1899 U.S. Open Golf Tournament Winner and Scores

The 1899 U.S. Open was the fifth time the tournament was played. The winner set a record for largest margin of victory that was not bettered for more than 100 years.

Winner: Willie Smith, 315

Where it was played: Baltimore Country Club in Baltimore, Maryland

Tournament dates: September 14-15, 1899

Leader after first round: Willie Smith and Willie Anderson, 77

Leader after second round: Willie Anderson, 158

Leader after third round: Willie Smith, 238

What Happened in the 1899 U.S. Open

Willie Smith won by 11 strokes over three runners-up. That margin of victory remained the largest in tournament history until Tiger Woods' 15-stroke win at the 2000 U.S. Open.

Smith was the co-leader after the first round with future four-time winner Willie Anderson, and trailed Anderson by one stroke at the 36-hole mark. With a 79, his second-sub 80 round, Smith opened a four-stroke lead following the third round.

In the final round, Smith carded his second 77 of the tournament and third sub-80 round (the only golfer to do that) to finish at 315. That was 11 strokes better than the second-place trio of Val Fitzjohn, George Low and Bert Way. Anderson, who went on to win the U.S. Open in 1901, 1903, 1904 and 1905, finished fifth, 12 strokes behind Smith.

Willie Smith was part of a famous Scottish golfing family. His brother Alex Smith won the 1906 U.S. Open and 1910 U.S. Open. Another brother, Macdonald Smith, never won a major but did win 25 PGA Tour titles. Willie finished runner-up to Alex in 1906, and also was second in the 1908 U.S. Open.

The golfer who finished last with a total of 422 strokes was an amateur named Ormsby McCammon. He had three rounds over 100, including a final-round score of 116.

1899 U.S. Open Final Scores

Willie Smith 77-82-79-77—315
Val Fitzjohn 85-80-79-82—326
George Low 82-79-89-76—326
Bert Way 80-85-80-81—326
Willie Anderson 77-81-85-84—327
Jack Park 88-80-75-85—328
Alex Smith 82-81-82-85—330
Henry Gullane 81-86-80-84—331
Laurie Auchterlonie 86-87-82-78—333
Peter Walker 84-86-77-86—333
Alex Findlay 88-86-79-81—334
Alex Campbell 83-80-79-94—336
a-Herbert Harriman 87-88-85-79—339
Alexander Patrick 82-83-84-90—339
Horace Rawlins 81-85-86-87—339
Alfred Ricketts 87-85-88-80—340
Bernard Nicholls 86-88-85-84—343
David Foulis 83-86-91-85—345
Harry Turpie 91-88-83-83—345
James Foulis 94-84-88-80—346
Gilbert Nicholls 90-83-86-87—346
Dan Leitch 87-85-85-90—347
Ernest Way 85-87-87-89—348
Writ Thompson 82-90-87-90—349
Fred Herd 85-86-93-86—350
John Shippen 86-88-88-88—350
Robert Braid 85-90-86-90—351
R. Stedman Patrick 85-92-88-86—351
Willie Tucker 89-91-87-84—351
William Donovan 88-89-91-86—354
David Hunter 89-86-89-90—354
Robert Thompson 90-95-85-85—355
Willie Dunn 91-91-85-89—356
a-Fred Menzies 86-90-95-85—356
James Campbell 88-91-87-91—357
R.B. Wilson 87-88-89-93—357
John Harrison 92-93-84-89—358
Donald Ball 88-85-92-95—360
Ed Fitzjohn 92-91-90-90—363
William Kirk 93-92-88-91—364
William Marshall 87-101-89-87—364
Fred Fitzjohn 94-91-94-86—365
Herbert Hoare 87-94-90-94—365
John Reid 90-93-95-87—365
Harry Rawlins 89-93-98-86—366
a-H.H. Cumming 91-92-91-93—367
John Forman 98-91-89-90—368
a-Courtney Jenkins 88-98-96-87—369
William Braid 95-92-88-98—373
John Tucker 97-93-93-91—374
a-Charles Cox 90-95-100-98—383
William Thompson 97-101-96-91—385
a-James Stillman 101-94-98-95—388
a-Wiliam McCawley 100-102-97-98—397
W.E. Stoddard 101-106-96-95—398
a-C.P. Linneaweaver 100-102-103-97—402
a-Ormsby McCammon 94-102-110-116—422

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