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John J. McDermott Jr. (born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania on August 8 1891; died August 2 1971)
was the first U.S. born golfer to win the U.S.
Open (golf)|U.S. Open. The first sixteen Open's
had all been won by British golfers who had
learned the game in England or Scotland, and
visited the United States to play in tournaments,
or in most cases, were resident in the U.S. as
club professionals. By 1910 the U.S. was starting
to produce its own professionals in quantity.
McDermott was an alumnus of the Philadelphia
caddie sheds and he lost out in a playoff to Alex
Smith (golfer)|Alex Smith in that year's U.S.
Open. The following year he won the Open by three
shots at the Chicago Golf Club, and he remains the
youngest U.S. Open Champion of all time at 19
years, 10 months and 12 days. In 1912 he retained
his title at the Country Club of Buffalo in New
York State. He shot 294 for four rounds on a par
74 course, making him the first man to break par
for seventy two holes. 

In 1913 McDermott won the Western Open, then the
second most prestigious professional tournament in
the United States. In 1914 he visited the UK to
compete in the Open Championship|British Open but
he arrived too late to play. On his way home his
ship collided with another vessel and he spent
some time in a lifeboat before being rescued.
Shortly after getting home he blacked out when
entering the clubhouse at the golf club in
Atlantic City where he was the club professional.
He spent the rest of his life in mental hospitals
and rest homes or living with his family in
Philadelphia, suffering from mental illness. He
never played golf again.

Although McDermott was the first American U.S.
Open champion, it is Francis Ouimet's 1913 victory
which is most often cited as the key event which
sparked widespread interest in golf in the United
States. McDermott had not defeated any of the
Great Triumvirate of British based players (Harry
Vardon, John Henry Taylor and James Braid) in his
two victories as they had not entered the
tournament, but Ouimet won a three man playoff
against Vardon, who widely regarded as the best
golfer in the world, and another leading UK-based
player, Ted Ray.