Byron Nelson


John Byron Nelson Jr. was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, widely considered one of the greatest golfers of all time.
Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, were born within seven months of each other in 1912. Although he won many tournaments in the course of his relatively brief career, he is mostly remembered today for having won 11 consecutive tournaments and 18 total tournaments in 1945. He retired officially at the age of 34 to be a rancher, later becoming a commentator for ABC Sports and lending his name to the Byron Nelson Classic, the first PGA Tour event to be named for a professional golfer. As a former Masters champion he continued to play in that annual tournament, placing in the top-10 six times between 1947 and 1955 and as high as 15th in 1965.
In 1974, Nelson received the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. He became the second recipient of the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997. He received the 1994 Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, that organization's highest honor. Nelson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2006.

Early life

Born near Waxahachie, Texas, Byron Nelson was the son of Madge Allen Nelson and John Byron Nelson Sr.. His parents set a precedent for him not only in their long lives — Madge Nelson lived to age 98, and her husband to age 77 — but also in their religious commitment. Madge, who had grown up Baptist, was baptized in the Church of Christ at age 18, and John Byron Sr., raised Presbyterian, was baptized in the Church of Christ soon after meeting Madge. The senior Byron Nelson went on to serve as an elder in the Roanoke Church of Christ, and the younger Byron Nelson was a committed member of that congregation, even performing janitorial services there from time to time long after he became famous. He placed his membership at the Hilltop Church of Christ in Roanoke from 1989 until 2000, when he moved his membership to the Richland Hills Church of Christ in North Richland Hills, Texas.
When Nelson was 11 years old, the family moved to Fort Worth, where he barely survived typhoid fever after losing nearly half his body weight to the disease, which also left him unable to sire children. Soon after his baptism at age 12, he started caddying at Glen Garden Country Club. On his caddying days, Nelson said, "I knew nothing about caddying at first, but it wasn't difficult to learn. The other caddies, though, didn't like to see any new ones, because that might mean they wouldn't get a job sometime." An article on Nelson in Sports Illustrated noted that initially caddies were not permitted to play at the club: "e would often practice in the dark, putting his white handkerchief over the hole so he could find it in the darkness." The club later changed its policy and sponsored a caddie tournament, where a 14-year-old Nelson beat fellow caddie and future golf great Ben Hogan by a single stroke after a nine-hole playoff. Nelson and Hogan were rivals but close friends in their teen years, and for the first part of their professional careers as well, but Nelson's early success was difficult for the struggling Hogan to deal with, and they gradually grew apart, while retaining mutual respect.
In 1934, Nelson was working as a golf pro in Texarkana, Arkansas, when he met his future wife Louise Shofner, to whom he was married for 50 years before she died in 1985 after two severe strokes.

Professional career

Championship heyday

After turning professional in 1932, Nelson served as a club professional in Texas and played as many significant tournaments as he could afford, to develop his game. Money was tight, as Texas was hit very hard by the Great Depression. A pair of top-three finishes in important Texas events encouraged him. He then took a club professional's job at the Ridgewood Country Club in New Jersey in 1935. He worked hard on his game, having earlier realized that with the technological change from hickory to steel shafts, which was gathering momentum in the early 1930s, that the golf swing would have to adapt as well. Nelson was among the first of a new generation of players who developed a full swing with increased leg drive leading the downswing; this is the forerunner of modern golf technique as practiced by top players, right to the present day. Nelson is sometimes credited as being the father of the modern golf swing. He refined the changes for a couple of years, and then took his game to the highest level of competition, the PGA Tour. Nelson's first significant victory was in 1935 at the New Jersey State Open. He followed this up with a win at the Metropolitan Open the following year. He reportedly won this tournament with "$5 in my pocket".
In 1937, Nelson was hired as the head professional at the Reading Country Club in Reading, Pennsylvania, and worked there until 1940, when he took a new job as head pro at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. While at Inverness, Nelson coached and mentored the promising young player Frank Stranahan, who would go on to stardom over the next two decades.

