1959 U.S. Open (golf)

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.

1959 U.S. Open

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)

Winged Foot Golf Club

Location in the United States

This was the second of six U.S. Opens at Winged Foot's West Course; it previously hosted in 1929, then returned in 1974, 1984, 2006, and 2020. It also hosted the PGA Championship in 1997.

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

1. "Hogan in 4-way tie for U.S. Open lead". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. August 12, 1959. p. 3B.
2. "U.S. Open history: 1959". USGA. Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
3. "Toughest 40 minutes: Casper waits and waits". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. June 15, 1959. p. 7-part 2.
4. Wind, Herbert Warren (June 22, 1959). "The man with the devastating putter". Sports Illustrated.
5. "Bill Casper still leads U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. June 14, 1959. p. 1-sports.
6. "National Open Scoreboard (second round)". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 13, 1959. p. 13.
7. "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