Nelson got early jump on Hogan
By BOB HARIG
Published September 28, 2006
Byron Nelson's resume was filled with numerous victories, but one usually does not show up in the record books. That's because it occurred when he was just 15 years old when he won the Glen Garden's annual caddie championship in 1927, defeating a guy named Ben Hogan by a single stroke.
Think about that.
Nelson, who died Tuesday at age 94, and Hogan, who died in 1997 - two of the biggest legends in golf, both having caddied at a club in Forth Worth before embarking on professional careers that were as different as they were extraordinary.
They have often been referred to as rivals, although that is not really the case.
Nelson won all five of his major championships before Hogan won the first of his nine. Nelson won 31 of 54 tournaments in 1944-45, then quit playing competitive golf after the 1946 season at age 34. He finished with 52 PGA Tour victories, a number that Tiger Woods surpassed this month but immediately recognized as a total that could have been much larger.
"He retired at a very early age, and if he would have kept playing another 10 years, kept playing to the longevity that the guys do now, I'm sure he probably would have even eclipsed Mr. (Sam) Snead," Woods said. "To (have one more victory). ... it's very misleading because his span of success was pretty impressive."
On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate approved a bill to posthumously grant Nelson the Congressional Gold Medal in recognition of his philanthropy. The House voted in May to award the medal to Nelson. The bill now goes to President Bush.
Nelson is most known for his record 11 straight victories and 18 overall in 1945. The accomplishment is often downplayed because it was during World War II and fields were considerably weaker. But Hogan and Snead had returned from tours of duty and played in many of those tournaments.
And often forgotten is the number of opportunities to win majors Nelson lost because of the war. He won the Masters in 1937 and 1942, the U.S. Open in 1939 and the PGA Championship in 1940 and 1945. But because of the war, 14 majors were not played during the early 1940s. His 1945 PGA win was the only major contested that year.
Hogan and Snead had the majority of their success after Nelson quit. Snead went on to win 82 times, the most in PGA Tour history. Hogan, who won three majors in 1953, ended his career with 64 wins.
Phil's finish: Phil Mickelson is apparently done for the year, skipping this week's American Express Championship and also suggesting that he will not play in the season-ending Tour Championship. Some would say his season really ended after the Bridgestone Invitational last month, because he sure did not show up at the Ryder Cup, where he had a 0-4-1 record. Mickelson is 1-9-1 in his past 11 matches at the Ryder Cup, an amazingly poor record for a player of his stature.
In 34 holes of better-ball with Chris DiMarco as his partner, Lefty made just two birdies on a soft course that featured four par-5s.
Praise for Darren: Zach Johnson got an up-close-and-personal view Sunday of the respect and adulation showed to Northern Ireland's Darren Clarke on the final day of the Ryder Cup. Six weeks to the day after his wife, Heather, died, Clarke rode a wave of emotion to a 3-and-2 victory over Johnson. He was 3-0 in the Ryder Cup.
"I expected it to be loud on the first tee, but it was like an 80,000-people stadium amassed around one tee box," Johnson said. "It was pretty remarkable and it was like that for him on every tee. Well deserved, too.
"As a player, we all know what Darren can do, how good he really is. But he's an even better person. I could have brought my A-plus game and still not beat him. The gods were on his side. He is a great guy."
First Tee: The First Tee of Tampa Bay is having a fundraiser on Monday at the TPC of Tampa Bay. The four-person scramble is $150 per player, with proceeds helping the organization expand in 2007 by creating a second site at Rogers Park Golf Course. The First Tee of Tampa Bay is located at Terrace Hills Golf Course.Call (813) 984-8655.