George Archer
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| George Archer | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
| Personal information | |
| Full name | George William Archer |
| Born | October 1, 1939 San Francisco, California |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist. Incline Village, Nevada |
| Height | 6 ft 5.5 in (1.97 m) |
| Weight | 200 lb (91 kg; 14 st) |
| Nationality |  United States |
| Spouse | Donna Archer |
| Children | 2 daughters |
| Career | |
| Turned professional | 1964 |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour Champions Tour |
| Professional wins | 44 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 13 |
| Champions Tour | 19 |
| Other | 8 (regular) 4 (senior) |
| Best results in major championships (wins: 1) |
|
| Masters Tournament | Won: 1969 |
| U.S. Open | T5: 1971 |
| The Open Championship | WD: 1969 |
| PGA Championship | T4: 1968 |
George William Archer (October 1, 1939 – September 25, 2005) was an American professional golfer who won 13 events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship, the Masters in 1969.[1][2][3][4]
Contents
Early years
Born in San Francisco, California, Archer was raised just south in San Mateo. He grew to 6 ft 5.5 in (1.97 m) tall, and as a boy he dreamed of a basketball career, but took up golf at San Mateo High School after working as a caddy at The Peninsula Golf and Country Club near his home. He was kicked off the high school basketball team because he missed too many practices due to golf.[5]
Tour career
Archer turned professional in 1964 and claimed the first of 13 victories on the PGA Tour at the Lucky International Open the following year.
The leading achievement of his career was his win at the Masters in 1969.[2][6] In the first round, he fired a 67, good for second place behind Billy Casper. His subsequent rounds of 73-69-72 earned him a one-stroke victory over Casper, Tom Weiskopf and George Knudson.[7]
Archer's other top-10 finishes in the majors came at the U.S. Open (10th in 1969, fifth in 1971) and the PGA Championship (fourth in 1968).[8]
Archer was hampered by injuries throughout his career and had surgery on his left wrist (1975), back (1979) and left shoulder (1987). In 1996, he had his right hip replaced and two years later became the first man to win on the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour) after having a hip replacement. He won 19 times on the Senior Tour between 1989 and 2000, although he did not win a senior major. Archer is also the only player in Champions Tour history to win a tournament in each of the first three decades of its existence.
Archer is considered one of the game's all-time great putters,[5] and at one time held the PGA Tour record for fewest putts over four rounds with 94 putts at the Sea Pines Heritage in 1980.[9] The record stood for nine years, until broken by Kenny Knox in 1989.[10]
Archer was known as the "Golfing Cowboy," due to a summer job in his youth at his friend and sponsor, Eugene Selvage's Lucky Hereford Ranch in Gilroy.[11][12]
Archer made Masters history in 1983 when he employed its first female caddy, his 19-year-old daughter Elizabeth, in the first year that outside caddies were allowed at Augusta National.[1] He finished tied for 12th,[13] his final top-20 finish in a major. At the time Liz was a sophomore at Stanford University and had caddied for her father at 20 previous events; a member of the Cardinal track team, she threw the javelin and discus.[14] She started caddying for him on tour in the summer of 1980, prior to her senior year at Gilroy High School.[15]
Death
Archer died of Burkitt's lymphoma – a lymphatic system malignancy – in Incline Village, Nevada in 2005, several days before his 66th birthday. He was survived by his wife, Donna, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Marilyn.[16]
Illiteracy
Six months after his death, Archer's widow, Donna, revealed in the March/April 2006 issue of Golf For Women magazine that he had suffered his entire life from a severe form of learning impairment. Despite years of effort and the consultation of many experts, he was never able to read more than the simplest sentences and could only write his own name. She reported that they never revealed this truth beyond their family and that Archer lived in constant fear that the secret of his illiteracy would be revealed.[17]
In 2008, Donna created the George Archer Memorial Foundation for Literacy, a 501(c)(3) organization located in Incline Village, Nevada. The Foundation's mission is to raise funds to identify reading deficiencies, diagnose causes and effective treatments for learning disabilities, improve systems for training teachers, tutors and other educators in literacy issues, provide grants, stipends and scholarships for deserving students, and assist in the development of tools and techniques for the effective teaching of reading and writing skills. The Foundation's primary fundraiser is the George Archer Memorial Stroke of Genius Pro-Am golf tournament held every October since 2008 at the Peninsula Golf and Country Club, in San Mateo, California – the club at which Archer began his golf career.[18]
Quotations
"One thing about golf is you don't know why you play bad and why you play good."
"When I joined the tour in 1964, I told my wife I wanted to play five years. Instead, I've played five careers."
