Willie Smith was born in Dundee, Scotland on 8 October 1876.[1] He learned to play golf in Carnoustie. His brothers Alex and Macdonald were also expert golfers.
Smith worked as a club professional at Midlothian Country Club, near Chicago, in his early adulthood. During this time he won the 1899 U.S. Open, played at Baltimore Country Club's Roland Park Course.[2] He won by a margin of eleven shots. This record wasn't broken during the entire 20th century and wasn't surpassed 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 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.[3] He was tasked with designing a new course, the Club de Golf Chapultepec, however due to his death it was completed by his brother Alex Smith. It has hosted the Mexican Open multiple times, and the WGC-Mexico Championship since 2017.[4][5]
^Brenner, Morgan G. (2009). The Majors of Golf: Complete Results of the Open, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and the Masters, 1860-2008. Vol. 1. McFarland. ISBN978-0-7864-3360-5.
^Kelly, Bill (4 August 2011). "Kelly's Golf History". kellysgolfhistory.blogspot.com. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
† indicates the event was won in a playoff; ‡ indicates the event was won wire-to-wire; # indicates the event was won by an amateur; 1942–1945 cancelled due to World War II
Scotland
Bert Way
