Modest St Andrews house with unrivalled view of Old Course sets new Scottish price record

• The view from the property.

But this outwardly modest home in St Andrews has been revealed as the most expensive property per square foot to be sold in Scotland.

No 9 The Links would not pass as a multi-millionaire's mansion, but it does possess what is arguably the best view from a house in world golf.

Its uninterrupted views over the 18th green of the historic Old Course – where the final moments of the Open Championship take place when it is held in the town – have persuaded a wealthy American businessman to fork out in excess of the 3.75 million asking price for the 2,279sq ft property.

That means he has paid at least 1,350 per sq ft, putting the St Andrews address on a par with prices in London and Monaco, two of the most expensive property markets in the world.

For that, he and his friends and colleagues will be able to watch Tiger Woods and the other stars of professional golf putt out at the Open in July.

The sale is part of a North American takeover of the area around the 18th green.

Hamilton Halls, the property to the immediate south of the hallowed turf has recently been sold to the Canadian billionaire Herb Kohler, who also owns the nearby Old Course hotel.

The three-storey house at 9 The Links, originally built in 1854, has a narrow frontage and inside has only three reception rooms and five bedrooms, with a small courtyard garden at the back. But its main selling point is the view from the balcony on the third floor, which has unrivalled views over the 18th green, the first tee, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club clubhouse and the Fife and Angus coastlines beyond.

Although the identity of the buyer has not been disclosed, property agents said the house had attracted "considerable interest" from "wealthy amateur golfers from all over the world" during the Dunhill Cup at St Andrews last autumn.

Golf fanatics among those willing to pay the $7,500 (4,900) entrance fee to play in the tournament included rock stars Tico Torres (Bon Jovi), Don Felder (The Eagles) and Huey Lewis. Actors Kyle Maclachlan and Guy Kinnear were also there, as were numerous wealthy businessmen from the US and Canadian financial sector, who could use the house for corporate entertaining.

Jamie Macnab, a partner with Savills, the selling agent, said 9 The Links was known as the "Royal Box" of golf, and a similar house elsewhere in St Andrews was likely to fetch only about 750,000.

"The property was offered for sale in the second half of 2009 at an asking price of offers over 3.75m and has an extraordinary setting, overlooking the 18th green of the Old Course.

"There was considerable interest shown in the property over the Dunhill Cup in October, when St Andrews attracted wealthy amateur golfers from all over the world.

"Now the buyer will be able to watch Tiger Woods putt out at the final hole from the balcony in front of his master bedroom."

He said UK house-hunters had concluded that the house was too expensive. However, "the weak pound meant that buyers from America had a very different viewpoint, with serious bids having been submitted by a number of different purchasers".

Scotland's most expensive home is believed to be Seton Castle, in East Lothian, which sold to a new technology entrepreneur for 5m in 2007. But with 18,000sq ft on offer, this worked out at a comparatively paltry 277 per sq ft.

Macnab said the price paid for 9 The Links "has not been seen in the rest of Scotland and is equivalent to prices in prime international locations such as London and Monaco. Prices in prime Edinburgh are generally around 400 per sq ft, although 600 per sq ft has been achieved for the highest quality town houses".

The St Andrews house, which has had a chequered recent history of ownership, sold for only 4,750 in the 1950s. Then, in 2004, it was bought by English businessman Paul Mulholland for 2m, and he upgraded the property into its present form as a corporate hospitality venue.

However, it was taken into administration when his financial fortunes deteriorated and sold to a consortium of Fife businessmen in February 2007 for 2.95m.

They tried to sell the house as a timeshare, asking an extraordinary 750,000 for each of 12 shares, but that scheme failed due to the global recession, prompting its return to the market.

It has witnessed some historic golfing moments. One of the greatest was in 1970 when Jack Nicklaus famously threw his putter in the air after securing victory. He had won a play-off after Doug Sanders threw away what looked like certain victory by missing a 3ft putt. Then, more than a decade later, the charismatic Spaniard Seve Ballesteros punched the air in triumph after winning in 1984, while the last Briton to win an Open on the Old Course was Nick Faldo in 1990.