UNDOUBTEDLY one of the greatest golfers of all time, Willie Anderson's short life saw him hailed as America's first golfing great.

Born in North Berwick in 1878, Anderson was the son of a greenkeeper who took his family to the USA in 1895. A year later, young Willie was appointed golf professional at the Misquamicut Club on Rhode Island.

His career as a professional took off in sensational fashion. The following year, in his first attempt to win the US Open, he finished a remarkable second. He was just 19.

In 1901 he won his first US Open title, beating Alex Smith in a play-off at the Myopia Hunt Club in South Hamilton, Maine. The members would not allow professionals in their clubhouse, but Anderson literally dug his heels into their immaculate lawn. "We're no goin' tae eat in the kitchen," he said, and the club duly erected a special tent for the paid competitors.

It was to be the start of an unprecedented period of domination of American golf which was not matched until the late 1990s - Anderson was the Tiger Woods of his era.

In 1903, Anderson was so superior to the rest of the US Open field at Baltusrol that he could afford to take an eight at a par-three hole in the final round and still win.

In 1904, he sauntered to a five-shot victory over Gill Nichols at Glen View Golf Club in Illinois, and in 1905 his unique hat-trick was won by two shots over Alex Smith, again at Myopia.

Anderson's record of four wins in five years has never been bettered, even by the likes of Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan and Jack Nicklaus, who are the only other golfers to have won the US Open four times. In 14 US Opens he never finished outside the top 15, and was in the top 10 placings on 11 occasions.

At that time the second most important US tournament was the Western Open. Anderson won that event four times too: in 1902, 1904, 1908, and 1909.

Yet Anderson, who was noted for his grim determination on the course, sowed the seeds of his own destruction in the 19th hole.

Like so many other sporting Scots he enjoyed a drink, perhaps using a dram to help him overcome natural shyness and a dislike of fuss. Though it was never proved, his fondness for alcohol may have contributed to his tragically early death.

After the 1910 Open, in which he tied for 11th, he began a punishing non-stop series of exhibition matches, the main method by which top professionals earned their income in those days. In October that year, Anderson played a 36-hole match, but became seriously ill and had to return to his home near Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania. He died two days later, with the cause of his death listed as arteriosclerosis. He was just 32