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Golf's Greatest Years - Byron Nelson
The streak in 1945
Posted: Saturday March 31, 2001 10:27 PM
Updated: Tuesday March 26, 2002 6:24 PM
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The Augusta Chronicle |
By John Boyette
The Augusta Chronicle
Sports fans are fascinated with numbers. Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak and Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point performance come to mind.
But when it comes to golf, you would be hard-pressed to improve upon Byron Nelson's numbers in 1945: 18 victories, 11 wins in a row, and a scoring average of 68.33 strokes per round. During the winning streak - a span of five months - Nelson's highest score in a stroke-play event was 72.
Nelson won the only major contested that year, the PGA Championship. The Masters, U.S. Open and British Open were all called off because of World War II.
Although the nation's attention was focused elsewhere, Nelson soon made headlines of his own. By the time the PGA Tour stopped in south Florida for the Miami International Four-Ball in March that year, Nelson already had won three times and placed second five times.
What he would achieve in the next five months would boggle the mind. Partnering with Jug McSpaden - together they were known as the Gold Dust Twins - Nelson won the Miami tournament to start his streak. Victories in Charlotte, N.C., Greensboro, N.C., Durham, N.C., Atlanta, Montreal, Philadelphia, Chicago, the PGA in Dayton, Ohio, the Tam O'Shanter in Chicago and the Canadian Open would follow.
How hot was Nelson during the streak? Of the 38 stroke-play rounds he played, 30 were in the 60s. At one point he fired 11 straight rounds in the 60s.
The streak came to an end in August at Memphis, Tenn., where Nelson tied for fourth. After that, he won four more times to give him 18 for the year.
But the number of victories and the streak aren't what Nelson remembers the most. Instead, it's the 113 consecutive times he placed in the money in the early 1940s that stick out. Golf purses were much smaller in those days and not everyone got paid.
``Most of the tournaments paid 20 places,'' Nelson said. ``The thing I remember more is the degree of consistency. I was very consistent. That gave me a feeling, a degree of where I played comfortable.''
Although some players were absent for part of 1945 while serving in the military, Nelson feels that the competition was pretty stiff. Sam Snead and Ben Hogan, Nelson's top rivals at the time, found time to play in nearly 50 tournaments combined.
``That's been exaggerated,'' Nelson said of the ``weak'' fields during 1945. ``Snead played in practically all of them and Hogan played in 18 or 20. That was pretty good competition.''
In the PGA Championship, Nelson had to win five matches against some of the game's top players. In order, he dispatched Gene Sarazen, Mike Turnesa, Denny Shute, Claude Harmon and Sam Byrd. Only the second-round match against Turnesa was close, with Nelson winning 1 up. All others were decided by a margin of at least 4&3.
``They weren't playing every week, but they were playing a lot,'' Nelson said of the top players.
The only thing Nelson was guilty of was poor timing. Television, the Internet and hordes of media covering an event were not the norm. Plus, a golf tournament paled in comparison to a global conflict.
``He was a little blurb back in the sports section,'' said Golfweb.com's Hauser. ``The news was, `What's happening in the Japanese theater? What's Hitler doing?' I think there were much more serious things going on.''
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| Byron Nelson |
Age : 33
Victories : 18
- Phoenix Open
- Corpus Christi Open
- New Orleans Open
- Miami International Four-Ball
- Charlotte Open
- Greater Greensboro Open
- Durham Open
- Atlanta Open
- Montreal Open
- Philadelphia Inquirer
- Chicago Victory National Open
- PGA Championship
- Tam O'Shanter Open
- Canadian Open
- Knoxville Invitational
- Esmerelda Open
- Seattle Open
- Glen Garden Invitational
Earnings : $52,511 (converted cash value of war bonds)
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| • Byron Nelson Player Page |
| • Byron Nelson Scorecard |
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Nelson admitted that publicity was virtually nonexistent during his time.
``Back in those days there was no television and the radio, you had to go downtown to go on radio,'' he recalled. ``All those things started being developed.''
He didn't mind being overlooked.
``I don't feel I was cheated any, actually,'' Nelson said. ``It was just unfortunate.''
Much like Bobby Jones, Nelson effectively retired as a competitive golfer at the height of his career in August 1946.
``The great year in '45 didn't have anything to do with it,'' Nelson said. ``I had goals set. I wanted to win every important tournament in the U.S.''
He achieved that by winning the Los Angeles Open in early 1946, adding it to such titles as the U.S. Open, Masters, PGA, Western Open and North and South Open. He would have quit sooner, but had obligations he couldn't break and played through the summer. He took his earnings and bought a ranch in Roanoke, Texas, where he lives today.
The only major title to elude Nelson was the British Open, which was on hiatus from 1940-45 during his prime years. He only played in it twice, finishing third in 1937 and 12th in 1955.
``I was a poor sailor,'' said Nelson, who noted that the trip in those days required 6 12 days on a ship. ``It took a month out of your summer. It just wasn't worth it.''
Nelson and Jones had one other thing in common: their relationship with the Masters Tournament. After his playing days were over, Nelson continued to play at Augusta National each spring. It was customary for Nelson to play with the leader in the final round. Nelson became an honorary starter in 1981, a role he said he'll cease after this year.
Always the polite Texas gentleman, Nelson begs off when asked about who owns the best year in golf.
``I don't really know. It's like comparing Jack Dempsey to Gene Tunney,'' he said. ``You can't compare because there were too many different things going on.''
Some writers choose Nelson when ranking the best years.
``I can't imagine anything better than 1945,'' said Sports Illustrated's Van Sickle. ``I would certainly rank Nelson No. 1.
``He was on a hot streak. In stroke play all you have to have is a couple of bad swings,'' he said. ``If you win 18 times in a year, I don't care if it's the Hooters Tour.''
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