learning impairment

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George Archer

George Archer
Personal Information
Birth	October 1, 1939 San Francisco, California, U.S.
Death	September 25, 2005 (age 65) Incline Village, Nevada, U.S.
Nationality
College	None
Career
Professional wins	42 (PGA Tour: 12, Other regular: 7, Senior Tour: 19, Other senior: 4)
Best Results in Major Championships
Masters	Won 1969
U.S. Open	T5: 1971
British Open	WD: 1969
PGA Championship	T4: 1968

George William 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 born in San Francisco, California. He grew to 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 is also the only player in Champions Tour history to win a tournament in all decades of its existence.

Archer died in Incline Village, Nevada in 2005.

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.

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.

Amateur wins (1)

1963 Trans-Mississippi Amateur

Professional wins (42)

PGA Tour wins (12)

1965 (1) Lucky International Open
1967 (1) Greater Greensboro Open
1968 (2) Pensacola Open Invitational, Greater New Orleans Open Invitational
1969 (2) Bing Crosby National Pro-Am, The Masters
1971 (2) Andy Williams-San Diego Open Invitational, Greater Hartford Open Invitational
1972 (2) Glen Campbell-Los Angeles Open, Greater Greensboro Open
1976 (1) Sahara Invitational
1984 (1) Bank of Boston Classic

Major championship is shown in bold.

Other wins (7)

1963 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

Senior PGA Tour wins (19)

Other senior wins (4)

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

Major Championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	Winning Score	Margin	'''Runners Up
1969	The Masters	-7 (67-73-69-72=281)	1 stroke	Billy Casper, George Knudson, Tom Weiskopf

Results timeline

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