Willie Campbell (golfer)
| Willie Campbell | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
Campbell, c. 1885, preparing to hit a shot
|
|
| Personal information | |
| Born |
14 July 1862 Musselburgh, Scotland |
| Died | 25 November 1900 (aged 38) Dorchester, Massachusetts |
| Nationality |
 Scotland United States
|
| Spouse | Georgina Campbell |
| Children | 2 |
| Career | |
| Status | Professional |
| Best results in major championships |
|
| Masters Tournament | DNP |
| U.S. Open | 6th: 1895 |
| The Open Championship | 2nd: 1886 |
| PGA Championship | DNP |
Willie Campbell (14 July 1862 in Musselburgh, Scotland – 25 November 1900 in Dorchester, Massachusetts) was a Scottish professional golfer. He reached the top ten in The Open Championship eight times in the 1880s. Campbell emigrated to America in 1894. He finished alone in sixth place in the 1895 U.S. Open which was the first U.S. Open, held on Friday, October 4, at Newport Golf Club in Newport, Rhode Island.
Like many golfers from his era, he started out as a caddie at the links at Musselburgh. At this time he and David Brown—along with Willie Park, Jr. and Willie Dunn—were a quartet of "boy wonders" who would all become golf champions. The most noteworthy incident in this early portion of his career was his defeat of Bob Ferguson—a champion golfer who won The Open Championship in three successive years from 1880–82—when he was only 13 years old. Campbell's strength was his ability in match play. In 1882, when Campbell was 20 years old, an admirer offered to back him against the world for $30,000. From 1883 to 1888 he played anyone who would accept his challenge to play for money and never lost during that period.
Campbell was one of the very first foreign professional golfers to come to the United States, and his coming was due to W. B. Thomas, who was at the time of Campbell's death in 1900 serving as president of the United States Golf Association. Campbell served for many years as the head professional at The Country Club, located in Brookline, Massachusetts near Boston, which would later play host to the famous 1913 U.S. Open won by Francis Ouimet. In the 1895 U.S. Open at Newport Country Club he came in sixth. Campbell resigned his post at The Country Club in 1896 to become professional at the Myopia Hunt Club. He final post before his death was at the municipal links at Franklin Park in Boston.
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Wikipedia