1958
Golf Highlights Arnold Palmer outlasted four
strong contenders to win the Masters
(April 3-6) with a score of 284. Doug Ford, the
1957 winner, and Fred Hawkins tied for second
with 285. Palmer was the third round co-leader
and eagled the 13th hole and 3-putted on the
final green of the final round to get the
victory. Sam Snead was the other co-leader after
54 holes, but shot a 7-over 79 in the final round
to fall to 13th place. Cary Middlecoff, who was 1
stroke back entering the final round, carded a 75
in the final round and tied for 6th.
Stan Leonard won the $40,000 Tournament
of Champions in Las Vegas, Nevada, on
April 27.
Mickey Wright won the Ladies
Professional Golf Association title in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 8. She later
won the USGA Women's Open and
became the first woman to win both titles in the
same year.
Tommy Bolt won the U.S. Open
title on June 14 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Bolt shot a
first round 71 to tie with Julius Boros and Dick
Metz for first place. A second round 71 gave Bolt
the lead by one point over Gary Player. He went
on to shoot rounds of 69 and 72 for a four-round
total of 283 and four-stroke win over Player.
Third place went to 1952 Open champion Boros, who
shot 289, and fourth went to Gene Littler, whose
third-round score of 67 gave him a 290 total.
Patty Berg won the Women's Open
in Erie, Pennsylvania, on June 22.
Peter Thompson of the United States won a
play-off with Dave Thomas of England at St.
Anne's-on-the-Sea, England, on July 5 for the British
Open title.
Dan Sikes, a law students at the University of
Florida, won the U.S. Public Links
title in Chicago, Illinois, on July 12.
Dow Finsterwald won the Professional
Golf Association Tournament in
Haverstown, Pennsylvania, on July 20. The win was
accomplished with a final-round 67 that included
a 31 on the front nine, and his final total of
276 gave him a two-stroke lead over second place
Bill Casper, Jr. Third place went to Sam Snead,
who shot 280, and Jack Burke, Jr.'s 281 gave him
fourth.
Barbara McIntire won the Women's
Western Amateur title in Chicago,
Illinois, on July 26.
The United States won the America's
Cup Golf Team matches in San Francisco,
California, on September 5-6 over Canada and
Mexico.
Australia defeated the United States in a
playoff on October 13 to win the first Four-Man
Team World Amateur Golf Title and
Eisenhower Trophy, at St. Andrews, Scotland.
The PGA Senior Championship
was won by Gene Sarazen with a 288, three strokes
under runner-up Charles Sheppard. Sarazen later
lost to Norman Sutton for the Teachers
International Senior Trophy.
Dow Finsterwald was voted PGA Pro of
the Year. His average of 70.18 strokes
per round was second to Bob Fosbury's 70.11, and
he was the fourth highest money winner with a
total of $35,393 in prize money. Arnold Palmer,
who earned $42,607, was the leading money winner
for the season; Bill Casper, Jr., was second with
$41,323 and Ken Venturi was third with $42,267.
Horton Smith, pro at Detroit (Michigan) Golf
Club, became the 20th member of the PGA
Hall of Fame. The winner of 33 major
tournaments during his career, Smith was a
two-time winner of the Masters.
In
the Year 1958
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