He was a 24 year old good looking kid at the L.A. Open-Los Angeles Country Club, Jan. 12, 1936.
Interesting point about the consecutive cut record:
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. Nelson won the Vardon Trophy in 1939. He played on the U.S. Ryder Cup teams in 1937 and 1947 and was non-playing captain of the team in 1965.
That is a shame! Death happens to us all at some point or another and it is never easy when it does and he has left a lasting influence or legacy onto our game.
There is many a person that has said to me over the years that golf is but "just a game", however they fail to understand you need things to challenge, entertain, give people a base to interact, inspire....it serves to fill a great void that is missing in our current generations that live otherwise in a nintendo world. Byron Nelson has made a great contribution to the history to a sport and that is a very noble cause.
Well stated regarding the "game of golf". Those of us that have golf as a passion are very fortunate. I don't know where that passion originated for me (possibly from my Dad), but I'm so glad it did. I've met so many quality individuals, several who are now very close friends of mine and who share that same passion.
I remember Byron showing up at a little club event we were having back in the early 90's (shortly after he had cut his finger badly doing some of his wood-working) and watched all the groups tee off. I think he was there as a favor to our Pro. What a pleasant, unassuming man he was.
It still amazes me to think that he retired at 34, an age that is now seen as a golf professional's "prime".
In addition to Byron Nelson, 94, yesterday, we lost Patty Berg, 88, on September 10, and Johnny Palmer, also 88, on September 14. Patty won a record 15 major championships, and Johnny's victories included the Western Open, the Canadian open and the Colonial National Invitational.
These last two have a special meaning for me because they were the first golf professionals whose names I learned. Considering that Sam Snead and Ben Hogan were also very much on the scene at that time, how could that be?
Mom's clubs were a Patty Berg signature model. And Dad's were Johnny Palmer.
Actually, now that I think about it, Dad's 'lefty' clubs were Sears Johnny Bulla models, and we lost him at age 89 on December 7, 2003.
I know a gentleman that played the tour in the late 50's, 60's, and early 70's. He said Mr. Nelson would occasionally play an event. He got to know Mr. Nelson. As I recall, he said Mr. Nelson was very willing to talk to players that wanted to speak with him about golf, the golf swing, etc.. He was evidently a very good, and nice man.
Hybrid Mode
