1959 Masters Tournament

The 1959 Masters Tournament was the 23rd Masters Tournament, held April 2–5 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Art Wall Jr. shot a final round of 66 (−6), with birdies on five of the last six holes, for his only major title, one stroke ahead of runner-up Cary Middlecoff, the 1955 champion.^[2][3][4] Wall started the final round six strokes behind the leaders, in a tie for thirteenth place.^[5]

1959 Masters Tournament

Front cover of the 1959 Masters Guide
Tournament information
Dates	April 2–5, 1959
Location	Augusta, Georgia 33.503°N 82.020°W / 33.503; -82.020
Course(s)	Augusta National Golf Club
Organized by	Augusta National Golf Club
Tour(s)	PGA Tour
Statistics
Par	72
Length	6,980 yards (6,383 m)[1]
Field	87 players, 42 after cut
Cut	149 (+5)
Prize fund	$76,100
Winner's share	$15,000
Champion
Art Wall Jr.
284 (−4)
Location map
Augusta National Location in the United States Show map of the United States Augusta National Location in Georgia Show map of Georgia
← 1958 1960 →

Defending champion Arnold Palmer was a third round co-leader,^[1][5] but a triple-bogey at the par-3 12th led to a 74 and a third-place finish, two strokes back.^[6][7][8] The purse in 1959 was a record $76,100 with a winner's share of $15,000 to Wall. The estimated gallery for the final round on Sunday was 30,000 spectators.^[3][4]

Nineteen-year-old Jack Nicklaus made his Masters debut with 76-74 (150) and missed the cut by one stroke. He played in 45 Masters, the first three as an amateur, and only missed one cut (1967) in the next 34 Masters tournaments. Nicklaus won a record six green jackets and was runner-up four times in his 22 top-10 finishes.

Field

1. Masters champions

Jack Burke Jr. (4,10,11), Jimmy Demaret (8), Doug Ford (4,8,11), Claude Harmon (8), Ben Hogan (2,3,4,8,9), Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff (2,8), Byron Nelson (2,4,8), Arnold Palmer (8), Henry Picard (4), Gene Sarazen (2,3,4), Horton Smith, Sam Snead (3,4,8,10), Craig Wood (2)

• Ralph Guldahl (2) did not play.

The following categories only apply to Americans

2. U.S. Open champions

Tommy Bolt (9,10,11), Julius Boros (9,10), Billy Burke, Chick Evans (5,a), Jack Fleck, Ed Furgol (11), Tony Manero, Lloyd Mangrum, Dick Mayer (11), Fred McLeod, Sam Parks Jr., Lew Worsham

3. The Open champions

Jock Hutchison (4), Denny Shute (4)

4. PGA champions

Walter Burkemo (9), Dow Finsterwald (8,10,11), Vic Ghezzi, Chick Harbert (8), Chandler Harper, Lionel Hebert (11), Johnny Revolta, Jim Turnesa

5. U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions

Dick Chapman (a), Charles Coe (6,7,8,9,a), Robert Sweeny Jr. (a)

6. Selections for the 1959 U.S. Walker Cup team

Tommy Aaron (7,a), Deane Beman (7,a), William C. Campbell (a), Bill Hyndman (a), Chuck Kocsis (7,a), Jack Nicklaus (a), Billy Joe Patton (8,a), Bud Taylor (7,a), Ward Wettlaufer (a)

• Campbell and Kocsis were reserves for the team. Harvie Ward did not play.

7. 1958 U.S. Amateur quarter-finalists

Dick Foote (a), Roger McManus (a), Jack Westland (a)

8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1958 Masters Tournament

Billy Casper (9,10), Fred Hawkins (11), Jay Hebert (9,10), Ted Kroll (11), Billy Maxwell, Al Mengert, Phil Rodgers (a), Mike Souchak (10), Ken Venturi, Art Wall Jr. (11), Bo Wininger

9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1958 U.S. Open

Marty Furgol, Bob Goetz, Tommy Jacobs, Don January, Gene Littler, Dick Metz, Bob Rosburg, Frank Stranahan

10. Top eight players and ties from 1958 PGA Championship

Buster Cupit, Ed Oliver

11. Members of the U.S. 1957 Ryder Cup team

12. One player, either amateur or professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-Masters champions

Ernie Vossler

13. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions

George Bayer

14. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions

Don Cherry (a)

15. Two players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in the winter part of the 1959 PGA Tour

Paul Harney, John McMullin

16. Winner of the 1958 Canadian Open

Wes Ellis

17. Foreign invitations

Bruce Castator (a), Bruce Crampton, Stan Leonard (8), Henry Martell, Ángel Miguel, Gary Player (9), Dave Thomas, Peter Thomson (3,8), Retief Waltman

• Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.

