Wikipedia

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 winsUnited States Gene Littler (5)
Money listUnited States Art Wall Jr.
PGA Player of the YearUnited States Art Wall Jr.
← 1958
1960 →

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   Ken Venturi (7)
Jan 12 Tijuana Open Invitational Mexico 20,000   Ernie Vossler (2)
Jan 18 Bing Crosby National Pro-Am California 50,000   Art Wall Jr. (7) Pro-Am
Jan 25 Thunderbird Invitational California 15,000   Arnold Palmer (11)
Feb 1 San Diego Open Invitational California 20,000   Marty Furgol (4)
Feb 8 Phoenix Open Invitational Arizona 20,000   Gene Littler (10)
Feb 15 Tucson Open Invitational Arizona 15,000   Gene Littler (11)
Feb 22 Texas Open Invitational Texas 20,000   Wes Ellis (2)
Mar 1 Baton Rouge Open Invitational Louisiana 15,000   Howie Johnson (2)
Mar 9 Greater New Orleans Open Invitational Louisiana 20,000   Bill Collins (1)
Mar 15 Pensacola Open Invitational Florida 15,000   Paul Harney (3)
Mar 23 St. Petersburg Open Invitational Florida 15,000   Cary Middlecoff (38)
Mar 30 Azalea Open Invitational North Carolina 15,000   Art Wall Jr. (8)
Apr 5 Masters Tournament Georgia 75,000   Art Wall Jr. (9) Major championship
Apr 12 Greater Greensboro Open North Carolina 20,000   Dow Finsterwald (6)
Apr 19 Houston Classic Texas 30,000   Jack Burke Jr. (14)
Apr 26 Tournament of Champions Nevada 20,000   Mike Souchak (8) Winners-only event
May 3 Colonial National Invitation Texas 27,300   Ben Hogan (64) Invitational
May 11 Oklahoma City Open Invitational Oklahoma 25,000   Arnold Palmer (12)
May 17 Arlington Hotel Open Arkansas 20,000   Gene Littler (12)
May 25 Memphis Open Invitational Tennessee 25,000   Don Whitt (1)
May 31 Kentucky Derby Open Kentucky 20,000   Don Whitt (2)
Jun 7 Eastern Open Invitational Maryland 20,000   Dave Ragan (1)
Jun 13 U.S. Open New York 50,000   Billy Casper (7) Major championship
Jun 20 Canadian Open Canada 25,000   Doug Ford (14)
Jun 27 Gleneagles-Chicago Open Invitational Illinois 57,000   Ken Venturi (8)
Jul 3 The Open Championship Scotland £5,000   Gary Player (2) Major championship[b]
Jul 5 Buick Open Invitational Michigan 57,000   Art Wall Jr. (10)
Jul 12 Western Open Pennsylvania 30,000   Mike Souchak (9)
Jul 19 Insurance City Open Invitational Connecticut 25,000   Gene Littler (12)
Aug 2 PGA Championship Minnesota 50,000   Bob Rosburg (4) Major championship
Aug 9 Carling Open Invitational Washington 25,000   Dow Finsterwald (7)
Aug 16 Motor City Open Michigan 25,000   Mike Souchak (10)
Aug 23 Rubber City Open Invitational Ohio 20,000   Tom Nieporte (1)
Aug 30 Miller Open Invitational Wisconsin 35,000   Gene Littler (13)
Sep 7 Kansas City Open Invitational Missouri 20,000   Dow Finsterwald (8)
Sep 14 Dallas Open Invitational Texas 25,000   Julius Boros (8)
Sep 20 El Paso Open Texas 20,000   Marty Furgol (5)
Sep 27 Golden Gate Championship California 45,000   Mason Rudolph (1) New tournament
Oct 4 Portland Centennial Open Invitational Oregon 20,000   Billy Casper (8)
Oct 11 Hesperia Open Invitational California 15,000   Eric Monti (2)
Oct 18 Orange County Open Invitational California 15,000   Jay Hebert (4) New tournament
Nov 15 Lafayette Open Invitational Louisiana 15,000   Billy Casper (9)
Nov 22 Mobile Sertoma Open Invitational Alabama 15,000   Billy Casper (10) New tournament
Nov 29 West Palm Beach Open Invitational Florida 15,000   Arnold Palmer (13)
Dec 6 Coral Gables Open Invitational Florida 20,000   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   Kel Nagle and
  Peter Thomson 		Team event
Canada Cup Individual Trophy   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   Art Wall Jr. 53,168
2   Gene Littler 38,296
3   Dow Finsterwald 33,906
4   Billy Casper 33,899
5   Arnold Palmer 32,462
6   Mike Souchak 31,807
7   Bob Rosburg 31,676
8   Doug Ford 31,009
9   Jay Hebert 26,034
10   Ken Venturi 25,886

Awards

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