The 1959 PGA Championship was the 41st PGA Championship played from July 30 to August 2 at Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, a suburb west of Minneapolis.

Six strokes back at the start of the final round, Bob Rosburg shot a 66 (−4) to win his only major championship at 277 (−3), one stroke ahead of runners-up Jerry Barber and Doug Sanders. Rosburg had managed only five birdies in the first three rounds, but had five in the first nine on Sunday to go out in 30, then a record. Barber shot a 65 on Friday and was the 36-hole and 54-hole leader at 205 (−5), with Sanders a stroke back. Barber won the title two years later, in a Monday playoff in 1961. Tied for fourteenth at 286 (+6) was Arnold Palmer.

This was the second year of stroke play at the PGA Championship, a match play event through 1957. Daily admission was three dollars on Thursday and Friday, and five dollars per day on the weekend. The winner's share was increased fifty per cent to $8,250; two years earlier, it was $8,000 for the final match play competition.

The Open Championship was played several weeks earlier in Scotland at Muirfield; only four Americans (two amateurs) were in the field and none made the cut.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, July 30, 1959

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
T1United States Jerry Barber69−1
United States Jackson Bradley
United States Walter Burkemo
United States Billy Casper
United States Dick Hart
United States Chuck Klein
United States Mike Krak
United States Gene Littler
United States Mike Souchak
T10United States Jack Burke Jr.70E
United States Buster Cupit
United States Don Fairfield
United States Al Feminelli
United States Billy Maxwell
United States Herman Scharlau
United States Don Shock
United States Ken Venturi
United States Art Wall Jr.

Source:

Second round

Friday, July 31, 1959

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1United States Jerry Barber69-65=134−6
2United States Mike Souchak69-67=136−4
3United States Doug Sanders72-66=138−2
T4United States Dow Finsterwald71-68=139−1
United States Gene Littler69-70=139
T6United States Billy Casper69-71=140E
United States Lionel Hebert71-69=140
United States Cary Middlecoff72-68=140
T9United States Walter Burkemo69-71=141+1
United States Fred Hawkins72-69=141
United States Bob Goalby72-69=141

Source:

Third round

Saturday, August 1, 1959

PlacePlayerScoreTo par
1United States Jerry Barber69-65-71=205−5
2United States Doug Sanders72-66-68=206−4
3United States Mike Souchak69-67-71=207−3
T4United States Dow Finsterwald71-68-71=210E
United States Cary Middlecoff72-68-70=210
T6United States Jay Hebert72-70-69=211+1
United States Gene Littler69-70-72=211
United States Bob Rosburg71-72-68=211
T9United States Tommy Jacobs73-71-68=212+2
United States Sam Snead71-73-68=212
United States Ken Venturi70-72-70=212

Source:

Final round

Sunday, August 2, 1959

PlacePlayerScoreTo parMoney ($)
1United States Bob Rosburg71-72-68-66=277−38,250
T2United States Jerry Barber69-65-71-73=278−23,563
United States Doug Sanders72-66-68-72=278
4United States Dow Finsterwald71-68-71-70=280E2,500
T5United States Bob Goalby72-69-72-68=281+12,000
United States Mike Souchak69-67-71-74=281
United States Ken Venturi70-72-70-69=281
T8United States Cary Middlecoff72-68-70-72=282+21,600
United States Sam Snead71-73-68-70=282
10United States Gene Littler69-70-72-73=284+41,450

Source:

Scorecard

Final round

Hole123456789101112131415161718
Par445343444344445344
United States Rosburg+1E−1−1−2−2−2−3−4−4−4−3−3−3−3−3−3−3
United States Barber−5−5−5−5−5−5−5−4−4−4−4−3−3−3−4−4−3−2
United States Sanders−4−4−4−3−2−2−2−2−3−3−3−2−2−2−2−2−1−2

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

BirdieBogeyDouble bogey

Source:

External links

  • – 1959 PGA Championship

44°57′50″N 93°23′42″W/44.964°N 93.395°W/ 44.964; -93.395