Wins major championships

Nelson won his first major title at The Masters in 1937, two shots ahead of runner-up Ralph Guldahl. During this tournament, he shot a first-round 66, which was the lowest first-round score at the Masters until 1976, when Raymond Floyd shot a 65 en route to his victory. Nelson won four more majors, the U.S. Open in 1939, the PGA Championship in 1940 and 1945, and a second Masters in 1942.

World War II years

Nelson had a blood disorder that caused his blood to clot four times slower than normal, which kept him out of military service during World War II. It has sometimes mistakenly been reported that he had hemophilia. During the war, Nelson gave hundreds of golf exhibitions across the country to raise money for charitable causes, often partnering with Harold "Jug" McSpaden, who was also exempt from military service.

Career highlights

In his career, Nelson won 52 professional events, and, along with McSpaden, was one of golf's "Gold Dust Twins".
Nelson won the Vardon Trophy in 1939. He played on two Ryder Cup teams, in 1937 and 1947, and was non-playing captain in 1965. After 1946, Nelson curtailed his schedule, although he continued to make regular appearances at The Masters as a competitor, played occasional Tour events, appeared in a few overseas tournaments, and later served as a ceremonial starter for many years.

Record-breaking year

In 1945, Nelson enjoyed a record-breaking year, winning 18 PGA tournaments out of the 30 he played, including 11 in a row that he played in. Both records are yet to be beaten. Nelson's run of 11 wins started in March with the Miami International Four-Ball, where he partnered Jug McSpaden. He then won 10 individual events ending with the Canadian Open in August, a run that finished when he finished tied for fourth place in the Memphis Invitational. During this run, he won the 1945 PGA Championship, the only major championship played that year. The week after the PGA Championship he missed the St. Paul Open with a back injury. There has been debate as to how impressive these results are, as it was believed to be a weakened tour due to the war. But in reality many of the leading golfers of that time, including Sam Snead and Ben Hogan still played a full or at least part schedule that year. Snead won 6 times in 1945 while Hogan won 5 times in the latter part of the year. During this year Nelson finished second another 7 times, set a record for the scoring average that was broken by Tiger Woods in 2000, a record 18 hole score, and a record 72-hole score. This year is now known as the greatest single year by a player on the PGA Tour, as Arnold Palmer said: "I don't think that anyone will ever exceed the things that Byron did by winning 11 tournaments in a row in one year." Even more recently, Tiger Woods referred to the year as "one of the great years in the history of the sport".

Cut streak

Nelson's record of 113 consecutive cuts made is second only to Tiger Woods' 142. The PGA Tour defines a "cut" as receiving a paycheck, even if an event has no cut per se. In Nelson's era, only the top 20 in a tournament received a check. In reality, Nelson's "113 consecutive cuts made" are representative of his unequaled 113 consecutive top 20 tournament finishes. Almost half of those top 20s were during the weakened tour war years of 1944 & 1945. In fact, 26 of Nelson's 52 tour wins were during those two weakened tour years of 1944 & 1945. Before 1944 he had never won more than 4 events in any year.

First to win 50 PGA Tour events

With his win at the 1946 Columbus Invitational, Nelson became the first player to reach 50 career PGA Tour wins. This feat has since been matched by Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, and Tiger Woods.

Notable performances

Nelson achieved several notable performances of scoring and accuracy at key moments in major championships:
  • 1937 Masters: Nelson scored a birdie and an eagle on holes 12 and 13 in the final round, making up six strokes on his main rival Ralph Guldahl, who played those same holes with a double bogey and a bogey; Nelson went on to win.
  • 1939 U.S. Open: Nelson hit the flagstick six times on approach shots during the regulation 72 holes and the 36 playoff holes, he won the championship.
  • 1945 PGA Championship: In the semi-final 36-hole match against Jim Turnesa, Nelson was down four holes with five holes remaining. He played those finishing holes with an eagle and four birdies to win the match; Turnesa scored a birdie and four pars over those holes; Nelson won the title the next day.