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1959 U.S. Open (golf)

Coordinates: 40°57′29″N 73°45′14″W / 40.958°N 73.754°W / 40.958; -73.754
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1959 U.S. Open
Tournament information
DatesJune 11–14, 1959
LocationMamaroneck, New York
Course(s)Winged Foot Golf Club,
West Course
Organized byUSGA
Tour(s)PGA Tour
Statistics
Par70
Length6,873 yards (6,285 m)[1]
Field147 players, 61 after cut
Cut150 (+10)
Prize fund$49,200[2]
Winner's share$12,000
Champion
United States Billy Casper
282 (+2)
← 1958
1960 →
Winged Foot Golf Club is located in the United States
Winged Foot Golf Club
Winged Foot Golf Club

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

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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

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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

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First round

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Thursday, June 11, 1959

Place Player Score To Par
T1 United States Ben Hogan 69 −1
United States Dow Finsterwald
United States Gene Littler
United States Dick Knight
5 United States Hillman Robbins 70 E
T6 United States Cary Middlecoff 71 +1
United States Arnold Palmer
United States Billy Casper
South Africa Gary Player
United States Don January
United States Mike Souchak
United States Lionel Hebert
United States Ted Kroll
United States Don Fairfield
United States Bo Wininger

Second round

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Friday, June 12, 1959

Place Player Score To Par
1 United States Billy Casper 71-68=139 −1
T2 United States Arnold Palmer 71-69=140 E
South Africa Gary Player 71-69=140
United States Ben Hogan 69-71=140
T5 United States Mike Souchak 71-70=141 +1
United States Doug Ford 72-69=141
T7 United States Ernie Vossler 72-70=142 +2
United States Dow Finsterwald 69-73=142
T9 United States Jay Hebert 73-70=143 +3
United States Claude Harmon 72-71=143
United States Gene Littler 69-74=143

Third round

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Saturday, June 13, 1959

Place Player Score To Par
1 United States Billy Casper 71-68-69=208 −2
2 United States Ben Hogan 69-71-71=211 +1
T3 United States Sam Snead 73-72-67=212 +2
United States Bob Rosburg 75-70-67=212
United States Arnold Palmer 71-69-72=212
T6 United States Claude Harmon 72-71-70=213 +3
United States Mike Souchak 71-70-72=213
United States Doug Ford 72-69-72=213
9 United States Ernie Vossler 72-70-72=214 +4
10 United States Lionel Hebert 71-74-70=215 +5

Final round

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Sunday, June 14, 1959

Place Player Score To Par Money ($)
1 United States Billy Casper 71-68-69-74=282 +2 12,000
2 United States Bob Rosburg 75-70-67-71=283 +3 6,600
T3 United States Claude Harmon 72-71-70-71=284 +4 3,600
United States Mike Souchak 71-70-72-71=284
T5 United States Doug Ford 72-69-72-73=286 +6 2,100
United States Arnold Palmer 71-69-72-74=286
United States Ernie Vossler 72-70-72-72=286
T8 United States Ben Hogan 69-71-71-76=287 +7 1,350
United States Sam Snead 73-72-67-75=287
10 United States Dick Knight 69-75-73-73=290 +10 900

Source:[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Hogan in 4-way tie for U.S. Open lead". Eugene Register-Guard. Associated Press. August 12, 1959. p. 3B.
  2. ^ a b "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. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010.
  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.
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40°57′29″N 73°45′14″W / 40.958°N 73.754°W / 40.958; -73.754