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.
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
[edit]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.
Round summaries
[edit]First round
[edit]Thursday, 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
[edit]Friday, 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
[edit]Saturday, 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
[edit]Sunday, 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.