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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)
Field	147 players, 61 after cut
Cut	150 (+10)
Prize fund	$49,200
Winner's share	$12,000
Champion
Billy Casper
282 (+2)
← 19581960 →

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

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. 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.

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. 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. 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

First round

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

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

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

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:

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. 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.

External links

• 1959 U.S. Open
• USGA Championship Database

40°57′29″N 73°45′14″W / 40.958°N 73.754°W / 40.958; -73.754

• U.S. Open (golf)
• Golf tournaments in New York (state)
• Mamaroneck, New York
• 1959 in golf
• 1959 in American sports
• June 1959 sports events in the United States