1959 British Open: Player's First Major Win

The 1959 British Open was the 88th time the tournament was played. One of the legendary "Big 3" won his first major here.

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

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