1969 Masters Tournament: Bull's-eye for Archer

George Archer scored his lone major championship victory at the 1969 Masters, the 33rd playing of the tournament. Archer caught and passed Billy Casper in the final round.

Winner: George Archer, 281

Where it was played: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Georgia

Tournament dates: April 10-13, 1969

Leader after first round: Billy Casper, 66

Leader after second round: Bruce Devlin and Billy Casper, 137

Leader after third round: Billy Casper, 208

What Happened at the 1969 Masters

Billy Casper held or shared the lead through the first three rounds, but he couldn't hold on until the end. Casper's final-round 74 opened the door for George Archer, who trailed Casper by one shot entering Round 4. Archer responded with a 72, good enough for the victory.

Casper was a 2-time U.S. Open winner and 41-time PGA Tour winner coming into this Masters, while Archer had no majors and six PGA Tour wins. But it was Casper who the pressure seemed to affect: He stumbled out of the gate, scoring 5-over through the first 10 holes of Round 4.

Archer tied the lead on the second hole, took the lead on the sixth hole, and held or shared it the rest of the way. Archer, at 6-foot-5 one of the tallest golfers of his era, eventually won 13 times total on the PGA Tour, but this remained his lone major championship victory.

Sharing second with Casper (who won next year at the 1970 Masters) were George Knudson and Tom Weiskopf. Weiskopf never won The Masters, but finished second four times, sharing the record for most runner-up finishes. Weiskopf was tied for the lead until a bogey on the next-to-last hole. Charles Coody, who later won the 1971 Masters, also tied the lead at one point. But he bogeyed the final three holes to finish tied for fifth place.

Ken Venturi played The Masters for the last time this year. Jack Burke Jr., a 2-time major winner (including the 1956 Masters), finished tied for 24th, his final made cut in The Masters. Hubert Green, a future 2-time major winner, made his major championship debut here and missed the cut.

1969 Masters Final Scores

George Archer	67-73-69-72—281
Billy Casper	66-71-71-74—282
George Knudson	70-73-69-70—282
Tom Weiskopf	71-71-69-71—282
Charles Coody	74-68-69-72—283
Don January	74-73-70-66—283
Miller Barber	71-71-68-74—284
Tommy Aaron	71-71-73-70—285
Lionel Hebert	69-73-70-73—285
Gene Littler	69-75-70-71—285
Mason Rudolph	69-73-74-70—286
Dan Sikes	69-71-73-74—287
Bruce Crampton	69-73-74-72—288
Al Geiberger	71-71-74-72—288
Harold Henning	73-72-71-72—288
Takaaki Kono	71-75-68-74—288
Bert Yancey	69-75-71-73—288
Dave Stockton	71-71-75-72—289
Frank Beard	72-74-70-74—290
Deane Beman	74-73-74-69—290
Bruce Devlin	67-70-76-77—290
Dale Douglass	73-72-71-74—290
Lee Trevino	72-74-75-69—290
Jackie Burke Jr.	73-72-70-76—291
Dave Hill	75-73-72-71—291
Jack Nicklaus	68-75-72-76—291
Arnold Palmer	73-75-70-74—292
Johnny Pott	72-72-71-78—293
Roberto Bernardini	76-71-72-75—294
Bob Charles	70-76-72-76—294
Gardner Dickinson	73-74-71-76—294
Bobby Nichols	78-69-74-73—294
Don Bies	74-70-70-81—295
Julius Boros	72-73-73-77—295
Gary Player	74-70-75-76—295
Raymond Floyd	73-71-78-74—296
Doug Sanders	72-71-76-77—296
Ken Still	73-75-71-77—296
Kermit Zarley	73-73-76-74—296
Bob Goalby	70-76-76-75—297
Art Wall Jr.	70-77-78-72—297
Peter Townsend	75-71-73-79—298
Steve Spray	75-72-74-78—299
a-Bruce Fleisher	69-75-73-83—300
Mac McLendon	72-75-76-80—303
a-Dick Siderowf	78-69-80-82—309

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1968 Masters - 1970 Masters