From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

1959 Open Championship

Field	Value
name	1959 Open Championship
image
dates	1–3 July 1959
location	Gullane, Scotland
course	Muirfield
par	72
yardage	6806 yd
field	90 players, 48 after cut
cut	148 (+4)
purse	£5,000
$14,000
winners_share	£1,000
$2,800
champion	ZAF Gary Player
score	284 (−4)
previous	[1958](1958-open-championship)
next	[1960](1960-open-championship)

$14,000 $2,800 |UK Scotland |Scotland East Lothian The 1959 Open Championship was the 88th Open Championship, held 1–3 July at Muirfield Golf Links in Gullane, East Lothian, Scotland. Gary Player, age 23, shot a final round of 68 to win the first of his nine major titles, two strokes ahead of runners-up Fred Bullock and Flory Van Donck. It was the first of Player's three Claret Jugs; he won again in 1968 and 1974.

Muirfield was originally scheduled to host in 1957, but it was transferred to St. Andrews because of petrol rationing following the "Suez Crisis" in late 1956. Muirfield was subsequently allocated the 1959 Championship.

Qualifying took place on 29–30 June, with 18 holes at Muirfield and 18 holes at the number 1 course of Gullane Golf Club. There were no exemptions and the number of qualifiers was limited to a maximum of 100, and ties did not qualify. The qualifying score was 147 and 90 players advanced to the first round the next day; defending champion Peter Thomson led with 137 and won the £50 qualifying prize. The maximum number of players making the cut after 36 holes was again set at 50, and ties did not make the cut.

The purse was increased to £5,000, up 150 from 4,850 in 1958; the winner's share remained unchanged at £1,000, but the prizes for second to fifth places were increased. Second place received £700, with 525 for third, 400 for fourth, and 325 for fifth.

Only four Americans were in the field of 90 (Willie Goggin, Bob Sweeny, Bob Watson, and John Garrett) and none made the cut. Sweeny and Garrett were amateurs.

Course

Main article: Muirfield

Hole	Yards	Par	Hole	Yards	Par
1	453	4		10	480
2	353	4	11	359	4
3	382	4	12	380	4
4	192	3	13	153	3
5	510	5	14	458	5
6	458	4	15	393	4
7	157	3	16	193	3
8	455	4	17	513	5
9	490	5	18	427	4
Out	3,450	36	In	3,356	36
Source:	Total	6,806	72

Round summaries

First round

Wednesday, 1 July 1959

Fred Bullock and Arnold Stickley led after the first round on Wednesday at 68. A number of amateurs made good starts, the best was Michael Bonallack at 70.

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	ENG Fred Bullock	68	−4
ENG Arnold Stickley
3	ARG Antonio Cerdá	69	−3
T4	ENG Michael Bonallack (a)	70	−2
ENG Sam King
BEL Flory Van Donck
T7	SCO Jimmy Adams	71	−1
IRL Harry Bradshaw
ENG Henry Cotton
NIR Norman Drew
SCO Reid Jack (a)
ENG Reg Knight
ENG Eddie Whitcombe

Source:

Second round

Thursday, 2 July 1959

Bullock retained the lead after a second round 70 and Bonallack was one of four amateurs to make the cut. The three 'giants' Bobby Locke, Henry Cotton, and Thomson all made the cut, but all were eight or more strokes behind Bullock.

Place	Player	Score	To par
1	ENG Fred Bullock	68-70=138	−6
2	BEL Flory Van Donck	70-70=140	−4
T3	ENG Michael Bonallack (a)	70-72=142	−2
ENG Reg Knight	71-71=142
ENG Arnold Stickley	68-74=142
T6	ARG Antonio Cerdá	69-74=143	−1
SCO Tom Haliburton	74-69=143
ENG Jimmy Hitchcock	75-68=143
ENG Syd Scott	73-70=143
T10	ENG Sam King	70-74=144	E
ENG Eric Lester	73-71=144
SCO John Panton	72-72=144

Source:

Amateurs: Bonallack (−2), Carr (+1), Jack (+2), Wolstenholme (+4), Sweeny Jr (+7), Smith (+8), Garrett (+12), Dalziel (+13), Ferguson (+13), Stuart (+13).

