The U.S. Open: The 10 Best Players From Each Decade
By Bill Felber
The U.S. Open: 1906-1916
The pre-War decade produced the greatest upset of Open history — Francis Ouimet – and also saw the arrival of two future stars, professional Walter Hagen and amateur Chick Evans. It also witnessed one of the great might-have-beens in sports history…more on that in a moment.
Ouimet, Hagen, and Evans all came to late to prominence to dominate the decade, leaving the podium to a certified veteran, Alex Smith.
Having finished runner-up to Anderson in both 1901 and 1905, Smith’s star rose as Anderson’s faded. He won the 1906 title, came home third in both 1908 and 1909, then won a three-way playoff in 1910 over John McDermott and his own brother, Macdonald Smith.
Top 10 players of the 1906 to 1916 Era.
1. Alex Smith, -1.26
2. John McDermott, -1.18
3. Gilbert Nicholls, -1.14
4. George Sargent, -1.07
5. Tom McNamara, -0.89
6. George Low, -0.88
7. Jock Hutchison, -0.88
8. Alex Campbell, -0.87
9. Fred McLeod, -0.72
10. Mike Brady, -0.67
Although Hagen, Evans, and Ouimet are the Hall of Fame names from this period, none competed in the requisite five Opens to produce a rating.
But take a moment to ponder the name in the No. 2 slot, McDermott. He was a local 18-year-old in 1910 when he snuck away from home to tee it up at Philadelphia Cricket Club course.
He surprised the field by finishing second, then one year later won another three-way playoff at Chicago Golf Club. That gave McDermott the distinction of being the first native-born U.S. player to win the tournament.
For good measure he repeated in 1912, then in 1913 came in eighth behind Ouimet. He was ninth in 1914, but had a mental breakdown while returning on a ship from that summer’s British Open, and had to be institutionalized for the rest of his life.
It was a sad ending for a player who might have been Hagen and/or Jones before either one of them.