There’s an expression that winners aren’t people who never fail, but people who never quit.
Persistence and drive defined George Archer.
A San Francisco native, Archer learned golf by caddying at Peninsula Golf and Country Club in San Mateo, playing at the local muni and putting for quarters on the practice green at Lincoln Park. Later, when he’d become one of the best putters on tour, he’d attribute his success to those days of putting on slow, bumpy municipal greens hour after hour.
It was in 1963, at the age of 24, that Archer began carving out a name for himself. Following in the footsteps of other Bay Area greats such as Ken Venturi and Tony Lema, that year Archer won among other events the Trans Mississippi, the Northern California Open and the San Francisco City Championship.
Just two years later, having turned professional, Archer won on the big stage, capturing the 1965 Lucky Invitational at Harding Park.
Over the next 19 years, he’d rack up another 12 PGA Tour victories, including the 1969 Masters, where he’d defeat among others Billy Casper by a stroke. In fact, each of his wins would come at a time when his competition included names such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Lee Trevino.
Even though he would become hampered by numerous injuries which led to seven surgeries, Archer not only kept playing, but kept winning.
He’d become the first player to win on the PGA Tour Champions after having a hip replacement. Overall, Archer won 19 times on the senior circuit between 1989 and 2000. He’s the only player in PGA Tour Champions history to win a tournament in each of the first three decades of its existence.
At the 1983 Masters, Archer made history when he employed its first female caddy, his then 19-year-old daughter Elizabeth, in the first year that outside caddies were allowed at Augusta National. He’d finish tied for 12th in what would be his final top-20 finish in a major.
All the while, Archer, who was inducted into the NCGA Hall of Fame in 2019, never forgot his humble roots. He’d live on a small ranch in Gilroy near his original sponsor’s ranch, earning the nickname ‘The Golfing Cowboy.’