Miller Barber

Miller Barber, 53, of Sherman, Texas, became the first man to win the Senior Open championship twice. He shot 286 and won by two strokes over Arnold Palmer, at the Oak Hill Country Club, in Rochester, New York. Barber won previously in 1982.

Bob Goalby held the first-round lead with 70, a figure that only two players bettered in the remainder of the championship. One was Palmer, with 68 in the second round, the lowest of the championship, with 142, he led Goalby by two strokes after 36 holes, and Barber was three strokes behind, at 145. After eight holes of the third round, Goalby had a three-stroke advantage on Palmer, but Palmer played the final 10 holes one under par and regained his two-stroke lead. Barber shot 70, which placed him just one stroke behind Palmer.

Goalby faltered in the fourth round, and Palmer and Barber swapped the lead. Palmer led by two strokes after the fourth hole, but his approach to the fifth fell into a pond and Barber caught him with a birdie. Barber went ahead for a good at the seventh with a par to Palmer's bogey, and Palmer fell three behind with bogeys at the 11th and 12th holes. Palmer birdied the 14th to draw within two strokes, but as he attempted to tap in a short putt for bogey on the 15th after missing from eight feet, Palmer scuffed the ground and missed the ball. No one but Palmer had seen it, but he called a penalty on himself. Barber then missed a short putt of his own for a par. Barber then led by three strokes.

Dale Morey and Fordie Pitts, Jr., were low amateurs at 305. The USGA accepted a record 861 entries, an increase of 105 over 1983.