Willie Smith (golfer)

Willie Smith
— Golfer —

Personal information
Full name	William Smith
Born	(1876-10-08)8 October 1876 Dundee, Scotland
Died	26 December 1916(1916-12-26) (aged 40) Mexico City, Mexico
Nationality	Scotland
Career
Status	Professional
Professional wins	3
Best results in major championships (Wins: 1)
Masters Tournament	DNP
U.S. Open	Won: 1899
The Open Championship	T5: 1910
PGA Championship	DNP

Willie Smith (8 October 1876^[1] – 26 December 1916) was a Scottish golfer. He was born in Dundee but learnt his golf in Carnoustie. His brothers Alex and Macdonald were also famous golfers.

While working as a professional at the Midlothian Country Club, near Chicago he won the fifth staging of the U.S. Open in 1899, which was played at the Baltimore Country Club, Roland Park Course. He won by a margin of eleven shots, which wasn't bettered until Tiger Woods won the 2000 championship by fifteen shots. Smith's prize was $150. He played in nine U.S. Opens in total, and made the top-10 in eight of them, but he did not win again.

In 1899, Smith won the first Western Open in a playoff against Laurie Auchterlonie. He also won the 1900 California State Open.

In 1904, Smith moved to Mexico City to become the golf pro at the Mexico City Country Club. He was injured during the Mexican Revolution. He had refused to leave his post at the country club and was found trapped under a fallen beam after Emiliano Zapata's troops ransacked the club which they saw as a symbol of the corrupt ruling class. He later died of pneumonia.^[2]^[3] His body was returned to Scotland for burial in the family plot.

Major championships

Wins (1)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runners-up
1899	U.S. Open	4 shot lead	77-82-79-77=315	11 strokes	Val Fitzjohn, George Low, Bert Way

Results timeline

Smith played in only the U.S. Open and The Open Championship.

Tournament	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899	1900	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909	1910
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	5	1	5^[4]	3	4	T9	DNP	T13	2	DNP	2	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	WD	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	T5

DNP = Did not play
WD = withdrew
"T" indicates a tie for a place
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10

References

↑ "Births in the District of St Andrews in the Burgh of Dundee". Statutory Births 282/04 01543. ScotlandsPeople. Retrieved 17 February 2015. (subscription required (help)).
↑ Willie Smith is Dead - New York Times, 27 December 1916
↑ "Willie Smith, Golf Pro., Dies in Mexico City", Trenton Evening Times (Trenton, New Jersey), 27 December 1916
↑ "Vardon Was the Winner - Took the Open Golf Championship at Wheaton Yesterday". The Saint Paul Globe. Minnesota Historical Society. 6 October 1900. Retrieved 9 April 2015.

External links

Article on early Scottish golfers in the U.S. (including the Smith brothers)

U.S. Open champions

1895 Horace Rawlins 1896 James Foulis 1897 Joe Lloyd 1898 Fred Herd 1899 Willie Smith 1900 Harry Vardon 1901 Willie Anderson† 1902 Laurie Auchterlonie 1903 Willie Anderson† 1904 Willie Anderson 1905 Willie Anderson 1906 Alex Smith 1907 Alec Ross 1908 Fred McLeod† 1909 George Sargent 1910 Alex Smith† 1911 John McDermott† 1912 John McDermott 1913 Francis Ouimet#† 1914‡ Walter Hagen 1915 Jerome Travers# 1916 Chick Evans# 1917–18 Cancelled due to World War I 1919 Walter Hagen† 1920 Ted Ray 1921‡ Jim Barnes 1922 Gene Sarazen 1923 Bobby Jones#† 1924 Cyril Walker 1925 Willie Macfarlane† 1926 Bobby Jones# 1927 Tommy Armour† 1928 Johnny Farrell† 1929 Bobby Jones#† 1930 Bobby Jones# 1931 Billy Burke† 1932 Gene Sarazen 1933 Johnny Goodman# 1934 Olin Dutra 1935 Sam Parks, Jr. 1936 Tony Manero 1937 Ralph Guldahl 1938 Ralph Guldahl 1939 Byron Nelson† 1940 Lawson Little† 1941 Craig Wood 1942–45 Cancelled due to World War II 1946 Lloyd Mangrum† 1947 Lew Worsham† 1948 Ben Hogan 1949 Cary Middlecoff 1950 Ben Hogan† 1951 Ben Hogan 1952 Julius Boros 1953‡ Ben Hogan 1954 Ed Furgol 1955 Jack Fleck† 1956 Cary Middlecoff 1957 Dick Mayer† 1958 Tommy Bolt 1959 Billy Casper 1960 Arnold Palmer 1961 Gene Littler 1962 Jack Nicklaus† 1963 Julius Boros† 1964 Ken Venturi 1965 Gary Player† 1966 Billy Casper† 1967 Jack Nicklaus 1968 Lee Trevino 1969 Orville Moody 1970‡ Tony Jacklin 1971 Lee Trevino† 1972 Jack Nicklaus 1973 Johnny Miller 1974 Hale Irwin 1975 Lou Graham† 1976 Jerry Pate 1977 Hubert Green 1978 Andy North 1979 Hale Irwin 1980 Jack Nicklaus 1981 David Graham 1982 Tom Watson 1983 Larry Nelson 1984 Fuzzy Zoeller† 1985 Andy North 1986 Raymond Floyd 1987 Scott Simpson 1988 Curtis Strange† 1989 Curtis Strange 1990 Hale Irwin† 1991 Payne Stewart† 1992 Tom Kite 1993 Lee Janzen 1994 Ernie Els† 1995 Corey Pavin 1996 Steve Jones 1997 Ernie Els 1998 Lee Janzen 1999 Payne Stewart 2000‡ Tiger Woods 2001 Retief Goosen† 2002‡ Tiger Woods 2003 Jim Furyk 2004 Retief Goosen 2005 Michael Campbell 2006 Geoff Ogilvy 2007 Ángel Cabrera 2008 Tiger Woods† 2009 Lucas Glover 2010 Graeme McDowell 2011‡ Rory McIlroy 2012 Webb Simpson 2013 Justin Rose 2014‡ Martin Kaymer

† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur

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