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.
| 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) | |
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.
Course layout
edit| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 442 | 415 | 217 | 435 | 524 | 324 | 167 | 438 | 468 | 3,430 | 196 | 382 | 540 | 212 | 376 | 417 | 452 | 444 | 424 | 3,443 | 6,873 |
| Par | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 35 | 70 |
Final round
editCasper 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.
Round summaries
editFirst round
editThursday, June 11, 1959
| Place | Player | Score | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Ben Hogan |
69 | −1 |
| Dow Finsterwald
| |||
| Gene Littler
| |||
| Dick Knight
| |||
| 5 | Hillman Robbins |
70 | E |
| T6 | Cary Middlecoff |
71 | +1 |
| Arnold Palmer
| |||
| Billy Casper
| |||
 Gary Player
| |||
| Don January
| |||
| Mike Souchak
| |||
| Lionel Hebert
| |||
| Ted Kroll
| |||
| Don Fairfield
| |||
| Bo Wininger
|
Second round
editFriday, June 12, 1959
| Place | Player | Score | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Casper |
71-68=139 | −1 |
| T2 | Arnold Palmer |
71-69=140 | E |
| Gary Player |
71-69=140 | ||
| Ben Hogan |
69-71=140 | ||
| T5 | Mike Souchak |
71-70=141 | +1 |
| Doug Ford |
72-69=141 | ||
| T7 | Ernie Vossler |
72-70=142 | +2 |
| Dow Finsterwald |
69-73=142 | ||
| T9 | Jay Hebert |
73-70=143 | +3 |
| Claude Harmon |
72-71=143 | ||
| Gene Littler |
69-74=143 |
Third round
editSaturday, June 13, 1959
| Place | Player | Score | To Par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Casper |
71-68-69=208 | −2 |
| 2 | Ben Hogan |
69-71-71=211 | +1 |
| T3 | Sam Snead |
73-72-67=212 | +2 |
| Bob Rosburg |
75-70-67=212 | ||
| Arnold Palmer |
71-69-72=212 | ||
| T6 | Claude Harmon |
72-71-70=213 | +3 |
| Mike Souchak |
71-70-72=213 | ||
| Doug Ford |
72-69-72=213 | ||
| 9 | Ernie Vossler |
72-70-72=214 | +4 |
| 10 | Lionel Hebert |
71-74-70=215 | +5 |
Final round
editSunday, June 14, 1959
| Place | Player | Score | To Par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Billy Casper |
71-68-69-74=282 | +2 | 12,000 |
| 2 | Bob Rosburg |
75-70-67-71=283 | +3 | 6,600 |
| T3 | Claude Harmon |
72-71-70-71=284 | +4 | 3,600 |
| Mike Souchak |
71-70-72-71=284 | |||
| T5 | Doug Ford |
72-69-72-73=286 | +6 | 2,100 |
| Arnold Palmer |
71-69-72-74=286 | |||
| Ernie Vossler |
72-70-72-72=286 | |||
| T8 | Ben Hogan |
69-71-71-76=287 | +7 | 1,350 |
| Sam Snead |
73-72-67-75=287 | |||
| 10 | Dick Knight |
69-75-73-73=290 | +10 | 900 |
Source:[7]
References
edit- ^ "Hogan in 4-way tie for U.S. Open lead". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. August 12, 1959. p. 3B.
- ^ a b "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. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010.
- ^ "Bill Casper still leads U.S. Open". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. June 14, 1959. p. 1-sports.
- ^ "National Open Scoreboard (second round)". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 13, 1959. p. 13.
- ^ "Greens wizard Billy Casper wins U.S. Open championship with 282". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. June 15, 1959. p. 10.