Godspeed Lord Byron

DALLAS (AP) -- Byron Nelson, who had the greatest year in the history of professional golf when he won 18 tournaments in 1945, including 11 in a record row, died Tuesday. He was 94. There was no cause of death listed on the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Web site Tuesday. Known as "Lord Byron" because of his elegant swing and gentle manner, Nelson won 31 of 54 tournaments in 1944-45. Then, at the age of 34, he retired after the 1946 season to spend more time on his Texas ranch. Byron Nelson had what many golfers believe to be the perfect swing. In fact the testing robotic swing machine that manufacturers and golf associations use to test balls and clubs is known as "The Iron Byron" because it supposedly mimics his pure swing. Nelson was a legend on and off the golf course. His book "Winning Golf" is still considered perhaps the greatest book on golf ever written...and he wrote it 60 years ago! He appeared nearly ever year at the tournament named for him The Byron Nelson Classic, and could almost always be found in a chair just off the 18th hole where every golfer would greet him after their final round. His record of 11 tournament wins in one year might wind up being the only record Tiger Woods doesn't break when his careers is over. Nelson and fellow Texan Ben Hogan, along with Sam Snead were the first power trifecta in a golden age of golf, though they would somewhat be overshadowed by Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player when their threesome ruled golf for the next two decades. "When I was playing regularly, I had a goal," Nelson recalled years later. "I could see the prize money going into the ranch, buying a tractor, or a cow. It gave me incentive." I don't know very much," Nelson said in a 1997 interview with The Associated Press. "I know a little bit about golf. I know how to make a stew. And I know how to be a decent man." Not a bad recipe for gentleman if you ask me.