1959 PGA Championship Winner and Scores
Winner: Bob Rosburg, 277
Where it was played: Minneapolis Golf Club in St. Louis Park, Minnesota
Tournament dates: July 30-Aug. 2, 1959
Leader after first round: Billy Casper, Chuck Klein, Dick Hart, Gene Littler, Jackson Bradley, Jerry Barber, Mike Krak, Mike Souchak and Walter Burkemo, 69
Leader after second round: Jerry Barber, 134
Leader after third round: Jerry Barber, 205
What Happened at the 1959 PGA Championship
Later, he was known to a different generation of golf fans primarily as a longtime broadcaster on ABC's golf telecasts. But Bob Rosburg was a pretty good golfer in his day; he won six times in a long career on the PGA Tour, including the 1959 PGA Championship. And he came from six strokes behind at the start of the final round to do it, firing a fourth-round 66. Jerry Barber was the third-round leader. But Rosburg, who made only five birdies in the first three rounds, made five birdies on the front nine of his final round to tie Barber atop the leaderboard. Rosburg's front-nine 30 was a tournament record that wasn't bettered until 1982.Barber reclaimed the lead with a birdie on the 15th, but then finished with back-to-back bogeys, and Rosburg was the champion. Doug Sanders, in second place at the start of the final round, birdied the final two holes to tie Barber for second.
The first round ended with nine golfers, including Barber, sharing the lead, and in the second round Barber scored a then-PGA Championship-record 65. Two years later, Barber won the 1961 PGA Championship.
Three-time major champion Denny Shute, winner of the PGA Championship in 1936 and 1937, tied for 44th place. It was the final time he made the cut in a major championship. Bob Goalby tied for fifth in his first appearance in a PGA Championship; he went on to win the 1968 Masters.
1959 PGA Championship Final Scores
| Bob Rosburg | 71-72-68-66—277 |
| Jerry Barber | 69-65-71-73—278 |
| Doug Sanders | 72-66-68-72—278 |
| Dow Finsterwald | 71-68-71-70—280 |
| Bob Goalby | 72-69-72-68—281 |
| Mike Souchak | 69-67-71-74—281 |
| Ken Venturi | 70-72-70-69—281 |
| Cary Middlecoff | 72-68-70-72—282 |
| Sam Snead | 71-73-68-70—282 |
| Gene Littler | 69-70-72-73—284 |
| Doug Ford | 71-73-71-70—285 |
| Billy Maxwell | 70-76-70-69—285 |
| Ed Oliver | 75-70-69-71—285 |
| Paul Harney | 74-71-71-70—286 |
| Tommy Jacobs | 73-71-68-74—286 |
| Arnold Palmer | 72-72-71-71—286 |
| Tommy Bolt | 76-69-68-74—287 |
| Jack Burke Jr. | 70-73-72-72—287 |
| Walter Burkemo | 69-72-73-73—287 |
| Billy Casper | 69-71-73-74—287 |
| Pete Cooper | 78-70-68-71—287 |
| Buster Cupit | 70-72-72-73—287 |
| Babe Lichardus | 71-73-72-71—287 |
| Ernie Vossler | 75-71-72-69—287 |
| Jay Hebert | 72-70-69-77—288 |
| Ted Kroll | 72-74-71-71—288 |
| Art Wall | 70-72-73-73—288 |
| Clare Emery | 74-74-72-69—289 |
| Chick Harbert | 73-71-71-74—289 |
| Fred Hawkins | 72-69-72-76—289 |
| Jackson Bradley | 69-74-73-74—290 |
| Don Fairfield | 70-73-75-72—290 |
| Lionel Hebert | 71-69-75-75—290 |
| Eric Monti | 74-72-71-73—290 |
| John McMullin | 76-71-69-75—291 |
| Dave Ragan | 74-69-74-74—291 |
| Dick Stranahan | 74-70-72-75—291 |
| Bob Crowley | 73-75-71-73—292 |
| Jim Ferree | 74-72-71-75—292 |
| Jim Ferrier | 73-71-72-76—292 |
| Claude Harmon | 73-73-72-74—292 |
| Jim Turnesa | 73-72-74-73—292 |
| Don Whitt | 71-77-72-72—292 |
| Julius Boros | 72-74-73-74—293 |
| Wes Ellis Jr. | 76-74-70-73—293 |
| Scudday Horner | 74-71-76-72—293 |
| Denny Shute | 75-73-70-75—293 |
| Henry Williams | 74-73-74-72—293 |
| Don January | 73-74-74-73—294 |
| Mac Main | 75-70-73-76—294 |
| Bill Ogden | 73-69-76-76—294 |
| Bo Wininger | 77-73-71-73—294 |
| Al Feminelli | 70-77-73-75—295 |
| Bob Gajda | 74-71-74-76—295 |
| Frank Stranahan | 74-72-70-79—295 |
| Bill Ezinicki | 77-67-76-76—296 |
| George Fazio | 74-76-69-77—296 |
| John Barnum | 75-73-72-77—297 |
| Bud Williamson | 72-75-72-78—297 |
| Mickey Homa | 71-74-75-78—298 |
| Don Waryan | 72-76-72-79—299 |
| Wayne Otis | 74-74-73-79—300 |
| Leonard Wagner | 72-73-75-85—305 |
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