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1959 PGA Tour

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1959 PGA Tour season
DurationJanuary 2, 1959 (1959-01-02) – December 6, 1959 (1959-12-06)
Number of official events46
Most winsUnited States Gene Littler (5)
Money listUnited States Art Wall Jr.
PGA Player of the YearUnited States Art Wall Jr.
1958
1960

The 1959 PGA Tour was the 44th season of the PGA Tour, the main professional golf tour in the United States.

Schedule

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The following table lists official events during the 1959 season.[1]

Date Tournament Location Purse
(US$)
Winner[a] Notes
Jan 5 Los Angeles Open California 35,000 United States Ken Venturi (7)
Jan 12 Tijuana Open Invitational Mexico 20,000 United States Ernie Vossler (2)
Jan 18 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am California 50,000 United States Art Wall Jr. (7) Pro-Am
Jan 25 Thunderbird Invitational California 15,000 United States Arnold Palmer (11)
Feb 1 San Diego Open Invitational California 20,000 United States Marty Furgol (4)
Feb 8 Phoenix Open Invitational Arizona 20,000 United States Gene Littler (10)
Feb 15 Tucson Open Invitational Arizona 15,000 United States Gene Littler (11)
Feb 22 Texas Open Invitational Texas 20,000 United States Wes Ellis (2)
Mar 1 Baton Rouge Open Invitational Louisiana 15,000 United States Howie Johnson (2)
Mar 9 Greater New Orleans Open Invitational Louisiana 20,000 United States Bill Collins (1)
Mar 15 Pensacola Open Invitational Florida 15,000 United States Paul Harney (3)
Mar 23 St. Petersburg Open Invitational Florida 15,000 United States Cary Middlecoff (38)
Mar 30 Azalea Open Invitational North Carolina 15,000 United States Art Wall Jr. (8)
Apr 5 Masters Tournament Georgia 75,000 United States Art Wall Jr. (9) Major championship
Apr 12 Greater Greensboro Open North Carolina 20,000 United States Dow Finsterwald (6)
Apr 19 Houston Classic Texas 30,000 United States Jack Burke Jr. (14)
Apr 26 Tournament of Champions Nevada 20,000 United States Mike Souchak (8) Winners-only event
May 3 Colonial National Invitation Texas 27,300 United States Ben Hogan (64) Invitational
May 11 Oklahoma City Open Invitational Oklahoma 25,000 United States Arnold Palmer (12)
May 17 Arlington Hotel Open Arkansas 20,000 United States Gene Littler (12)
May 25 Memphis Open Invitational Tennessee 25,000 United States Don Whitt (1)
May 31 Kentucky Derby Open Kentucky 20,000 United States Don Whitt (2)
Jun 7 Eastern Open Invitational Maryland 20,000 United States Dave Ragan (1)
Jun 13 U.S. Open New York 50,000 United States Billy Casper (7) Major championship
Jun 20 Canadian Open Canada 25,000 United States Doug Ford (14)
Jun 27 Gleneagles-Chicago Open Invitational Illinois 57,000 United States Ken Venturi (8)
Jul 3 The Open Championship Scotland £5,000 South Africa Gary Player (2) Major championship[b]
Jul 5 Buick Open Invitational Michigan 57,000 United States Art Wall Jr. (10)
Jul 12 Western Open Pennsylvania 30,000 United States Mike Souchak (9)
Jul 19 Insurance City Open Invitational Connecticut 25,000 United States Gene Littler (12)
Aug 2 PGA Championship Minnesota 50,000 United States Bob Rosburg (4) Major championship
Aug 9 Carling Open Invitational Washington 25,000 United States Dow Finsterwald (7)
Aug 16 Motor City Open Michigan 25,000 United States Mike Souchak (10)
Aug 23 Rubber City Open Invitational Ohio 20,000 United States Tom Nieporte (1)
Aug 30 Miller Open Invitational Wisconsin 35,000 United States Gene Littler (13)
Sep 7 Kansas City Open Invitational Missouri 20,000 United States Dow Finsterwald (8)
Sep 14 Dallas Open Invitational Texas 25,000 United States Julius Boros (8)
Sep 20 El Paso Open Texas 20,000 United States Marty Furgol (5)
Sep 27 Golden Gate Championship California 45,000 United States Mason Rudolph (1) New tournament
Oct 4 Portland Centennial Open Invitational Oregon 20,000 United States Billy Casper (8)
Oct 11 Hesperia Open Invitational California 15,000 United States Eric Monti (2)
Oct 18 Orange County Open Invitational California 15,000 United States Jay Hebert (4) New tournament
Nov 15 Lafayette Open Invitational Louisiana 15,000 United States Billy Casper (9)
Nov 22 Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational Alabama 15,000 United States Billy Casper (10) New tournament
Nov 29 West Palm Beach Open Invitational Florida 15,000 United States Arnold Palmer (13)
Dec 6 Coral Gables Open Invitational Florida 20,000 United States Doug Sanders (3)

Unofficial events

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The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.

Date Tournament Location Purse
($)
Winner(s) Notes
Nov 7 Ryder Cup California n/a Team USA Team event
Nov 21 Canada Cup Australia n/a Australia Kel Nagle and
Australia Peter Thomson
Team event
Canada Cup Individual Trophy Belgium Flory Van Donck

Money list

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The money list was based on prize money won during the season, calculated in U.S. dollars.[2][3]

Position Player Prize money ($)
1 United States Art Wall Jr. 53,168
2 United States Gene Littler 38,296
3 United States Dow Finsterwald 33,906
4 United States Billy Casper 33,899
5 United States Arnold Palmer 32,462
6 United States Mike Souchak 31,807
7 United States Bob Rosburg 31,676
8 United States Doug Ford 31,009
9 United States Jay Hebert 26,034
10 United States Ken Venturi 25,886

Awards

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Award Winner Ref.
PGA Player of the Year United States Art Wall Jr. [4]
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy) United States Art Wall Jr. [3]

Notes

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win.

References

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  1. ^ "PGA 1959 Recap". Kronish Sports. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  2. ^ "Wall Tops". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Cincinnati, Ohio. December 20, 1959. p. 109. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b "Wall Top PGA Earner; Also Takes Vardon Cup". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, California. December 20, 1959. p. 41. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Art Wall Named Golfer Of Year". Johnson City Press. Johnson City, Tennessee. December 9, 1959. p. 15 (B3 in paper). Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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