Barry Lane, a former Ryder Cup player and five-time European Tour winner, has died at the age of 62, the professional European golf tour announced on Sunday.
Lane made 693 starts on the European Tour—which is now known as the DP World Tour—and is fourth on the all-time appearance list.
“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Barry Lane,” Keith Pelley, chief executive officer at the European Tour, said in a statement.
“To have seen such a level of success across both the European Tour and the now Legends Tour shows his dedication to the game of golf and he was a much-loved figure on both tours,” he continued.
Lane is also an eight-time Legends Tour winner, which is a professional golf tour for senior men aged 50 and over. The Legends Tour is run by the PGA European Tour.
“This is a very sad day for all at Legends Tour,” said Ryan Howsam, chairman of the professional golf tour. “Barry’s achievements throughout his impressive career are well documented but on a personal level, he was a wonderful man.”
The Englishman started playing golf at the age of 14 and quickly became an assistant professional at Downshire Golf Club in Berkshire.
In 1988, Lane achieved his first official win after defeating Sandy Lyle, that year’s Masters champion, by three strokes at the Scottish Open in Gleneagles.
In 1993, he played at the Ryder Cup held at The Belfry in Wishaw, where Europe lost by a margin of 15 to 13 points to the United States. He also represented England four times at the Dunhill Cup and twice at the World Cup.
Additionally, Lane won the first edition of the Andersen Consulting World Championship of Golf in 1995. He also defeated South African David Frost 2 UP in the final, claiming the $1 million first prize.
Lane’s final victory was in 2019 at the MCB Tour Championship, a professional golf tournament for men on the European Senior Tour.
Though the exact cause of Lane’s death is unknown, Irish golf veteran Paul McGinley said on Twitter that Lane visited Mauritius several weeks ago “despite very ill health” just to “say goodbye to all his Tour family.”
RIP barry – sweetest guy to the very end and coming all the way to Mauritius a few weeks ago, despite very ill health, to say goodbye to all his Tour family says a lot to his bravery & to the close kinship & friendships we all form on Tour ??
— Paul McGinley (@mcginleygolf) January 1, 2023
Last month, Lane also shared a picture on Twitter while visiting Mauritius together with his wife, Camilla, for the 2022 Legends Tour’s season-ending MCB Tour Championship
“Great to be in Mauritius to give The Barry Lane Rookie of the year trophy,” Lane wrote in the caption.