1959 PGA Tour

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

1959 PGA Tour season
DurationJanuary 2, 1959 (1959-01-02) – December 6, 1959 (1959-12-06)
Number of official events46
Most wins Gene Littler (5)
Money list Art Wall Jr.
PGA Player of the Year Art Wall Jr.
← 1958
1960 →

Schedule

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

Date Tournament Location Purse
(US$)		 Winner[lower-alpha 1] Notes
Jan 5Los Angeles OpenCalifornia35,000 Ken Venturi (7)
Jan 12Tijuana Open InvitationalMexico20,000 Ernie Vossler (2)
Jan 18Bing Crosby National Pro-AmCalifornia50,000 Art Wall Jr. (7)Pro-Am
Jan 25Thunderbird InvitationalCalifornia15,000 Arnold Palmer (11)
Feb 1San Diego Open InvitationalCalifornia20,000 Marty Furgol (4)
Feb 8Phoenix Open InvitationalArizona20,000 Gene Littler (10)
Feb 15Tucson Open InvitationalArizona15,000 Gene Littler (11)
Feb 22Texas Open InvitationalTexas20,000 Wes Ellis (2)
Mar 1Baton Rouge Open InvitationalLouisiana15,000 Howie Johnson (2)
Mar 9Greater New Orleans Open InvitationalLouisiana20,000 Bill Collins (1)
Mar 15Pensacola Open InvitationalFlorida15,000 Paul Harney (3)
Mar 23St. Petersburg Open InvitationalFlorida15,000 Cary Middlecoff (38)
Mar 30Azalea Open InvitationalNorth Carolina15,000 Art Wall Jr. (8)
Apr 5Masters TournamentGeorgia75,000 Art Wall Jr. (9)Major championship
Apr 12Greater Greensboro OpenNorth Carolina20,000 Dow Finsterwald (6)
Apr 19Houston ClassicTexas30,000 Jack Burke Jr. (14)
Apr 26Tournament of ChampionsNevada20,000 Mike Souchak (8)Winners-only event
May 3Colonial National InvitationTexas27,300 Ben Hogan (64)Invitational
May 11Oklahoma City Open InvitationalOklahoma25,000 Arnold Palmer (12)
May 17Arlington Hotel OpenArkansas20,000 Gene Littler (12)
May 25Memphis Open InvitationalTennessee25,000 Don Whitt (1)
May 31Kentucky Derby OpenKentucky20,000 Don Whitt (2)
Jun 7Eastern Open InvitationalMaryland20,000 Dave Ragan (1)
Jun 13U.S. OpenNew York50,000 Billy Casper (7)Major championship
Jun 20Canadian OpenCanada25,000 Doug Ford (14)
Jun 27Gleneagles-Chicago Open InvitationalIllinois57,000 Ken Venturi (8)
Jul 3The Open ChampionshipScotland£5,000 Gary Player (2)Major championship[lower-alpha 2]
Jul 5Buick Open InvitationalMichigan57,000 Art Wall Jr. (10)
Jul 12Western OpenPennsylvania30,000 Mike Souchak (9)
Jul 19Insurance City Open InvitationalConnecticut25,000 Gene Littler (12)
Aug 2PGA ChampionshipMinnesota50,000 Bob Rosburg (4)Major championship
Aug 9Carling Open InvitationalWashington25,000 Dow Finsterwald (7)
Aug 16Motor City OpenMichigan25,000 Mike Souchak (10)
Aug 23Rubber City Open InvitationalOhio20,000 Tom Nieporte (1)
Aug 30Miller Open InvitationalWisconsin35,000 Gene Littler (13)
Sep 7Kansas City Open InvitationalMissouri20,000 Dow Finsterwald (8)
Sep 14Dallas Open InvitationalTexas25,000 Julius Boros (8)
Sep 20El Paso OpenTexas20,000 Marty Furgol (5)
Sep 27Golden Gate ChampionshipCalifornia45,000 Mason Rudolph (1)New tournament
Oct 4Portland Centennial Open InvitationalOregon20,000 Billy Casper (8)
Oct 11Hesperia Open InvitationalCalifornia15,000 Eric Monti (2)
Oct 18Orange County Open InvitationalCalifornia15,000 Jay Hebert (4)New tournament
Nov 15Lafayette Open InvitationalLouisiana15,000 Billy Casper (9)
Nov 22Mobile Sertoma Open InvitationalAlabama15,000 Billy Casper (10)New tournament
Nov 29West Palm Beach Open InvitationalFlorida15,000 Arnold Palmer (13)
Dec 6Coral Gables Open InvitationalFlorida20,000 Doug Sanders (3)

Unofficial events

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 Kel Nagle and
Peter Thomson		 Team event
Canada Cup Individual Trophy Flory Van Donck

Money list

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

PositionPlayerPrize money ($)
1 Art Wall Jr.53,168
2 Gene Littler38,296
3 Dow Finsterwald33,906
4 Billy Casper33,899
5 Arnold Palmer32,462
6 Mike Souchak31,807
7 Bob Rosburg31,676
8 Doug Ford31,009
9 Jay Hebert26,034
10 Ken Venturi25,886

Awards
AwardWinnerRef.
PGA Player of the Year Art Wall Jr.[4]
Scoring leader (Vardon Trophy) Art Wall Jr.[3]

Notes
  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
  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. "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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