Byron Nelson
| Byron Nelson | |
|---|---|
| — Golfer — | |
c. 1944
|
|
| Personal information | |
| Full name | John Byron Nelson, Jr. |
| Nickname | Lord Byron |
| Born |
February 4, 1912 Waxahachie, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | September 26, 2006 (aged 94) Roanoke, Texas, U.S. |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Nationality |
 United States
|
| Spouse | Louise Shofner Nelson (1913–1985) (m. 1934–1985) Peggy Simmons Nelson (b. 1944) (m. 1986–2006) |
| Children | none |
| Career | |
| College | none |
| Turned professional | 1932 |
| Retired | 1946 |
| Former tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Professional wins | 64 |
| Number of wins by tour | |
| PGA Tour | 52 (6th all time) |
| Other | 12 |
| Best results in major championships (wins: 5) |
|
| Masters Tournament | Won: 1937, 1942 |
| U.S. Open | Won: 1939 |
| The Open Championship | 5th: 1937 |
| PGA Championship | Won: 1940, 1945 |
| Achievements and awards | |
| World Golf Hall of Fame | 1974 (member page) |
| Vardon Trophy | 1939 |
| PGA Tour leading money winner |
1944, 1945 |
| Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year |
1944, 1945 |
| Bob Jones Award | 1974 |
| PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award |
1997 |
| Payne Stewart Award | 2000 |
| Congressional Gold Medal | 2006 |
| (For a full list of awards, see here) | |
John Byron Nelson, Jr. (February 4, 1912 – September 26, 2006) was an American professional golfer between 1935 and 1946, one of the greats not only in his day but over the history of the sport.
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 and lending his name to the HP Byron Nelson Championship, 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, Byron Nelson received the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the United States Golf Association in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf.
Nelson became the second recipient of the PGA Tour Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997, and was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1974. He received the 1994 Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, GCSAA's highest honor. Nelson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal in 2006.
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 later 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 in later life.
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