1959 U.S. Open (golf)
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | June 11–14, 1959 |
| Location | Mamaroneck, New York |
| Course(s) | Winged Foot Golf Club, West Course |
| Organized by | USGA |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 6,873 yards (6,285 m)[1] |
| Field | 147 players, 61 after cut |
| Cut | 150 (+10) |
| Prize fund | $49,200[2] |
| Winner's share | $12,000 |
| Champion | |
 Billy Casper | |
| 282 (+2) | |
The 1959 U.S. Open was the 59th U.S. Open, held June 11–14 at the Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, a suburb northeast of New York City. Billy Casper won the first of his two U.S. Open titles, a stroke ahead of runner-up Bob Rosburg on the West Course. It was the first of Casper's three major titles, which included the 1966 U.S. Open and the Masters in 1970.
Contents
1 Final round
2 Past champions in the field
2.1 Made the cut
2.2 Missed the cut
3 Round summaries
3.1 First round
3.2 Second round
3.3 Third round
3.4 Final round
4 References
5 External links
Final round
Casper began the final round with a three-stroke lead over Ben Hogan, age 46, who struggled to a 76 and fell to 8th place. Rosburg made a run at Casper's lead when he holed out a bunker shot for birdie at 11 and made a 50-foot (15 m) putt for another birdie at 12 to draw even with Casper. A three-putt at the 13th meant Rosburg had to birdie the last to force a Monday playoff. His approach shot fell on the front of the green, 40 feet (12 m) short, and he two-putted to finish a stroke back.[3] Casper's final round 74 was enough. The difference for Casper proved to be his putting; he needed only 114 putts over 72 holes with 31 one-putts and just one three-putt.[4]
This U.S. Open was the first to be played over four days; thunderstorms and heavy rain delayed third round play on Saturday morning and the final round was postponed to Sunday.[2][5]
The final round at the U.S. Open was first scheduled for Sunday in 1965.
Charlie Sifford, the pioneering African-American golfer, played in his first major championship, two years before the PGA of America allowed African-Americans to play on the PGA Tour; he finished in 32nd place.
Amateur Jack Nicklaus, 19, played in his third straight U.S. Open but missed the cut for the second time with two rounds of 77.[6] He would place second the following year in 1960 to Arnold Palmer and win the first of his four titles in 1962 in a playoff over Palmer. After 1959, Nicklaus made 25 consecutive cuts at the U.S. Open, through 1984, also at Winged Foot.
Past champions in the field
Made the cut
| Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | Total | To par | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ben Hogan | United States | 1948, 1950, 1951, 1953 | 69 | 71 | 71 | 76 | 287 | +7 | T8 |
| Cary Middlecoff | United States | 1949, 1956 | 71 | 73 | 73 | 77 | 294 | +14 | T19 |
| Jack Fleck | United States | 1955 | 74 | 74 | 69 | 77 | 294 | +14 | T19 |
| Julius Boros | United States | 1952 | 76 | 74 | 72 | 75 | 297 | +17 | T28 |
| Tommy Bolt | United States | 1958 | 75 | 73 | 77 | 76 | 301 | +21 | T38 |
Missed the cut
| Player | Country | Year(s) won | R1 | R2 | Total | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dick Mayer | United States | 1957 | 77 | 80 | 157 | +17 |
| Ed Furgol | United States | 1954 | 83 | 78 | 161 | +21 |
Source:[6][7]
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, June 11, 1959
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Ben Hogan | United States | 69 | –1 |
| Dow Finsterwald | United States | |||
| Gene Littler | United States | |||
| Dick Knight | United States | |||
| 5 | Hillman Robbins | United States | 70 | E |
| T6 | Cary Middlecoff | United States | 71 | +1 |
| Arnold Palmer | United States | |||
| Billy Casper | United States | |||
| Gary Player |  South Africa | |||
| Don January | United States | |||
| Mike Souchak | United States | |||
| Lionel Hebert | United States | |||
| Ted Kroll | United States | |||
| Don Fairfield | United States | |||
| Bo Wininger | United States |
Second round
Friday, June 12, 1959
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Casper | United States | 71-68=139 | –1 |
| T2 | Arnold Palmer | United States | 71-69=140 | E |
| Gary Player | South Africa | 71-69=140 | ||
| Ben Hogan | United States | 69-71=140 | ||
| T5 | Mike Souchak | United States | 71-70=141 | +1 |
| Doug Ford | United States | 72-69=141 | ||
| T7 | Ernie Vossler | United States | 72-70=142 | +2 |
| Dow Finsterwald | United States | 69-73=142 | ||
| T9 | Jay Hebert | United States | 73-70=143 | +3 |
| Claude Harmon | United States | 72-71=143 | ||
| Gene Littler | United States | 69-74=143 |
Third round
Saturday, June 13, 1959
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Casper | United States | 71-68-69=208 | –2 |
| 2 | Ben Hogan | United States | 69-71-71=211 | +1 |
| T3 | Sam Snead | United States | 73-72-67=212 | +2 |
| Bob Rosburg | United States | 75-70-67=212 | ||
| Arnold Palmer | United States | 71-69-72=212 | ||
| T6 | Claude Harmon | United States | 72-71-70=213 | +3 |
| Mike Souchak | United States | 71-70-72=213 | ||
| Doug Ford | United States | 72-69-72=213 | ||
| 9 | Ernie Vossler | United States | 72-70-72=214 | +4 |
| 10 | Lionel Hebert | United States | 71-74-70=215 | +5 |
Final round
Sunday, June 14, 1959
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To Par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Casper | United States | 71-68-69-74=282 | +2 | 12,000 |
| 2 | Bob Rosburg | United States | 75-70-67-71=283 | +3 | 6,600 |
| T3 | Claude Harmon | United States | 72-71-70-71=284 | +4 | 3,600 |
| Mike Souchak | United States | 71-70-72-71=284 | |||
| T5 | Doug Ford | United States | 72-69-72-73=286 | +6 | 2,100 |
| Arnold Palmer | United States | 71-69-72-74=286 | |||
| Ernie Vossler | United States | 72-70-72-72=286 | |||
| T8 | Ben Hogan | United States | 69-71-71-76=287 | +7 | 1,350 |
| Sam Snead | United States | 73-72-67-75=287 | |||
| 10 | Dick Knight | United States | 69-75-73-73=290 | +10 | 900 |
Source:[7]
References
^ "Hogan in 4-way tie for U.S. Open lead". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. August 12, 1959. p. 3B..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
^ ab "U.S. Open history: 1959". USGA. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
^ "Toughest 40 minutes: Casper waits and waits". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 15, 1959. p. 7-part 2.
^ Wind, Herbert Warren (June 22, 1959). "The man with the devastating putter". Sports Illustrated.
^ "Bill Casper still leads U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. June 14, 1959. p. 1-sports.
^ ab "National Open Scoreboard (second round)". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 13, 1959. p. 13.
^ ab "Greens wizard Billy Casper wins U.S. Open championship with 282". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. June 15, 1959. p. 10.
External links
- 1959 U.S. Open
- USGA Championship Database
Coordinates: 40°57′29″N 73°45′14″W / 40.958°N 73.754°W / 40.958; -73.754
