In the history of the U.S. Open, Willie Anderson (Scotland, 1876) is on a par with Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus. Anderson was the first to win four times that major and the only golfer in history to win the tournament in three consecutive editions. The sad part of his biography is that he died at the early age of 31.
Since his death in 1910, only five players, including Hogan (1950, 1951) and Curtis Strange (1988, 1989), have won two consecutive U.S. Opens, and only Hogan came close to winning four in five years, as did Anderson, in 1901, 1903, 1904 and 1905.
Alex Smith, a Scot who finished second to Anderson in two U.S. Opens, said that “most likely, had Willie lived longer, he would have set a Major record that would never have been surpassed.” From 1897 to 1910, Anderson won the aforementioned major four times, finished second and third once, was fourth twice and finished fifth three times. He also won the Western Open four times, which at the time was considered a Major.
Raised on the links in North Berwick, Scotland, Anderson was a stocky man with muscular shoulders and forearms and exceptionally large hands. His swing, characteristic of the Scots at the time, was known as the ‘St. Andrews Swing’. Although many consider his swing flawed, Anderson’s strokes were consistently accurate. Gene Sarazen was once practicing bunker shots when another pro asked him if Willie Anderson could get out of bunkers as well as he was doing. “Get out?” said Sarazen, “if he’s never been in them!”.
Anderson’s first U.S. Open victory was at the Myopia Hunt Club in 1901. Using a gutta-percha ball, he defeated Alec Smith in the first playoff in Open history. Down five strokes with five holes to play, Anderson turned the score around and defeated Smith 85-86. It was revenge for the 1897 Open, where Smith hit a brassie (equivalent to a 2-wood) that left the ball less than ten feet from the final hole and then holed the putt that defeated Anderson, who was only 17 years old at the time. That served as a showcase for Anderson to establish a social change. The custom was for the pros to take their lunch in the clubhouse kitchen, but Anderson wasn’t having it. “No, no, we’re not having lunch in the kitchen,” he said. A compromise was reached: the club set up a tent and the pros ate there.
After finishing fifth in 1902, Anderson continued his storied career. He won in 1903 at Baltusrol, where he later turned pro, in a playoff against Deacon Davey Brown. The following year, Anderson set the U.S. Open record for total strokes with 303 when he won by five over Nichollas Gil at Glen View Golf Club. In 1905 Anderson completed his consecutive hat trick by making up a five-stroke deficit with 36 holes to play on the Myopia course. His streak ended in 1906 at Onwentsia, where, needing 72 in the final round, he was only able to shoot 84.
Anderson was modest by nature, never flaunting his talent, letting his game speak for itself. That’s why he developed a reputation for austerity. “You didn’t know, looking at him, whether he was winning or losing,” said Fred McLeod, the 1908 U.S. Open champion.
Unlike J. H. Taylor and Harold Hilton, Anderson never wrote an instructional book, but he taught effectively and many amateurs adored him. He died in 1910, five years after winning his fourth U.S. Open. The official cause of his death was arteriosclerosis, a hardening of the arteries.
“How good was Willie Anderson?” wrote Robert Sommers in the USGA Golf Journal. “Those who played against him and watched the great players of recent years said he was as good as the best.”
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