# Golf legend Byron Nelson dies at 94



## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Golf legend Byron Nelson dies at 94
ESPN.com news services

DALLAS -- DALLAS -- Professional golfer Byron Nelson, who had the greatest year in the history of professional golf when he won 18 tournaments in 1945, including 11 in a record row, died Tuesday. He was 94.

Byron Nelson: 1912-2006
• Won 52 PGA Tour events, including 11 in a row in 1945 (an all-time record). He won 18 total tournaments that year.
• Won five total majors (1937 and '42 Masters, 1939 U.S. Open, 1940 and '45 PGA Championship)
• Made 113 consecutive cuts at one point, second all-time to Tiger Woods' 142
• Last win was 1951 Bing Crosby Pro-Am

His death was confirmed by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office. No cause of death was listed on its Web site.

Known as Lord Byron for his elegant swing and gentle manner, Nelson won 31 of 54 tournaments in 1944-45. Then, at age 34, he retired after the 1946 season to spend more time on his Texas ranch.

The namesake of the Byron Nelson Classic, Nelson was passed by Tiger Woods for fifth on the all-time career victory list earlier this month. Woods won the Deutsche Bank Championship on Sept. 4 for his 53rd career victory; Nelson has 52.

"When I was playing regularly, I had a goal," Nelson recalled years later. "I could see the prize money going into the ranch, buying a tractor, or a cow. It gave me incentive."

That incentive pushed Nelson to become one of the best players of his era. He won the Masters in 1937 and '42, the U.S. Open in 1939 and the PGA Championship in 1940 and '45.

In 1945, Nelson won a record-setting 11 tournaments in a row, a mark also being challenged by Woods. Woods has won five consecutive PGA Tour events so far this season.

"In this day and age, with this competition, to win 11 in a row would be almost unheard of," Woods said after his fifth straight victory when asked how Nelson's accomplishment compared with others, like Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak.

Career PGA Tour wins leaders
Rank Player Wins
1 Sam Snead 82
2 Jack Nicklaus 73
3 Ben Hogan 64
4 Arnold Palmer 62
5 Tiger Woods 53
6 Byron Nelson 52
7 Billy Casper 51
8 Walter Hagen 44
9 Cary Middlecoff 40
T-10 Gene Sarazen 39
T-10 Tom Watson 39

"What Byron accomplished, that goes down as one of the great years in the history of our sport. ... DiMaggio's record, I see that being broken more than winning 11 in a row."

Woods' next PGA Tour start will be the American Express Championship outside London at the end of September.

Nelson also finished second once in the U.S. Open, twice in the Masters and three times in the PGA. Nelson played in British Open only twice, finishing fifth in 1937.

Nelson's long, fluid swing is considered the model of the modern way to strike a golf ball and his kind, caring style with fans and competitors made him one of the most well-liked people in sports.

"I don't know very much," Nelson said in a 1997 interview with The Associated Press. ``I know a little bit about golf. I know how to make a stew. And I know how to be a decent man.''

His second British Open was in 1955, when he was no longer a serious competitor, although he did win the French Open on that trip for his last professional victory. *His prize money, however, was not enough to pay the hotel bill.*

"I had to put up another $200," he told the AP with a huge smile.

Nelson was born Feb. 4, 1912, on the family farm and started in golf in 1922 as a caddie at Glen Garden Country Club in Fort Worth. One year, he won the caddies' championship, defeating Ben Hogan in a playoff.

It was the beginning of a rivalry that never really materialized. Though they were born six months apart, Nelson won all five of his major championships before he was 34 and Hogan won all nine of his after he was 34.

After graduating high school, Nelson got a job as a file clerk in the accounting office of the Forth Worth and Denver Railroad and played golf in his spare time.

He lost his job during the Great Depression but found work in 1931 with a bankers' magazine. The same year, he entered his first tournament, the National Amateur in Chicago, where he missed qualifying by one stroke. With jobs hard to find, he turned professional in 1932.

Nelson started out competing against Gene Sarazen and lived to see Woods, an era that went from hickory shafts to titanium heads.

He made an appearance each year at the Masters, joining Sam Snead and Gene Sarazen in hitting the ceremonial first balls, and hosted the Byron Nelson Classic each May.

"I did not ever dream in my wildest imagination there would be as much money or that people would hit the ball so far," Nelson said in his 1997 interview with the AP.

*"I only won $182,000 in my whole life," he said. "In 1937, I got fifth-place money at the British Open -- $187 -- and it cost me $3,000 to play because I had to take a one-month leave of absence from my club job to go."
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He was one of the true legends of golf. He was Tiger Woods back in his day and had the guts to leave the game early in life after dominating the Tour...

Ryan


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