Of all the PGA touring professionals who played here, nobody was more of a "local boy" at heart than 1969 Masters champion George Archer, who died peacefully at home in Incline Village, Nev., Sunday after a yearlong battle with cancer. He would have been 66 Saturday.

Archer probably played in more tournaments in Hawai'i than any other visiting golf pro.

He played in the Hawaiian Open at the Waialae Country Club 21 times, including the inaugural in 1965 when he finished third. He was runner-up when Lee Trevino won in 1968.

Archer also appeared in 15 Champions Tour events locally, nine at Ka'anapali, Maui, winning in 1993. He played once at the Turtle Bay Resort, four times in the MasterCard Championship at Hualalai on the Big Island, where he won in 2000 for the last of his 19 senior titles.

He also played once at Ko Olina when it hosted its only senior tour event in 1992. In addition, Archer captured the 1990 Princeville Classic, an unofficial senior event on Kaua'i, and played in a made-for-TV senior event at the Experience at Ko'ele on Lana'i.

And not many visiting pros can lay claim to winning the Francis Brown Coco Palms Invitational as Archer did following the 1965 Hawaiian Open.

Not bad for a guy who didn't make it past the 36-hole qualifying in his first tournament in the Islands — the 1960 U.S. Men's Amateur Public Links Championship at the Ala Wai Golf Course.

That's when he first met Clarence Yee, a local insurance executive and long-time Waialae Country Club member.

It was the start of friendship between Yee and Archer and his wife, Donna.

Yee is godfather to both of the Archers' daughters — Elizabeth, who became the first female caddy in the history of the Masters in 1983 and is now a minister, and Lynne, a special education teacher.

Yee had kept in touch with Archer by phone every Sunday night ever since the latter had been diagnosed with cancer. Last Sunday, it was Donna who called.

"I had just talked to George the week before," Yee said.

Archer told Yee, "I'm waiting for the Good Lord to take me. I've had a good life. Seven wonderful grandchildren, two beautiful daughters and a lovely wife. I can't complain. Maybe there are better golf courses in heaven."

Needless to say, Archer still got in one last dig at Yee, asking his friend if he's shooting his age.

"I am," Yee told him. Yee, who is 79, recently shot a 76 at Waialae, about the 100th time he has had a score his age or better.

"Yeah, but I got a friend in South Carolina who shot his age almost 500 times," Archer replied, then laughingly added, "but from the red tees."

"He was a wonderful person. All the people at Waialae loved him because he came here so often. We're all going to miss him," Yee said.

Yee still recalls when Archer, the standout on the team from San Francisco that came here for the 1960 publinks, failed to qualify for the match-play competition.

"He went surfing at Kuhio Beach instead."

At 6 feet 5 1/2 — he was the tallest player on the tour when he won the Masters — Archer was an imposing figure on a golf course. Imagine him on a surfboard.

Archer loved surfing, Chinese food (not a wonder, considering Yee as a friend), and fishing, at times more than golf. But he knew golf paid the bills.

Archer learned the game playing at Harding Park, a public golf course in his native San Francisco.

"He was The Man in the Bay Area," Yee said. " Because of him, a bunch of us got to play Pebble Beach, Spyglass, Cypress and all the other great courses."

The Waialae gang included Judge James Burns and attorney George Hong, who later got Archer a two-year deal as the touring pro for the Royal Hawaiian Country Club, now Luana Hills.

Archer might be known more for winning the Masters, but he held the first of his 12 PGA Tour victories — the 1965 Lucky International Open — in higher regard. Certainly, with greater fondness.

After all, you always remember the first one.

In Archer's case, it was even more memorable because it was at Harding Park before the hometown fans and the event's title sponsor, Lucky Lager Brewery, also sponsored him on the tour.

Archer was one of the tour's most accomplished putters. But his trademark putting style of stooping low over a ball led to back problems.

All told, he had seven major surgeries, including back and left shoulder. He also had a hip replacement in 1996. Still he earned a combined total of more than $10.2 million on both tours.

It was after back surgery in 1978 that Archer experienced the scariest moment of his life. The operation required 11 pints of blood and it was at a time when nobody knew that the AIDS virus could be transmitted through blood transfusions.

Years after his operation, Archer got a chilling notification from the federal government that he had to test for AIDS.

"I found out I didn't have it. I'm very grateful," Archer said during an interview on Maui.

Having lived a full life, he had much for which to be grateful.