Round summaries

First round

Thursday, April 2, 1959

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Stan Leonard	69	−3
T2	Jack Burke Jr.	71	−1
	Chandler Harper
	Arnold Palmer
T5	Tommy Bolt	72	E
	Jay Hebert
	Gene Littler
	Ángel Miguel
	Peter Thomson
T10	Ben Hogan	73	+1
	Bill Hyndman (a)
	Chuck Kocsis (a)
	Billy Maxwell
	Dick Mayer
	Gary Player
	Mike Souchak
	Dave Thomas
	Art Wall Jr.

Source:^[9]

Second round

Friday, April 3, 1959

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	Arnold Palmer	71-70=141	−3
2	Stan Leonard	69-74=143	−1
T3	Julius Boros	75-69=144	E
	Paul Harney	75-69=144
	Billy Maxwell	73-71=144
	Ángel Miguel	72-72=144
	Ed Oliver	75-69=144
	Mike Souchak	73-71=144
	Dave Thomas	73-71=144
T10	Walter Burkemo	75-70=145	+1
	Jack Fleck	74-71=145
	Chandler Harper	71-74=145
	Jay Hebert	72-73=145
	Bill Hyndman (a)	73-72=145
	Cary Middlecoff	74-71=145
	Billy Joe Patton (a)	75-70=145
	Bo Wininger	75-70=145

Source:^[10][11]

Third round

Saturday, April 4, 1959

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	Stan Leonard	69-74-69=212	−4
	Arnold Palmer	71-70-71=212
3	Cary Middlecoff	74-71-68=213	−3
4	Charles Coe (a)	74-74-67=215	−1
T5	Walter Burkemo	75-70-71=216	E
	Fred Hawkins	77-71-68=216
	Jack Fleck	74-71-71=216
	Billy Maxwell	73-71-72=216
	Billy Joe Patton (a)	75-70-71=216
T10	Jay Hebert	72-73-72=217	+1
	Ed Oliver	75-69-73=217
	Bo Wininger	75-70-72=217

Source:^[5]

Final round

Sunday, April 5, 1959

Final leaderboard

Champion

Silver Cup winner (low amateur)

(a) = amateur

(c) = past champion

Top 10

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (US$)
1	Art Wall Jr.	73-74-71-66=284	−4	15,000
2	Cary Middlecoff (c)	74-71-68-72=285	−3	7,500
3	Arnold Palmer (c)	71-70-71-74=286	−2	4,500
T4	Stan Leonard	69-74-69-75=287	−1	2,625
	Dick Mayer	73-75-71-68=287
6	Charles Coe (a)	74-74-67-73=288	E	0
7	Fred Hawkins	77-71-68-73=289	+1	2,100
T8	Julius Boros	75-69-74-72=290	+2	1,740
	Jay Hebert	72-73-72-73=290
	Gene Littler	72-75-72-71=290
	Billy Maxwell	73-71-72-74=290
	Billy Joe Patton (a)	75-70-71-74=290		0
	Gary Player	73-75-71-71=290		1,740

