The facet of Byron Nelson's character that most fascinates and mystifies me
is that such a gentle, lovable man of such refreshingly simple tastes and
Christian attitude can have turned himself at will into such a ruthless,
record-setting golf machine, a veritable cold-eyed Texan killer of the
links.
Nelson dominated the PGA Tour to such an extent in 1944 and 1945 that his
records will probably remain the most elusive in the history of golf. So much
for that old adage, now comprehensively disproved, that “nice guys finish
second,” or was that last?
Nelson's 18 victories in 1945, 11 of them coming consecutively, tend to
obscure the stifling domination of his rivals that Nelson had started to exhibit
in 1944. In his excellent autobiography How I Played the Game, written with his
second wife Peggy, he says, “So much has been written about 1945 and what I did
then that my performance in 1944 has been kind of overlooked. I played in 21 of
the 23 tournaments and won eight of them. I was second five times, third five
times, fourth once and sixth twice. My winning margin was from one to 10
strokes, and I was also runner-up in the PGA (Championship). So 1944 was a good
year for me also.”
In 1946 Nelson won only six of the 21 events he entered and promptly withdrew
from regular competition in 1947, retiring to his newly purchased ranch at
Roanoke, Texas. He had nothing more to prove. And he made sure he would remain
retired by sending his clubs to the MacGregor Company rather than taking them
home to present himself with a constantly visible temptation.
Nelson was born on February 4, 1912, on his parent's cotton farm near
Waxahachie, Texas. As a schoolboy, his family moved to Fort Worth where Byron's
school chums were earning small change caddying at Glen Garden Country Club. He
eventually joined the caddie gang, which is how he first met Ben Hogan. Nelson
and Hogan competed in the nine-hole caddies' Christmas tournament, and tied at
40 over a par-37 layout. The members made the pair play off over another nine
holes, and this time Nelson prevailed by a single shot.
By spring 1927 Nelson, who had studied the game from Harry Vardon's book, was
working for Ted Robinson, a good player and professional at Glen Garden.
Nelson's first brush with big-time tournament golf came about at the end of that
summer, when Robinson took him to watch the PGA Championship at Cedar Crest
Country Club in Dallas.
Walter Hagen was playing Al Espinosa in the semi-final, and the former was
having a problem squinting into the sunlight at one hole. Nelson calmly offered
the great man his schoolboy baseball cap, and Hagen took it, played his shot
eight feet from the hole and returned the headgear. Hagen went on to win the
championship, but Nelson didn't bother to keep the cap. Throughout his
illustrious career, Nelson never hung on to any equipment for sentimental
reasons.
