188O-1910
Golf Champion

Son of Greenskeeper.

Willie Anderson, the first golfer to win four U.S Open titles, was the son of Tom Anderson, a Scottish immigrant, who worked as a greenskeeper. Willie and his brother, Tom Jr., learned how to play golf from their father, and both became professionals. A muscular man, with strong shoulders and forearms, Anderson developed a game characterized by a smooth swing and superb concentration. After finishing second in his first U.S. Open in 1897, losing the championship by a single stroke to Joe Lloyd, he placed third in 1898, fifth in 1899, and a distant eleventh in 1900.

U.S. Open Champion.

Anderson captured his first U.S. Open title in 1901, defeating Alex Smith by one stroke in a playoff round at the difficult Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. After a fifthplace finish in 1902, he captured three consecutive U.S Opens...