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 Hole123456789Out101112131415161718InTotalYards4424152174355243241674384683,4301963825402123764174524444243,4436,873Par443454344353453444443570

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 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, 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 PlacePlayerScoreTo ParT1 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 PlacePlayerScoreTo Par1 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 PlacePlayerScoreTo Par1 Billy Casper 71-68-69=208 −2 2 Ben Hogan 69-71-71=211 +1T3 Sam Snead 73-72-67=212 +2 Bob Rosburg 75-70-67=212 Arnold Palmer 71-69-72=212T6 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 +410 Lionel Hebert 71-74-70=215 +5

Final round Sunday, June 14, 1959 PlacePlayerScoreTo ParMoney ($)1 Billy Casper 71-68-69-74=282 +2 12,0002 Bob Rosburg 75-70-67-71=283 +3 6,600T3 Claude Harmon 72-71-70-71=284 +4 3,600 Mike Souchak 71-70-72-71=284T5 Doug Ford 72-69-72-73=286 +6 2,100 Arnold Palmer 71-69-72-74=286 Ernie Vossler 72-70-72-72=286T8 Ben Hogan 69-71-71-76=287 +7 1,350 Sam Snead 73-72-67-75=28710 Dick Knight 69-75-73-73=290 +10 900 Source:

References

External links 1959 U.S. Open USGA Championship Database