Smith worked as a club professional at Midlothian Country Club, near
Chicago, in his early adulthood. During this time he won the
1899 U.S. Open, played at
Baltimore Country Club's Roland Park Course. He won by a margin of eleven shots. This record wasn't broken during the entire 20th century and wasn't surpassed until
Tiger Woods won the
2000 championship by fifteen shots. Smith's prize was $150. He played in nine U.S. Opens in total, and made the top-10 in eight of them, but he did not win again. In 1899, Smith won the first
Western Open in a playoff against
Laurie Auchterlonie. He also won the 1900
California State Open. In 1904, Smith moved to
Mexico City to become the golf pro at the Mexico City Country Club. He was injured during the
Mexican Revolution. He had refused to leave his post at the country club and was found trapped under a fallen beam after
Emiliano Zapata's troops ransacked the club which they saw as a symbol of the corrupt ruling class. He was tasked with designing a new course, the
Club de Golf Chapultepec, however due to his death it was completed by his brother
Alex Smith. ==Death==