George Archer

Born in San Francisco, California, Archer was raised just south in San Mateo. He grew to 6 ft 5+1⁄2 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.

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. 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 runners-up Casper, Tom Weiskopf, and George Knudson.

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).

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 PGA Tour Champions) 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 PGA Tour Champions 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, 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 (1.3 per hole). The record stood for nine years, until broken by Kenny Knox in 1989.

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.

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. He finished tied for 12th, his third-best at Augusta and final top-20 finish in a major. At the time Liz was a sophomore at Stanford University and had caddied for her father at twenty previous events; a member of the Cardinal track team, she threw the javelin and discus. She started caddying for him on tour in the summer of 1980, prior to her senior year at Gilroy High School.

 

Archer died of Burkitt's lymphoma – a lymphatic system malignancy – in Incline Village, Nevada in 2005, six days before his 66th birthday. He was survived by his wife, Donna, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Marilyn. He played his final round of golf with his wife in nearby Truckee on August 25, a month before his death.

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.

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.

• 1963 Trans-Mississippi Amateur, San Francisco City Championship

PGA Tour wins (13)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Jan 31, 1965	Lucky International Open	68-73-69-68=278	−6	Playoff	Bob Charles
2	Apr 2, 1967	Greater Greensboro Open	67-64-68-68=267	−17	2 strokes	Doug Sanders
3	Mar 25, 1968	Pensacola Open Invitational	66-68-69-65=268	−20	1 stroke	Tony Jacklin,   Dave Marr
4	May 12, 1968	Greater New Orleans Open Invitational	69-65-70-67=271	−17	2 strokes	Bert Yancey
5	Sep 22, 1968	PGA National Team Championship (with   Bobby Nichols)	65-66-69-65=265	−22	2 strokes	Monty Kaser and   Rives McBee
6	Jan 27, 1969	Bing Crosby National Pro-Am	72-68-72-71=283	−5	1 stroke	Bob Dickson,   Dale Douglass,   Howie Johnson
7	Apr 13, 1969	Masters Tournament	67-73-69-72=281	−7	1 stroke	Billy Casper,   George Knudson,   Tom Weiskopf
8	Jan 31, 1971	Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational	67-72-68-65=272	−16	3 strokes	Dave Eichelberger
9	Sep 6, 1971	Greater Hartford Open Invitational	68-66-68-66=268	−16	Playoff	Lou Graham,   J. C. Snead
10	Jan 9, 1972	Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open	66-69-69-66=270	−14	Playoff	Tommy Aaron,   Dave Hill
11	Apr 2, 1972	Greater Greensboro Open (2)	70-68-66-68=272	−12	Playoff	Tommy Aaron
12	Oct 3, 1976	Sahara Invitational	67-66-69-69=271	−13	2 strokes	Dave Hill,   Don January
13	Sep 9, 1984	Bank of Boston Classic	69-66-70-65=270	−14	6 strokes	Frank Conner,   Joey Sindelar

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 by 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: −5 (66), Aaron: −3 (68), Hill: −3 (68)
6	1972	Dean Martin Tucson Open	Miller Barber	Lost to birdie on third extra hole after 18-hole playoff; Archer: E (72), Barber: E (72)
7	1972	Greater Greensboro Open	Tommy Aaron	Won with par on second extra hole

Other wins (7)

• 1963 Northern California Open, Northern California Medal Play
• 1964 Northern California Open
• 1967 Northern California Open
• 1969 Argentine Masters
• 1981 Colombian Open
• 1982 Philippines Invitational

Senior PGA Tour wins (19)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	To par	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	Oct 15, 1989	Gatlin Brothers Southwest Senior Classic	69-72-68=209	−7	Playoff	Orville Moody,   Jimmy Powell
2	Jan 7, 1990	MONY Senior Tournament of Champions	73-69-67-74=283	−5	7 strokes	Bruce Crampton
3	Jul 8, 1990	Northville Long Island Classic	69-67-72=208	−16	1 stroke	Frank Beard,   Charles Coody
4	Aug 26, 1990	GTE Northwest Classic	69-66-70=205	−15	2 strokes	Bruce Crampton
5	Oct 28, 1990	Rancho Murieta Senior Gold Rush	70-68-66=204	−12	1 stroke	Dale Douglass
6	Aug 4, 1991	Northville Long Island Classic (2)	68-67-69=204	−12	2 strokes	Jim Colbert,   Larry Laoretti
7	Sep 1, 1991	GTE North Classic	66-66-67=199	−17	1 stroke	Dale Douglass
8	Oct 13, 1991	Raley's Senior Gold Rush (2)	67-71-68=206	−10	1 stroke	Simon Hobday
9	May 10, 1992	Murata Reunion Pro-Am	66-72-73=211	−5	Playoff	Tommy Aaron
10	Aug 2, 1992	Northville Long Island Classic (3)	70-67-68=205	−9	2 strokes	Jim Albus
11	Aug 16, 1992	Bruno's Memorial Classic	66-68-74=208	−8	1 stroke	Jack Kiefer,   Rocky Thompson
12	Jul 18, 1993	Ameritech Senior Open	67-66=133*	−11	1 stroke	Jim Colbert,   Simon Hobday,   Dick Rhyan
13	Jul 25, 1993	First of America Classic	67-69-63=199	−14	Playoff	Jim Colbert,   Chi-Chi Rodríguez
14	Oct 17, 1993	Raley's Senior Gold Rush (3)	68-66-68=202	−14	1 stroke	Bob Charles,   Chi-Chi Rodríguez
15	Oct 31, 1993	Ping Kaanapali Classic	67-69-63=199	−14	Playoff	Dave Stockton,   Lee Trevino
16	Feb 20, 1995	Toshiba Senior Classic	67-68-64=199	−11	1 stroke	Dave Stockton,   Tom Wargo
17	May 14, 1995	Cadillac NFL Golf Classic	69-66-70=205	−11	1 stroke	Raymond Floyd,   Bob Murphy
18	Aug 16, 1998	First of America Classic (2)	68-67-64=199	−17	5 strokes	Jim Dent
19	Jan 23, 2000	MasterCard Championship (2)	67-71-69=207	−9	2 strokes	Hale Irwin,   Graham Marsh,   Dana Quigley,   Lee Trevino

*Note: The 1993 Ameritech Senior Open was shortened to 36 holes due to lightning.

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 by 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)

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

CUT = missed the half-way cut
WD = withdrew
"T" = tied

Summary

• Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (1969 PGA – 1973 PGA)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 3 (1968 PGA – 1969 U.S. Open)

• List of golfers with most Champions Tour wins