1959 PGA Tour
{{short description|Golf tour season}}
{{use mdy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox golf season
| year = 1959
| tour = PGA Tour
| regular_season = {{Start date|1959|1|2}} – {{end date|1959|12|6}}
| no_of_events = 46
| most_wins = {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Gene Littler (5)
| honor1 = Money list
| honoree1 = {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Art Wall Jr.
| honor2 = PGA Player of the Year
| honoree2 = {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Art Wall Jr.
| honor3 =
| honoree3 =
| honor4 =
| honoree4 =
| prevseason = 1958
| nextseason = 1960
}}
The 1959 PGA Tour was the 44th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1959 season.{{Cite web |url=http://www.kronishsports.com/SE/Golf/PGA/1950s/1959.htm |title=PGA 1959 Recap |work=Kronish Sports |access-date=10 November 2023}}
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"
!Date !Tournament !Location !Purse !Winner{{efn|The number in parentheses after each winner's name is the number of PGA Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for PGA Tour members.}} !Notes | |||||
| Jan 5 | Los Angeles Open | California | align=right|35,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ken Venturi (7) | |
| Jan 12 | Tijuana Open Invitational | Mexico | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ernie Vossler (2) | |
| Jan 18 | Bing Crosby National Pro-Am | California | align=right|50,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Art Wall Jr. (7) | Pro-Am |
| Jan 25 | Thunderbird Invitational | California | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Arnold Palmer (11) | |
| Feb 1 | San Diego Open Invitational | California | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Marty Furgol (4) | |
| Feb 8 | Phoenix Open Invitational | Arizona | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Gene Littler (10) | |
| Feb 15 | Tucson Open Invitational | Arizona | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Gene Littler (11) | |
| Feb 22 | Texas Open Invitational | Texas | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Wes Ellis (2) | |
| Mar 1 | Baton Rouge Open Invitational | Louisiana | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Howie Johnson (2) | |
| Mar 9 | Greater New Orleans Open Invitational | Louisiana | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Bill Collins (1) | |
| Mar 15 | Pensacola Open Invitational | Florida | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Paul Harney (3) | |
| Mar 23 | St. Petersburg Open Invitational | Florida | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Cary Middlecoff (38) | |
| Mar 30 | Azalea Open Invitational | North Carolina | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Art Wall Jr. (8) | |
| style="background:#e5d1cb;"
| Apr 5 | Masters Tournament | Georgia | align=right|75,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Art Wall Jr. (9) | Major championship |
| Apr 12 | Greater Greensboro Open | North Carolina | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Dow Finsterwald (6) | |
| Apr 19 | Houston Classic | Texas | align=right|30,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Jack Burke Jr. (14) | |
| Apr 26 | Tournament of Champions | Nevada | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Mike Souchak (8) | Winners-only event |
| May 3 | Colonial National Invitation | Texas | align=right|27,300 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ben Hogan (64) | Invitational |
| May 11 | Oklahoma City Open Invitational | Oklahoma | align=right|25,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Arnold Palmer (12) | |
| May 17 | Arlington Hotel Open | Arkansas | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Gene Littler (12) | |
| May 25 | Memphis Open Invitational | Tennessee | align=right|25,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Don Whitt (1) | |
| May 31 | Kentucky Derby Open | Kentucky | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Don Whitt (2) | |
| Jun 7 | Eastern Open Invitational | Maryland | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Dave Ragan (1) | |
| style="background:#e5d1cb;"
| Jun 13 | U.S. Open | New York | align=right|50,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Billy Casper (7) | Major championship |
| Jun 20 | Canadian Open | Canada | align=right|25,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Doug Ford (14) | |
| Jun 27 | Gleneagles-Chicago Open Invitational | Illinois | align=right|57,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1912}} Ken Venturi (8) | |
| style="background:#e5d1cb;"
| Jul 3 | The Open Championship | Scotland | align=right|£5,000 | {{flagicon|ZAF|1928}} Gary Player (2) | Major championship{{efn|name=unofficial|Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.}} |
| Jul 5 | Buick Open Invitational | Michigan | align=right|57,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Art Wall Jr. (10) | |
| Jul 12 | Western Open | Pennsylvania | align=right|30,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Mike Souchak (9) | |
| Jul 19 | Insurance City Open Invitational | Connecticut | align=right|25,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Gene Littler (12) | |
| style="background:#e5d1cb;"
| Aug 2 | PGA Championship | Minnesota | align=right|50,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Bob Rosburg (4) | Major championship |
| Aug 9 | Carling Open Invitational | Washington | align=right|25,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Dow Finsterwald (7) | |
| Aug 16 | Motor City Open | Michigan | align=right|25,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Mike Souchak (10) | |
| Aug 23 | Rubber City Open Invitational | Ohio | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Tom Nieporte (1) | |
| Aug 30 | Miller Open Invitational | Wisconsin | align=right|35,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Gene Littler (13) | |
| Sep 7 | Kansas City Open Invitational | Missouri | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Dow Finsterwald (8) | |
| Sep 14 | Dallas Open Invitational | Texas | align=right|25,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Julius Boros (8) | |
| Sep 20 | El Paso Open | Texas | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Marty Furgol (5) | |
| Sep 27 | Golden Gate Championship | California | align=right|45,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Mason Rudolph (1) | New tournament |
| Oct 4 | Portland Centennial Open Invitational | Oregon | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Billy Casper (8) | |
| Oct 11 | Hesperia Open Invitational | California | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Eric Monti (2) | |
| Oct 18 | Orange County Open Invitational | California | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Jay Hebert (4) | New tournament |
| Nov 15 | Lafayette Open Invitational | Louisiana | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Billy Casper (9) | |
| Nov 22 | Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational | Alabama | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Billy Casper (10) | New tournament |
| Nov 29 | West Palm Beach Open Invitational | Florida | align=right|15,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Arnold Palmer (13) | |
| Dec 6 | Coral Gables Open Invitational | Florida | align=right|20,000 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Doug Sanders (3) |
=Unofficial events=
The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"
!Date !Tournament !Location !Purse !Winner(s) !Notes |
| Nov 7
|California |align=center|n/a |{{flagdeco|USA}} Team USA |Team event |
| rowspan=2|Nov 21
|rowspan=2|Australia |rowspan=2 align=center|n/a |{{flagicon|AUS}} Kel Nagle and |Team event |
| Canada Cup Individual Trophy
|{{flagicon|BEL}} Flory Van Donck | |
Money list
The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/101374469/ |title=Wall Tops |newspaper=The Cincinnati Enquirer |location=Cincinnati, Ohio |date=20 December 1959 |access-date=10 November 2023 |page=109 |via=Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription}}
| class="wikitable"
!Position !! Player !! Prize money ($) | ||
| align=center|1 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Art Wall Jr. | align=center|53,168 |
| align=center|2 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Gene Littler | align=center|38,296 |
| align=center|3 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Dow Finsterwald | align=center|33,906 |
| align=center|4 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Billy Casper | align=center|33,899 |
| align=center|5 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Arnold Palmer | align=center|32,462 |
| align=center|6 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Mike Souchak | align=center|31,807 |
| align=center|7 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Bob Rosburg | align=center|31,676 |
| align=center|8 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Doug Ford | align=center|31,009 |
| align=center|9 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Jay Hebert | align=center|26,034 |
| align=center|10 | {{flagicon|USA|1959}} Ken Venturi | align=center|25,886 |
Awards
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{official site|https://www.pgatour.com/}}
{{PGA Tour Seasons}}