1959 Masters Tournament
The 1959 Masters Tournament was the 23rd Masters Tournament, held April 2–5 at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Art Wall, Jr. shot a final round of 66, with birdies on five of the last six holes, for his only major title, one stroke ahead of runner-up Cary Middlecoff, the 1955 champion. Wall started the final round six strokes behind the leaders, in a tie for thirteenth place.
Defending champion Arnold Palmer was a third round co-leader, but a triple-bogey at the par-3 12th led to a 74 and a third-place finish, two strokes back. The purse in 1959 was a record $76,100 with a winner's share of $15,000 to Wall. The estimated gallery for the final round on Sunday was 30,000 spectators.
Nineteen-year-old Jack Nicklaus made his Masters debut with 76-74 and missed the cut by one stroke. He played in 45 Masters, the first three as an amateur, and only missed one cut in the next 34 Masters tournaments. Nicklaus won a record six green jackets and was runner-up four times in his 22 top-10 finishes.
Field
;1. Masters championsJack Burke Jr., Jimmy Demaret, Doug Ford, Claude Harmon, Ben Hogan, Herman Keiser, Cary Middlecoff, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Henry Picard, Gene Sarazen, Horton Smith, Sam Snead, Craig Wood
- Ralph Guldahl did not play.
;2. U.S. Open champions
Tommy Bolt, Julius Boros, Billy Burke, Chick Evans, Jack Fleck, Ed Furgol, Tony Manero, Lloyd Mangrum, Dick Mayer, Fred McLeod, Sam Parks Jr., Lew Worsham
;3. The Open champions
Jock Hutchison, Denny Shute
;4. PGA champions
Walter Burkemo, Dow Finsterwald, Vic Ghezzi, Chick Harbert, Chandler Harper, Lionel Hebert, Johnny Revolta, Jim Turnesa
;5. U.S. Amateur and Amateur champions
Dick Chapman, Charles Coe, Robert Sweeny Jr.
;6. Selections for the 1959 U.S. Walker Cup team
Tommy Aaron, Deane Beman, William C. Campbell, Bill Hyndman, Chuck Kocsis, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Joe Patton, Bud Taylor, Ward Wettlaufer
- Campbell and Kocsis were reserves for the team. Harvie Ward did not play.
Dick Foote, Roger McManus, Jack Westland
;8. Top 24 players and ties from the 1958 Masters Tournament
Billy Casper, Fred Hawkins, Jay Hebert, Ted Kroll, Billy Maxwell, Al Mengert, Phil Rodgers, Mike Souchak, Ken Venturi, Art Wall Jr., Bo Wininger
;9. Top 16 players and ties from the 1958 U.S. Open
Marty Furgol, Bob Goetz, Tommy Jacobs, Don January, Gene Littler, Dick Metz, Bob Rosburg, Frank Stranahan
;10. Top eight players and ties from 1958 PGA Championship
Buster Cupit, Ed Oliver
;11. Members of the U.S. 1957 Ryder Cup team
;12. One player, either amateur or professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-Masters champions
Ernie Vossler
;13. One professional, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Open champions
George Bayer
;14. One amateur, not already qualified, selected by a ballot of ex-U.S. Amateur champions
Don Cherry
;15. Two players, not already qualified, from a points list based on finishes in the winter part of the 1959 PGA Tour
Paul Harney, John McMullin
;16. Winner of the 1958 Canadian Open
Wes Ellis
;17. Foreign invitations
Bruce Castator, Bruce Crampton, Stan Leonard, Henry Martell, Ángel Miguel, Gary Player, Dave Thomas, Peter Thomson, Retief Waltman
- Numbers in brackets indicate categories that the player would have qualified under had they been American.