Third round

Friday, 3 July 1959 - (morning)

Gary Player teed off at 9:04 am (and 1:34 pm), two hours before the leaders, who started at 11:04 am (and 3:34 pm). He was out in 37 in his morning round, but came home in 33 and was only four strokes behind the leaders after 54 holes. Amateur Reid Jack of Scotland posted 68 and was only two shots back.

Place	Player	Score	To par
T1	ENG Fred Bullock	68-70-74=212	−4
ENG Sam King	70-74-68=212
T3	ENG Jimmy Hitchcock	75-68-70=213	−3
BEL Flory Van Donck	70-70-73=213
T5	ENG Michael Bonallack (a)	70-72-72=214	−2
SCO Reid Jack (a)	71-75-68=214
T7	ENG John Panton	72-72-71=215	−1
WAL Dai Rees	73-73-69=215
ARG Leopoldo Ruiz	72-74-69=215
T10	ARG Antonio Cerdá	69-74-73=216	E
ENG Reg Knight	71-71-74=216
ZAF Gary Player	75-71-70=216
ENG Syd Scott	73-70-73=216

Source:

Final round

Friday, 3 July 1959 - (afternoon)

Gary Player reached the last hole and a par four would have yielded a round of 66. However he drove into a bunker and three-putted for a double-bogey six, 68 for the round, and a total of 284. In the last group, Fred Bullock and Flory Van Donck both finished two shots behind Player. Reid Jack won the silver medal for leading amateur by finishing tied for fifth place, two ahead of Bonallack.

Place	Player	Score	To par	Money (£)
1	ZAF Gary Player	75-71-70-68=284	−4	1,000
T2	ENG Fred Bullock	68-70-74-74=286	−2	612
BEL Flory Van Donck	70-70-73-73=286
4	ENG Syd Scott	73-70-73-71=287	−1	400
T5	SCO Reid Jack (a)	71-75-68-74=288	E	–
ENG Sam King	70-74-68-76=288	258
IRL Christy O'Connor Snr	73-74-72-69=288
SCO John Panton	72-72-71-73=288
T9	WAL Dai Rees	73-73-69-74=289	+1	137
ARG Leopoldo Ruiz	72-74-69-74=289

Source:

Amateurs: Jack (E), Bonallack (+2), Wolstenholme (+3), Carr (+10).

References

(2 July 1959). "Two unknowns (68s) top British Open". Milwaukee Sentinel.
(29 June 1959). "The lay-out of the Muirfield course". Glasgow Herald.
(2011). "Media guide". The Open Championship.
Horne, Cyril. (4 July 1959). "Open Championship for G.J. Player". Glasgow Herald.
Longhurst, Henry. (13 July 1959). "South Africans at Muirfield".
Horne, Cyril. (29 June 1959). "Open Championship starts today". Glasgow Herald.
Horne, Cyril. (1 July 1959). "Holder leads 90 qualifiers for Open title". Glasgow Herald.
(1 July 1959). "Thomson head Open golf qualifiers - Proud day for amateur players". The Times.
(4 December 1959). "Centenary Open Championship: prize money increased". Glasgow Herald.
(4 December 1959). "Golf - Centenary Open Championship - Prize money increased". The Times.
(3 July 1959). "Four Americans Fail In British Open Golf". Plainfield Courier-News.
Horne, Cyril. (2 July 1959). "Bullock and Stickley lead after one round". Glasgow Herald.
Horne, Cyril. (3 July 1959). "Bullock half-way leader in Open golf". Glasgow Herald.
(3 July 1959). "Few Open golf clues - Three giants still trailing - Bullock keeps lead". The Times.
(4 July 1959). "Player rises to challenge and wins Open golf - Advantage of U.S. experience tells in the end". The Times.

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

the-open-championship gullane sport-in-east-lothian golf-tournaments-in-scotland 1959-in-golf 1959-in-scottish-sport july-1959-sports-events-in-the-united-kingdom

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about 1959 Open Championship — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report