Oldest to Make Cut in U.S. Senior Open

Who is the oldest golfer in U.S. Senior Open tournament history to make the cut? We'll give you the Top 3: Jerry Barber, Jerry Barber and, yes, Jerry Barber.

Barber made the cut in the U.S. Senior Open three times after turning 71 years old. No other golfer has made the cut in this senior major, which was first played in 1980, at age 71 or older.

These are the specifics of Barber's "old-age" exploits:

• He holds the record as the oldest to make the cut in this tournament at age 76 years, 2 months and 24 days. That's how old he was when he made the cut in the 1992 U.S. Senior Open. Barber shot his age or better all four rounds, scoring 74, 75, 76 and 74.
• He broke his own record set the previous year in the 1991 tournament, when he made the cut at age 75 years, 3 months, 1 day.
• And he first set this record in the 1987 U.S. Senior Open by making the cut at age 71 years, 2 months, 24 days.

His best finish in any of those three tournaments was tied for 35th place in 1987. And Barber never won an official title on the Senior Tour. But, then, he was already 64 years old when the senior circuit launched in 1980.

Barber did win seven times on the PGA Tour in the 1950s and 1960s, including one major, the 1961 PGA Championship. Barber was 45 years old when he won that PGA Championship. At the time, that made him the oldest winner of a men's major.

A couple bonus "old age" records in the U.S. Senior Open:

• The oldest golfer to play his way into the tournament through qualifying is Bob Rawlins, who made the 2000 field at age 71 years, 4 months, 23 days.
• The oldest golfer to play in the tournament is Harold "Jug" McSpaden, who was 81 years, 11 months, 7 days old when he teed off the 1990 U.S. Senior Open.

Related articles:

• Oldest winners of the U.S. Senior Open
• U.S. Senior Open scoring records
• All winners of the U.S. Senior Open

Sources:
Associated Press. U.S. Senior Open scores, McComb (Miss.) Enterprise-Journal, July 13, 1987.
Associated Press. U.S. Senior Open scores, The Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer, July 13, 1992.
USGA. U.S. Senior Open Championship 44th Record Book, 2024.