George Archer

George Archer (born October 1, 1939 in San Francisco, California, died September 25, 2005 in Incline Village, Nevada) was an American golfer who won twelve events on the PGA Tour, including one major championship.

Career outline

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.

Related Topics:
Lucky International Open - The Masters - U.S. Open - PGA Championship

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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.

Related Topics:
Champions Tour - Senior major

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Archer is considered one of the game's all-time great putters, and at one time he held the PGA Tour record for fewest putts over four rounds with 95 putts at the 1980 Sea Pines Heritage Classic. He never played in the Ryder Cup; when he was in his prime the top Americans didn't always participate because the event was very uncompetitive at that time.

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