He won a number of important tournaments including the 1963 PGA Close Championship and the 1968 French Open.

Butler turned professional as a teenager in 1947, becoming an assistant to Bill Button at Harborne Golf Club, Birmingham.

[6][7] Butler had his second important success in 1962, winning the Yorkshire Evening News Tournament four ahead of Ken Bousfield and taking another £1,000 prize.

[8] Year 1963 started with his third £1,000 win, the Schweppes PGA Close Championship where he finished two strokes ahead of Bobby Walker.

[11][12] Despite his good season, a number of poor finishes left him 14th in the Ryder Cup rankings, the leading 10 making the team.

[13] Butler spent the early part of 1964 playing on the PGA Tour only returning after the Masters Tournament to which he received an invitation.

Coles and Butler received invitations to the inaugural Piccadilly World Match Play Championship.

[17] In early 1965, Butler was the runner-up in the Schweppes PGA Close Championship, losing in a sudden-death playoff to Peter Alliss, and later in May he won the Martini International.

[18][19] Qualification for the 1965 Ryder Cup was based on performances in 1964 and 1965, Butler finishing in third place in the points list to make the team.

[21] The Ryder Cup was immediately followed by the Piccadilly Medal which Butler won by two strokes from Dai Rees.

[27] Butler had one of his best seasons in 1968, winning the Penfold Tournament, after beating Dave Thomas in a playoff, the Open de France and the W.D.

[28][29][30] Butler made the team for the 1969 Ryder Cup as one of the leading six players in the Order of Merit in late July.

[36] In August 1971, Butler won the Classic International, an event he had helped to organise, and lost in a playoff to Tony Jacklin in the Benson & Hedges Festival of Golf.

[37][38] As in 1969, Butler was one of the leading six in the Order of Merit when the 1971 Ryder Cup was selected in late August and made the team automatically.

[42][43][44][45] He was one of the founders of the European Seniors Tour and finished fourth on the Order of Merit in its 1992 debut season, even though, at sixty, he was ten years past the minimum age.