds of 69-69-70 finished T-7th at the Pure Insurance Championship, five shots back of winner K.J. Choi. At the Dominion Energy Charity Classic had rounds of 66-68-68 to finish tied with Bernhard Langer who beat Barron on the first playoff hole with a birdie. Ended the season T-13th at the Charles Schwab Cup Championship.
2022 Notes: Was T-5th at the Hoag Classic, eight shots back of winner Retief Goosen.