George Archer

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George Archer (October 1, 1939 – September 25, 2005) was an American golfer who won twelve events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship.

Archer was eventually to reach 6 feet 5½ inches (1.97 m) tall, and as a boy he dreamed of a basketball career, but he took up golf at high school after working as a caddy at his local club. He turned professional in 1964 and claimed the first of 12 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, which is one of golf's four major championships, in 1969. His other top ten finishes in the majors came at the U.S. Open, where he came 10th in 1969 5th in 1971, and at the PGA Championship, where he took 4th place in 1968.

Archer was hampered by injuries throughout his career and has had surgery on his left wrist (1975), back (1979), left shoulder (1987). In 1996 he had his right hip replaced and two years later he became the first man to win on the Senior PGA Tour (now the Champions Tour) after having a hip replacement. In total he won nineteen times on the Senior Tour between 1989 and 2000, but he did not win a senior major.

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 95 putts at the 1980 Sea Pines Heritage Classic.

He also holds the distinction of being the only player in Champions Tour history to win a tournament in all decades of its existence.

He was born in San Francisco, California and died in Incline Village, Nevada.

Contents

[edit] 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.[1]

[edit] PGA Tour wins (12)

Major championship is shown in bold.

[edit] Other regular career wins (8)

  • 1963 Trans-Mississippi Amateur, Northern California Open, Northern California Medal Play, San Francisco City Championship
  • 1968 PGA National Team Championship (with Bobby Nichols)
  • 1969 Argentine Masters
  • 1981 Colombian Open
  • 1982 Philippines Invitational

[edit] Champions Tour wins (19)

[edit] Other senior career wins (4)

  • 1990 Sports Shinko Cup, Princeville Classic
  • 1991 Sports Shinko Cup
  • 1994 Chrysler Cup (individual)

[edit] Results in major championships

Tournament 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
The Masters 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
The Masters 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
The Masters 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
The Masters 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

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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