Nationalities in the field
Past champions in the field
Made the cut
Missed the cut
SourceRound summaries
First round
Thursday, April 2, 1959| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| 1 | Stan Leonard | 69 | −3 | |
| T2 | Jack Burke, Jr. | 71 | −1 | |
| T2 | Chandler Harper | 71 | −1 | |
| T2 | Arnold Palmer | 71 | −1 | |
| T5 | Tommy Bolt | 72 | E | |
| T5 | Jay Hebert | 72 | E | |
| T5 | Gene Littler | 72 | E | |
| T5 | Ángel Miguel | 72 | E | |
| T5 | Peter Thomson | 72 | E | |
| T10 | Ben Hogan | 73 | +1 | |
| T10 | Bill Hyndman | 73 | +1 | |
| T10 | Chuck Kocsis | 73 | +1 | |
| T10 | Billy Maxwell | 73 | +1 | |
| T10 | Dick Mayer | 73 | +1 | |
| T10 | Gary Player | 73 | +1 | |
| T10 | Mike Souchak | 73 | +1 | |
| T10 | Dave Thomas | 73 | +1 | |
| T10 | Art Wall, Jr. | 73 | +1 |
Source:
Second round
Friday, April 3, 1959| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| 1 | Arnold Palmer | 71-70=141 | −3 | |
| 2 | Stan Leonard | 69-74=143 | −1 | |
| T3 | Julius Boros | 75-69=144 | E | |
| T3 | Paul Harney | 75-69=144 | E | |
| T3 | Billy Maxwell | 73-71=144 | E | |
| T3 | Ángel Miguel | 72-72=144 | E | |
| T3 | Ed Oliver | 75-69=144 | E | |
| T3 | Mike Souchak | 73-71=144 | E | |
| T3 | Dave Thomas | 73-71=144 | E | |
| T10 | Walter Burkemo | 75-70=145 | +1 | |
| T10 | Jack Fleck | 74-71=145 | +1 | |
| T10 | Chandler Harper | 71-74=145 | +1 | |
| T10 | Jay Hebert | 72-73=145 | +1 | |
| T10 | Bill Hyndman | 73-72=145 | +1 | |
| T10 | Cary Middlecoff | 74-71=145 | +1 | |
| T10 | Billy Joe Patton | 75-70=145 | +1 | |
| T10 | Bo Wininger | 75-70=145 | +1 |
Source:
Third round
Saturday, April 4, 1959| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
| T1 | Stan Leonard | 69-74-69=212 | −4 | |
| T1 | Arnold Palmer | 71-70-71=212 | −4 | |
| 3 | Cary Middlecoff | 74-71-68=213 | −3 | |
| 4 | Charles Coe | 74-74-67=215 | −1 | |
| T5 | Walter Burkemo | 75-70-71=216 | E | |
| T5 | Fred Hawkins | 77-71-68=216 | E | |
| T5 | Jack Fleck | 74-71-71=216 | E | |
| T5 | Billy Maxwell | 73-71-72=216 | E | |
| T5 | Billy Joe Patton | 75-70-71=216 | E | |
| T10 | Jay Hebert | 72-73-72=217 | +1 | |
| T10 | Ed Oliver | 75-69-73=217 | +1 | |
| T10 | Bo Wininger | 75-70-72=217 | +1 |
Source:
Final round
Sunday, April 5, 1959| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money |
| 1 | Art Wall, Jr. | 73-74-71-66=284 | −4 | 15,000 | |
| 2 | Cary Middlecoff | 74-71-68-72=285 | −3 | 7,500 | |
| 3 | Arnold Palmer | 71-70-71-74=286 | −2 | 4,500 | |
| T4 | Stan Leonard | 69-74-69-75=287 | −1 | 2,625 | |
| T4 | Dick Mayer | 73-75-71-68=287 | −1 | 2,625 | |
| 6 | Charles Coe | 74-74-67-73=288 | E | 0 | |
| 7 | Fred Hawkins | 77-71-68-73=289 | +1 | 2,100 | |
| T8 | Julius Boros | 75-69-74-72=290 | +2 | 1,740 | |
| T8 | Jay Hebert | 72-73-72-73=290 | +2 | 1,740 | |
| T8 | Gene Littler | 72-75-72-71=290 | +2 | 1,740 | |
| T8 | Billy Maxwell | 73-71-72-74=290 | +2 | 1,740 | |
| T8 | Billy Joe Patton | 75-70-71-74=290 | +2 | 0 | |
| T8 | Gary Player | 73-75-71-71=290 | +2 | 1,740 |
Source:
Scorecard
Final round| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 8 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 |
 Wall | +1 | E | E | E | E | E | +1 | E | E | +1 | +1 | +1 | E | −1 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −4 |
| Middlecoff | −3 | −2 | −2 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −1 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 |
| Palmer | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −1 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −2 |
 Leonard | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −2 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −1 | −1 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par