1959 British Open: Player's First Major Win
Winner: Gary Player, 284
Where it was played: Muirfield in Gullane, Scotland
Tournament dates: July 1-3, 1959
Leader after first round: Fred Bullock and Arnold Stickley, 68
Leader after second round: Fred Bullock, 138
Leader after third round: Fred Bullock and Sam King, 212
Notable Notes: The 1959 British Open was paced by relative unknowns the first three rounds, and a relative unknown won it. The difference is the ones who paced the first three rounds remained unknowns, while the one who won it was Gary Player. This was Player's first major championship win, his second victory credited as a PGA Tour win. He was tied for 10th place after three rounds, four strokes off the lead. But in the final round Player shot 68 while the leaders struggled, and Player won by two strokes.
Final Scores
Gary Player | 75-71-70-68—284 |
Fred Bullock | 68-70-74-74—286 |
Flory Van Donck | 70-70-73-73—286 |
Syd Scott | 73-70-73-71—287 |
a-Reid Jack | 71-75-68-74—288 |
Sam King | 70-74-68-76—288 |
Christy O'Connor Sr. | 73-74-72-69—288 |
John Panton | 72-72-71-73—288 |
Dai Rees | 73-73-69-74—289 |
Leopoldo Ruiz | 72-74-69-74—289 |
a-Michael Bonallack | 70-72-72-76—290 |
Ken Bousfield | 73-73-71-73—290 |
Jimmy Hitchcock | 75-68-70-77—290 |
Bernard Hunt | 73-75-71-71—290 |
Arnold Stickley | 68-74-77-71—290 |
Peter Alliss | 76-72-76-67—291 |
Harry Bradshaw | 71-76-72-72—291 |
Antonio Cerda | 69-74-73-75—291 |
Harry Weetman | 72-73-76-70—291 |
a-Guy Wolstenholme | 78-70-73-70—291 |
Neil Coles | 72-74-71-75—292 |
Jean Garaialde | 75-70-74-73—292 |
Harold Henning | 73-73-72-76—294 |
Geoffrey Hunt | 72-73-74-75—294 |
Reg Knight | 71-71-74-78—294 |
Peter Mills | 75-71-72-76—294 |
J.R. Moses | 72-73-73-76—294 |
Peter Thomson | 74-74-72-74—294 |
Jimmy Adams | 71-74-75-75—295 |
Tom Haliburton | 74-69-74-78—295 |
Bobby Locke | 73-73-76-73—295 |
Peter Shanks | 76-70-75-74—295 |
Eddie Whitcombe | 71-77-74-73—295 |
Hugh Lewis | 73-73-78-72—296 |
Norman Drew | 71-77-75-74—297 |
Eric Lester | 73-71-78-75—297 |
Charlie Ward | 78-70-73-76—297 |
a-Joe Carr | 72-73-74-79—298 |
Miguel Angel Martin | 73-75-73-77—298 |
Christie Kane | 77-69-77-76—299 |
Henry Cotton | 71-75-77-77—300 |
Jack Hargreaves | 72-74-79-75—300 |
a-George Low | 75-73-78-74—300 |
Ralph Moffitt | 74-72-76-78—300 |
John Sharkey | 74-74-74-78—300 |
Juan Querelos | 76-72-80-73—301 |
John More | 72-75-76-79—302 |
Ray Hayden | 75-72-77-79—303 |