Few sporting upsets have stood the test of time quite like golf player Francis Ouimet’s victory at the 1913 US Open. More than a century later, it remains one of the greatest underdog stories in golfing history. At just 20 years old, Ouimet, a local amateur golfer from Massachusetts, stunned the world by defeating two of the most celebrated golfers of the era, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, in an 18-hole playoff. His shock victory helped transform how the sport was viewed in the US and left a lasting legacy.
The Perfect Underdog Story
What made Ouimet’s victory so special was the contrast between him and the players he beat. Harry Vardon was the dominant golfer of his generation, already a multiple Open Championship winner and widely considered the best player in the world. Ted Ray was also a major champion and one of the most feared competitors in professional golf. Both men had travelled from Britain and were expected to dominate the tournament. After all, British players had won all but two of the previous US Opens.
Ouimet, by comparison, was basically unknown on the international stage. He was a 20-year-old amateur, not a touring professional, and came from a working-class family. His father was a French-Canadian immigrant, and Ouimet had learned the game as a caddie at The Country Club in Brookline, the very course where the tournament was being played. It was the most convenient location to host the US Open for Ouimet as he lived directly across the street from the course.
How the 1913 US Open Unfolded
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Ouimet recorded a score of 77 during the first round, putting him six strokes behind Alex Ross and Macdonald Smith. The Scottish pair struggled in the second round while Ouimet showed improvement. The amateur American remained a fair way off the leader at the halfway point, however. Strong rounds from Wilfrid Reid and Harry Vardon saw Ouimet four strokes off the pace coming into the third round.
Consistency proved key as Ouimet recorded another 74, putting him as the joint leader alongside Ted Ray and Harry Vardon. The trio then all recorded scores of 79 for the final round, meaning there would need to be a three-way playoff to determine the winner. Despite registering three double bogeys in the playoff, Ouimet proved much better at hitting par, and this calm consistency handed him a five-stroke victory.
Although not flawless, Ouimet’s dominant playoff display came as a complete shock to all those watching. It was such an upset that, many years later, it became the inspiration for the book The ‘Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf’, written by Mark Frost and published in 2002. Three years later, the book was adapted into a film, with Shia LaBeouf starring as Ouimet.
Why the Win Was So Significant
This was the first time an amateur had won the US Open, so Ouimet made history with his win. Amateur status is not why the victory continues to be remembered, as several other non-professionals have also won the US Open, including Jerome Travers in 1915 and Chick Evans in 1916, both of whom followed shortly after Ouimet. There is also Bobby Jones, who won the tournament a staggering four times as an amateur.
What made Ouimet’s triumph so special is that he, a largely unknown figure, beat two of the biggest stars in the game. This was not a fortunate win against a weak field. Indeed, the tournament had been postponed to enable top British players to compete. In the playoff, he defeated the world’s best players at the height of their powers, and in some style. Around 8,000 to 10,000 spectators visited to watch the final day of action, which at the time was the largest and most enthusiastic crowd seen at a US golf event.
The iconic image of Ouimet standing alongside his 10-year-old caddie, Eddie Lowery, only added to the romance of the occasion. It perfectly captured the David-versus-Goliath nature of the story and helped cement the moment in sporting history. Here was an ordinary working-class man, able to participate only because his employer had kindly given him time off work, suddenly becoming headline news after defeating the biggest names in golf.
The Impact on American Golf
Ouimet’s victory had a huge influence on golf’s popularity in the United States. Before 1913, golf was often viewed as a sport for the wealthy, with strong British roots and limited appeal to the wider American public. His win changed that perception almost overnight. For many Americans, it made golf feel more accessible and more distinctly American.
Other talented American amateurs existed at the time, such as Jerome Travers, who beat Ouimet at the US Amateur months before the 1913 US Open, so in this sense, Ouimet was not one-of-a-kind. However, unlike most others, Ouimet had a wider public appeal because he was just an ordinary guy, from a relatively poor background. Indeed, he could not even afford his own equipment when first getting into the game. He taught himself to play using his brothers’ clubs and balls he found around the course while caddying.
This is why Ouimet became a symbol of possibility and ambition, showing that someone from outside the traditional golf establishment could rise to the top.
What Happened After the Famous Win?
Ouimet wanted to become a businessman to secure a steady source of income, rather than becoming a professional golfer. He first became a banker, then a stockbroker, before becoming a financial adviser at Brown Brothers Harriman.
Despite this focus on a traditional career, Ouimet continued to play golf as an amateur. He won the US Amateur twice (1914 and 1931) and for years was a regular part of America’s Walker Cup team when the tournament began in 1922. Many years later, in 1974, he was posthumously inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Francis Ouimet Scholarship
Francis Ouimet may not be a well-recognised name across the globe, with his US Open win coming over a century ago, but it is fairly well-known in the state of Massachusetts. This is partly because of the Francis Ouimet Scholarship Fund, which awards significant need-based college scholarships to deserving students who have worked at Massachusetts golf courses.
Established by friends of Ouimet in 1949, the fund has awarded more than $57 million in scholarships to nearly 7,000 scholars and alumni over the course of its history. It is a fitting legacy for Ouimet, who lived and died in Massachusetts and whose own journey in the sport first began as a caddie.