'˜Forgotten' three-time Open winner Jamie Anderson is honoured

Three-time Open champion Jamie Anderson was honoured yesterday with the unveiling of a headstone 115 years after his death at the age of 63.

Jamie Anderson is one of only four golfers to have won three consecutive Opens, alongside Young Tom Morris, Bob Ferguson and Peter Thomson.

St Andrews-born Anderson died penniless in a poorhouse in Thornton, Fife, in 1903 and was laid to rest in the Cathedral graveyard just a short walk from the Old Course.

He is one of only four golfers to have won three consecutive Open championships (1877-79), alongside Young Tom Morris, Bob Ferguson and Peter Thomson.

Local author Roger McStravick launched a fund-raising campaign to erect a fitting memorial to one of the game’s true pioneers after discovering that Anderson’s grave was unmarked during research for his award-winning book, St Andrews in the Footsteps of Old Tom Morris.He said: “I felt like he was the forgotten golfer and it kept coming back to me that I needed to do something to correct that, so I contacted relatives of Anderson’s in Australia and they were 100 per cent behind the idea of erecting a memorial.

“The project took three years and we received donations from all over the world where golf is played, but most of the funding was provided by the R&A, the golf clubs of St Andrews and the St Andrews Pilgrim Foundation.”

The service was attended by a number of local dignitaries and various sporting figures including former Open champion Sandy Lyle who addressed the gathering.

McStravick, who also delivered a eulogy highlighting Anderson’s contribution to golf, added: “There was a sizeable crowd and the occasion was very emotional.”