| 1959 PGA Championship | |
| Dates: | July 30 – August 2, 1959 |
| Location: | St. Louis Park, Minnesota |
| Course: | Minneapolis Golf Club |
| Org: | PGA of America |
| Tour: | PGA Tour |
| Par: | 70 |
| Format: | Stroke play |
| Yardage: | 6850yd |
| Field: | 174 players, 100 after 1st cut 64 after 2nd cut |
| Cut: | 150 (+10) (1st cut) 221 (+11) (2nd cut) |
| Purse: | $51,175[1] |
| Winners Share: | $8,250 |
| Champion: |  Bob Rosburg |
| Score: | 277 (−3) |
| Previous: | 1958 |
| Next: | 1960 |
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 one stroke ahead of runners-up Jerry Barber and Doug Sanders.[2] [3] [4] Rosburg had managed only five birdies in the first three rounds,[5] but had five in the first nine on Sunday to go out in 30, then a record.[2] Barber shot a 65 on Friday and was the 36-hole and 54-hole leader at 205 (−5), with Sanders a stroke back.[6] Barber won the title two years later, in a Monday playoff in 1961. Tied for fourteenth at 286 (+6) was
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.[7] The winner's share was increased fifty per cent to $8,250; two years earlier, it was $8,000 for the final match play competition.
The Open Championship was played several weeks earlier in Scotland at Muirfield; only four Americans (two amateurs) were in the field and none made the cut.
Thursday, July 30, 1959
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | 69 | −1 | |
| Jackson Bradley | |||
| Chuck Klein | |||
| Mike Krak | |||
| T10 | 70 | E | |
| Al Feminelli | |||
| Herman Scharlau | |||
| Don Shock | |||
Friday, July 31, 1959
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 69-65=134 | −6 | |
| 2 | 69-67=136 | −4 | |
| 3 | 72-66=138 | −2 | |
| T4 | 71-68=139 | −1 | |
| 69-70=139 | |||
| T6 | 69-71=140 | E | |
| 71-69=140 | |||
| 72-68=140 | |||
| T9 | 69-71=141 | +1 | |
| 72-69=141 | |||
| 72-69=141 |
Saturday, August 1, 1959
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 69-65-71=205 | −5 | |
| 2 | 72-66-68=206 | −4 | |
| 3 | 69-67-71=207 | −3 | |
| T4 | 71-68-71=210 | E | |
| 72-68-70=210 | |||
| T6 | 72-70-69=211 | +1 | |
| 69-70-72=211 | |||
| 71-72-68=211 | |||
| T9 | 73-71-68=212 | +2 | |
| 71-73-68=212 | |||
| 70-72-70=212 |
Sunday, August 2, 1959
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bob Rosburg | 71-72-68-66=277 | −3 | 8,250 | |
| T2 | 69-65-71-73=278 | −2 | 3,563 | ||
| 72-66-68-72=278 | |||||
| 4 | 71-68-71-70=280 | E | 2,500 | ||
| T5 | 72-69-72-68=281 | +1 | 2,000 | ||
| 69-67-71-74=281 | |||||
| 70-72-70-69=281 | |||||
| T8 | 72-68-70-72=282 | +2 | 1,600 | ||
| 71-73-68-70=282 | |||||
| 10 | 69-70-72-73=284 | +4 | 1,450 |
Final round
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | |
| Rosburg | +1 | E | −1 | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | |
| Barber | −5 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −5 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −2 | |
| Sanders | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −1 | −2 |
| Double Eagle | Eagle --> | Birdie | Bogey | Double bogey | Triple bogey+ --> |