Leaderboard below the top 10
Place	Player	Score	To par	Money ($)
T14	Chick Harbert	74-72-74-71=291	+3	1,425
	Chandler Harper	71-74-74-72=291
	Ted Kroll	76-71-73-71=291
	Ed Oliver	75-69-73-74=291
T18	Dow Finsterwald	79-68-73-72=292	+4	1,300
	Jack Fleck	74-71-71-76=292
	Bill Hyndman (a)	73-72-76-71=292		0
	Bo Wininger	75-70-72-75=292		1,300
T22	Walter Burkemo	75-70-71-77=293	+5	1,275
	Chuck Kocsis (a)	73-75-70-75=293		0
	Sam Snead (c)	74-73-72-74=293		1,275
T25	Don Cherry (a)	77-71-75-71=294	+6	0
	Doug Ford (c)	76-73-73-72=294		1,200
	Paul Harney	75-69-77-73=294
	Ángel Miguel	72-72-76-74=294
	Mike Souchak	73-71-74-76=294
T30	Tommy Bolt	72-75-72-76=295	+7	350
	Ben Hogan (c)	73-74-76-72=295
	Bob Rosburg	75-74-73-73=295
	Dave Thomas	73-71-77-74=295
T34	Jack Burke Jr. (c)	71-77-76-72=296	+8	350
	Frank Stranahan	74-72-73-77=296
36	Don January	74-75-70-78=297	+9	350
37	Marty Furgol	74-74-74-76=298	+10	350
38	Ernie Vossler	74-74-75-76=299	+11	350
39	Lionel Hebert	77-72-76-75=300	+12	350
40	George Bayer	74-75-77-77=303	+15	350
CUT	Deane Beman (a)	74-76=150	+6
	Bruce Crampton	75-75=150
	Tommy Jacobs	77-73=150
	Jack Nicklaus (a)	76-74=150
	Dick Chapman (a)	75-76=151	+7
	Claude Harmon (c)	74-77=151
	Lloyd Mangrum	74-77=151
	Ken Venturi	75-76=151
	Ward Wettlaufer (a)	77-74=151
	Billy Casper	76-76=152	+8
	Wes Ellis	75-77=152
	Al Mengert	76-76=152
	Dick Metz	78-74=152
	Johnny Revolta	76-76=152
	Jack Westland (a)	78-74=152
	Henry Picard (c)	77-76=153	+9
	Jim Turnesa	77-76=153
	Vic Ghezzi	74-80=154	+10
	Bud Taylor (a)	81-73=154
	Tommy Aaron (a)	79-76=155	+11
	Buster Cupit	81-74=155
	Bob Goetz	78-77=155
	Herman Keiser (c)	78-77=155
	Phil Rodgers (a)	78-77=155
	Ed Furgol	78-78=156	+12
	Gene Sarazen (c)	77-79=156
	Denny Shute	81-75=156
	Lew Worsham	76-80=156
	Henry Martell	80-77=157	+13
	John McMullin	78-79=157
	William C. Campbell (a)	81-77=158	+14
	Robert Sweeny Jr. (a)	81-77=158
	Billy Burke	81-78=159	+15
	Dick Foote (a)	84-76=160	+16
	Roger McManus (a)	81-79=160
	Retief Waltman	84-77=161	+17
	Bruce Castator (a)	82-80=162	+18
	Jimmy Demaret (c)	78-84=162
	Craig Wood (c)	83-81=164	+20
	Tony Manero	82-83=165	+21
	Sam Parks Jr.	86-79=165
	Horton Smith (c)	83-83=166	+22
	Chick Evans (a)	90-87=177	+33
WD	Byron Nelson (c)	75-73=148	+4
	Jock Hutchison	85	+13
	Fred McLeod	89	+17
DQ	Peter Thomson	72-74-71=217	+1

Sources:^[12][13]

Scorecard

Hole	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
Par	4	5	4	3	4	3	4	5	4	4	4	3	5	4	5	3	4	4
Wall	+1	E	E	E	E	E	+1	E	E	+1	+1	+1	E	−1	−2	−2	−3	−4
Middlecoff	−3	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1	−2	−1	−3	−3	−3	−3
Palmer	−4	−4	−4	−4	−4	−3	−3	−4	−4	−4	−4	−1	−2	−2	−3	−3	−2	−2
Leonard	−4	−4	−4	−3	−3	−3	−2	−2	−1	−1	−1	−1	−2	−2	−2	−2	−1	−1

Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par

Eagle

Birdie

Bogey

Double bogey

Triple bogey+

References

1. "Stan Leonard blasts out 69 to tie for first in Masters". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. April 5, 1959. p. 1-sports.
2. "Wall rallies, takes Masters on 284". Chicago Daily Tribune. April 6, 1959. p. 1, part 4.
3. "Wall birdies 5 of final 6; wins Masters in epic finish". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. April 6, 1959. p. 10.
4. "Birdies on five of last six holes give Art Wall a 66, Masters title". Milwaukee Journal. New York Times News Service. April 6, 1959. p. 10.
5. Bartlett, Charles (April 5, 1959). "Leonard's 69 ties Palmer after 3d round of Masters". Chicago Sunday Tribune. p. 1, part 2.
6. Brown, Gwilym (April 13, 1959). "Wall was wondrous". Sports Illustrated. p. 16.
7. Gundelfinger, Phil (April 6, 1959). "Wall's sensational rally takes Masters". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 26.
8. Petersen, Leo H. (April 6, 1959). "Sensational closing round of 66 gives Art Wall Masters tourney title". Youngstown Vindicator. Ohio. UPI. p. 17.
9. Bartlett, Charles (April 3, 1959). "Leonard leads Masters with 69". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 4.
10. "Masters score card". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. April 4, 1959. p. 10.
11. Bartlett, Charles (April 4, 1959). "Palmer's 141 captures Masters lead". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1, part 7.
12. "Masters – Past Winners & Results". Augusta National Inc. Retrieved April 20, 2021.
13. "Past results – Masters tournament". PGA Tour. Retrieved April 20, 2021.

External links

• Masters.com – past winners and results
• Augusta.com – 1959 Masters leaderboard and scorecards