In 1903, he left for the United States to try his luck as a golf professional there, a route followed by many other Scots around that time as the golf clubs which were springing up rapidly in the U.S. had no experienced local professionals on whom they could call. He quickly found employment at the
Rockford Country Club in
Illinois, and later worked at several other clubs. Despite not having been a leading player in Scotland, McLeod soon made a name for himself as a first rate tournament player in the U.S. He acquired the nickname "the wasp" from fellow American professionals. He entered his first
U.S. Open within weeks of his arrival in America, and later that year he was fifth at the
Western Open. He won the
Riverside Open in 1905 and the
Western PGA Championship in both 1905 and 1907. The principal achievement of his career was his victory in the
1908 U.S. Open at
Myopia Hunt Club in
South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He was level with
Willie Smith after four rounds, but won the playoff by 77 shots to 83. McLeod was five feet four inches tall, and at the end of the tournament he was weighed at 7 stone 10 pounds (108 pounds, 49 kilograms), making him the smallest man ever to take the title. He competed in the U.S. Open twenty-two times and had eight top ten finishes. McLeod won several more professional tournaments: the 1909 and 1920
North and South Open at
Pinehurst, the 1912
Shawnee Open, the 1924
St. Petersburg Open, and the 1927
Maryland Open. In 1919, he was runner up to
Jim Barnes in the
PGA Championship. He took part in both the 1921 challenge match between teams of U.S based and British based professionals at
Gleneagles,
Perth and Kinross, Scotland, and in the follow-up 1926 match which was the immediate precursor of the first
Ryder Cup match in 1927. During this period McLeod wintered at
Temple Terrace, Florida (1925–26) where he worked with
James Thomson from
North Berwick. It was in Florida that McLeod was involved in the first 'Professional Golf League' in 1925. As the number of golf courses increased, many of top professionals were signed up in the winter months to represent the Florida clubs in a team competition.
Walter Hagen and
Joe Kirkwood, Sr. were signed up to
Pasadena Country Club,
Jim Barnes and Fred McLeod played for
Temple Terrace Golf and Country Club and
Gene Sarazen and
Leo Diegel represented
Hollywood Country Club. Although exhibition matches were still popular, this team format increased the players' earnings as they received 60% of the $2 entrance fee paid by spectators at the gate. At
Augusta National Golf Club, he played in the first four editions of the
Masters Tournament from 1934 to 1937, won the 1938
PGA Seniors' Championship held there, and acted as an honorary starter at the Masters from 1963 to 1976. He was a member of the group of senior professionals which established the senior division of the
PGA of America in 1937. == Personal life ==