1959 in sports

See also: 1958 in sports, other events of 1959, 1960 in sports and the list of 'years in sports'.

Table of contents

1 Auto Racing 2 Baseball 3 Basketball 4 Boxing 5 Cycling 6 Figure Skating 7 Football (Soccer) 8 Football (American) 9 Canadian Football League 10 Golf 11 Thoroughbred Horse Racing 12 Harness Racing 13 Ice Hockey 14 Tennis 15 General sporting events 16 Births 17 Deaths

Auto Racing

• Stock car racing:
  • Lee Petty won the inaugural Daytona 500
  • NASCAR Championship - Lee Petty
• Indianapolis 500 - Rodger Ward
• USAC Racing - Rodger Ward
• Formula One Champion - Jack Brabham of Australia
• 24 hours of Le Mans: Carroll Shelby / Roy Salvadori won driving an Aston Martin DBR1
• Rally racing - Paul Coltelloni / P Alexandre won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Citroen ID
• Drag racing:
  • Chris the "Greek" Karamesines won the AHRA "Top Fuel"
  • Rodney Singer won Top Eliminator at the NHRA Nationals

Baseball

• March 3 - The San Francisco Giants officially name their new stadium Candlestick Park.

• World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers win 4 games to 2 over the Chicago White Sox. The Series MVP is Larry Sherry, Los Angeles

Basketball

• NCAA Men's Basketball Championship:
  • California wins 71-70 over West Virginia

• NBA Finals:
  • Boston Celtics win 4 games to 0 over the Minneapolis Lakers

Boxing

• June 26 - in New York City, Ingemar Johansson scored a 3rd round TKO over Floyd Patterson to win the World Heavyweight Championship

Cycling

• Tour de France - Federico Bahamontes of Spain

Figure Skating

• World Figure Skating Championships:
  • Men's champion: David Jenkins, United States
  • Women's champion: Carol Heiss, United States
  • Pairs champions: Barbara Wagner & Robert Paul, Canada

Football (Soccer)

• England - FA Cup: Nottingham Forest won 2-1 over Luton Town

Football (American)

• NFL Championship: Baltimore Colts won 31-16 over the New York Giants

Canadian Football League

• Grey Cup: Winnipeg Blue Bombers win 21-7 over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Golf

Men's Golf

• Grand Slam of golf results:
  1. May - The Masters golf tournament - Art Wall, Jr
  2. June - US Open - Billy Casper
  3. July - British Open - Gary Player
  4. August - PGA Championship - Bob Rosburg

• PGA tour's leading money winner for the year: Art Wall - $53,168

• Ryder Cup: United States 8 1/2 to 3 1/2 over Britain in world team golf

Women's Golf

• US Women's Open - Mickey Wright
• LPGA Championship - Betsy Rawls
• Betsy Rawls: leading money winner on the LPGA tour, earning $26,774.

Thoroughbred Horse Racing

• Australia - Melbourne Cup - Macdougal
• Canada - Queen's Plate - New Providence
• France - Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe - Saint Crespin
• Ireland - Irish Derby Stakes - Fidalgo

• English Triple Crown Races:
  1. Two Thousand Guineas Stakes - Taboun
  2. Epsom Derby - Parthia
  3. St. Leger Stakes - Cantelo

• United States Triple Crown Races:
  1. Kentucky Derby - Tomy Lee
  2. Preakness Stakes - Royal Orbit
  3. Belmont Stakes - Sword Dancer

Harness Racing

• Adios Butler is the first to win the United States Pacing Triple Crown races:
  1. Cane Pace - Adios Butler
  2. Little Brown Jug - Adios Butler
  3. Messenger Stakes - Adios Butler

• United States Trotting Triple Crown races:
  1. Hambletonian - Diller Hanover
  2. Yonkers Trot - John A Hanover
  3. Kentucky Futurity - Diller Hanover

• Australian Inter Dominion Harness Racing Championship:
  • Pacers: Young Pedro

Ice Hockey

• Art Ross Memorial Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer during the regular season: Dickie Moore, Montreal Canadiens

• Hart Memorial Trophy for the NHL's Most Valuable Player: Andy Bathgate, New York Rangers

• Stanley Cup: Montreal Canadiens win 4 games to 1 over the Toronto Maple Leafs

• World Hockey Championship
  • Men's champion: Belleville McFarlands from Canada

Tennis

• Grand Slam in tennis mens results:
  1. Australian Open - Alex Olmedo
  2. French Open - Nicola Pietrangeli
  3. Wimbledon championships - Alex Olmedo
  4. US Open - Neale Fraser

• Grand Slam in tennis womens results:
  1. Australian Open - Mary Carter-Reitano
  2. French Open - Christine Truman
  3. Wimbledon championships - Maria Bueno
  4. US Open - Maria Bueno

• Davis Cup: Australia wins 3-2 over the United States in world tennis.

General sporting events

Births

• February 4 - Lawrence Taylor, American football star
• February 11 - Corinne Shigemoto, US judo coach
• February 16 - John McEnroe, tennis player
• March 17 - Danny Ainge, basketball player, coach, baseball player

Deaths

• War Admiral - thoroughbred race horse
• January 22 - Michael Hawthorn, F1 race driver
• September 28 - Rudolf Caracciola, F1 race driver