Byron Nelson
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The cover of a book about Byron Nelson's record breaking 1945 season. |
John Byron Nelson, Jr. (born
February 4,
1912) was a
PGA Tour golfer between
1935 and
1946. He was born in
Dallas, Texas. He and two others of the greatest golfers of all time,
Ben Hogan and
Sam Snead, were born within 6 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 in 1945. He retired at age 34 to be a rancher.
Nelson won his first major event at
The Masters in
1937. Nelson would subsequently win four more major tournaments, the
U.S. Open in
1939, the
PGA Championship in
1940 and
1945, and a second Masters in
1942.
Nelson lost many chances at major championships due to
World War II. In 1945, while The Masters was postponed, Nelson won 18 tournaments including a record 11 in a row. In his career, Nelson won 52 professional events. After 1946, Nelson curtailed his schedule although he continued to make regular appearances at The Masters as a ceremonial starter for many years. Nelson's record of 113 consecutive cuts made is second only to
Tiger Woods' 142. It should be noted that 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 unequalled 113 consecutive top 20 tournament finishes. Woods has only managed 21 consecutive top 20 finishes in his career.
In 1968 the Dallas Open stop on the PGA Tour was renamed the Byron Nelson Golf Classic, and this tournament — most recently known as the
EDS Byron Nelson Championship — remains the only tour stop named after a professional golfer.
In 1974, Byron Nelson received the
Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the
United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. He has been inducted into the
World Golf Hall of Fame.
Nelson is often referred to by the nickname "Lord Byron", after the
poet.
Texas State Highway 114 Business through
Roanoke, Texas is named Byron Nelson Boulevard, as Nelson resides there.
*1935 (1) New Jersey State Open
*1936 (1) Metropolitan Open
*1937 (2)
The Masters, Belmont Country Club Match Play
*1938 (2) Thomasville Open, Hollywood Open
*1939 (4)
Phoenix Open,
North and South Open,
U.S. Open,
Western Open*1940 (3)
Texas Open, Miami Open,
PGA Championship*1941 (3)
Greater Greensboro Open, Tom O'Shanter Open, Miami Open
*1942 (3) Oakland Open,
The Masters, Tom O'Shanter Open
*1944 (8) San Francisco Victory Open, Knoxville War Bond Tournament, New York Red Cross Tourney, Tom O'Shanter Open, Nashville Open,
Texas Victory Open, San Francisco Open, Minneapolis Four-Ball (with
Harold "Jug" McSpaden)
*1945 (18)
Phoenix Open, Corpus Christi Open,
New Orleans Open, Charlotte Open,
Greater Greensboro Open, Durham Open, Atlanta Open, Montreal Open, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Victory National Open, Tom O'Shanter Open,
Canadian Open, Knoxville Invitational, Esmeralda Open, Seattle Open, Glen Garden Open,
PGA Championship, Miami Four-Ball (with
Harold "Jug" McSpaden)
*1946 (6)
Los Angeles Open, San Francisco Open,
New Orleans Open,
Houston Open, Columbus Invitational, Chicago Victory National Open
*1951 (1)
Bing Crosby Pro-AmMajor championships are shown in
bold.