"If it weren't for golf, I'd probably be a caddie today."[19]
Amateur wins (2)
- 1963 Trans-Mississippi Amateur, San Francisco City Championship
Professional wins (44)
PGA Tour wins (13)
| Legend |
| Major championships (1) |
| Other PGA Tour events (12) |
PGA Tour playoff record (4–3)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1965 | Lucky International Open |  Bob Charles |
Won with birdie on second extra hole |
| 2 | 1969 | Kaiser International Open Invitational | Billy Casper, Don January, Jack Nicklaus |
Nicklaus won with birdie on second extra hole January eliminated with birdie on first hole |
| 3 | 1970 | Robinson Open Golf Classic |  George Knudson |
Lost to par on fourth extra hole |
| 4 | 1971 | Greater Hartford Open Invitational | Lou Graham, J. C. Snead |
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 5 | 1972 | Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open | Tommy Aaron, Dave Hill |
Won 18-hole playoff (Archer:66, Aaron:68, Hill:68) |
| 6 | 1972 | Dean Martin Tucson Open | Miller Barber |
Lost to birdie on third extra hole after 18-hole playoff (Archer:72, Barber:72) |
| 7 | 1972 | Greater Greensboro Open | Tommy Aaron |
Won with par on second extra hole |
Major championship is shown in bold.
Other wins (8)
- 1963 Northern California Open, Northern California Medal Play, San Francisco City Championship
- 1964 Northern California Open
- 1967 Northern California Open
- 1969 Argentine Masters
- 1981 Colombian Open
- 1982 Philippines Invitational
Senior PGA Tour wins (19)
Senior PGA Tour Tour playoff record (4–2)
| No. | Year | Tournament | Opponent(s) | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1989 | Gatlin Brothers Southwest Senior Classic | Orville Moody, Jimmy Powell |
Won with par on second extra hole |
| 2 | 1991 | Security Pacific Senior Classic | John Brodie, Chi-Chi Rodríguez |
Brodie won with birdie on first extra hole |
| 3 | 1992 | GTE Suncoast Classic | Jim Colbert |
Lost to birdie on fourth extra hole |
| 4 | 1992 | Murata Reunion Pro-Am | Tommy Aaron |
Won with birdie on third extra hole |
| 5 | 1993 | First of America Classic | Jim Colbert, Chi-Chi Rodríguez |
Won with par on third extra hole Rodríguez eliminated with par on first hole |
| 6 | 1993 | PING Kaanapali Classic | Dave Stockton, Lee Trevino |
Won with birdie on first extra hole |
Other senior wins (4)
- 1990 Sports Shinko Cup, Princeville Classic
- 1991 Sports Shinko Cup
- 1994 Chrysler Cup (individual)
Major championships
Wins (1)
| Year | Championship | 54 holes | Winning score | To par | Margin | Runners-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Masters Tournament | 1 shot deficit | 67-73-69-72=281 | −7 | 1 stroke | Billy Casper, George Knudson, Tom Weiskopf |
Results timeline
| Tournament | 1964 | 1965 | 1966 | 1967 | 1968 | 1969 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | DNP | DNP | DNP | T16 | T22 | 1 |
| U.S. Open | T39 | DNP | T17 | WD | T16 | T10 |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | WD |
| PGA Championship | DNP | T61 | DNP | T55 | T4 | T69 |
| Tournament | 1970 | 1971 | 1972 | 1973 | 1974 | 1975 | 1976 | 1977 | 1978 | 1979 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | T31 | 35 | T12 | T43 | WD | CUT | CUT | T19 | WD | DNP |
| U.S. Open | T30 | T5 | T65 | T34 | DNP | DNP | DNP | T27 | CUT | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T61 | T34 | T36 | T51 | DNP | DNP | DNP | T19 | 61 | DNP |
| Tournament | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | CUT | T11 | T30 | T12 | T25 | T53 | CUT | DNP | CUT | T43 |
| U.S. Open | DNP | T58 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | T17 | CUT | T34 | T67 | DNP | T47 | DNP | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| Tournament | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 49 | WD | 51 |
| U.S. Open | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| The Open Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP |
| PGA Championship | DNP | DNP | DNP |
DNP = Did not play
WD = Withdrew
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10
Summary
| Tournament | Wins | 2nd | 3rd | Top-5 | Top-10 | Top-25 | Events | Cuts made |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Masters Tournament | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 24 | 16 |
| U.S. Open | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 12 | 10 |
| The Open Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| PGA Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 14 |
| Totals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 15 | 52 | 40 |
- Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (1969 PGA – 1973 PGA)
- Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (1968 PGA – 1969 U.S. Open)
See also
References
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- ↑ http://www.augusta.com/masters/historic/leaderboards/1969leaderboard.shtml
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- ↑ Stewart wins by 5 strokes
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External links
- George Archer at the PGA Tour official site
- An interview from 2003
- The Secret They Shared Golf For Women, March/April 2006
- Sports Illustrated cover: April 21, 1969
- George Archer at Find a Grave
