Barber Facing an Old Problem : Golf: At 76, he shoots 80-83. Some young players resent his playing at all on regular tour.

Jerry Barber, nearing 77 and a professional golfer for more than half a century, is beginning to think nobody likes him.

The Senior PGA Tour doesn’t have room for him, and many regular tour members resent his presence.

Barber, who didn’t earn enough money to qualify for the tour for players 50 and older, didn’t come close to making the cut in the Nissan L.A. Open at Riviera Country Club when he shot an 83 Saturday to go with a first-round 80.

The soft course made it even tougher for Barber, whose grandson, Jeff, was his caddie. Never a long hitter, Barber has even more trouble on a wet course with no roll.

By a quirk of the rules, Barber, who was on the Senior Tour from its inception, qualifies for the regular tour. When Barber, who was born April 25, 1916, won the PGA championship in 1961, he earned a lifetime exemption for PGA Tour events.

This is the third regular tour event he has played in a row and the younger professionals resent it. He hasn’t come close to making the cut in any of them.

At Phoenix, he took a spot away from an alternate. But at Torrey Pines and at Riviera, a special ruling allowed Barber to play without knocking another player out of the tournament.

Still, the younger pros resent him. Someone put a note on Barber’s locker informing him of the feeling.

“It was so nasty that I don’t want to talk about it,” Barber said. “You couldn’t print it anyhow. What upsets me is that whoever it was was afraid to sign it.

“Sadly, these people don’t understand. I’m still able to compete, especially in the super seniors (60 and older). But because money won is the only criterion for determining eligibility, some of us real old guys don’t qualify.

“There are five of us old-timers, and Doug Ford will soon make the sixth, who are left out. We are being penalized because when we were winning tournaments, there was no money. I won eight tour events, but Ford did even better, winning 19 events.

“I can’t understand why they can’t find a place for us.”

Barber, who has shot his age, or under it, more times in competition than any other golfer, hasn’t broken 80 in the three tournaments this year.

The only way Barber can play on the Senior Tour is with a sponsor’s exemption. He has one next week, when the GTE West event will be held at Ojai.

“I had a couple of reasons for playing in these tournaments,” Barber said. “I needed to get ready for my first senior event and I wanted to see how good the youngsters are.

“I don’t see any Hogans or Sneads out here.

“It’s almost obscene the money they make. I played 18 years on the regular tour and earned $177,000. The winner tomorrow will earn more than that ($180,000). That’s too much money.”

Other players who need a special ruling are Tommy Bolt, Dow Finsterwald and Bob Rosburg.

“I thought maybe if I played a couple of regular PGA events it might call attention to our plight,” Barber said. “Instead, it seems to have made a lot of people angry. We thought these kids would understand the problem. After all, we were among the pioneers. We didn’t make much money, but we stayed out there and made the tour work.

“These youngsters have many years ahead of them to play. Time is running out on us.”