Golf tour season
The 1959 PGA Tour was the 44th season of the PGA Tour , the main professional golf tour in the United States.
The following table lists official events during the 1959 season.[ 1]
Date Tournament Location PurseUS$ ) 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. 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 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 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 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)
The following events were sanctioned by the PGA Tour, but did not carry official money, nor were wins official.
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
^ 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. ^ Unofficial money event at the time, but retrospectively counted as an official win. ^ "PGA 1959 Recap" . Kronish Sports . Retrieved November 10, 2023 .^ "Wall Tops" The Cincinnati Enquirer . Cincinnati, Ohio. December 20, 1959. p. 109. Retrieved November 10, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.^ 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.^ "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.
1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929
Gene Littler (5)
Team USA 
Kel Nagle and
Flory Van Donck