death_date majorwins prowins year birth_date usopen death_place extour wghofid spouse awardssection image name fullname pga birth_place pgawins height award masters nickname open retired wghofyear yearpro article_title otherwins
26 september 2006 5 64 1939 2000 2006 1944 , 1945 1944 , 1945 1974 1997 4 february 1912 '' ` won '' ' : 1939 roanoke , texas , u.s. pga tour byron-nelson louise -rrb- peggy nelson -lrb- m. 1987 -- 2006 ; his shofner death -rrb- -lrb- ? -- 1985 ; her death #awards 2006 byron nelson congressional gold medal front.jpg byron nelson john byron nelson , jr. . '' ` won '' ' : 1940 , 1945 waxahachie , texas , u.s. 52 -lrb- 6th all time -rrb- 6 1 vardon male athlete of the year bob jones award pga tour trophy lifetime achievement award payne stewart award congressional gold medal pga tour leading money winner associated press '' ` won '' ' : 1937 , 1942 lord byron '' ` won '' ' : 1939 1946 1974 1932 byron nelson
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byron nelson

john byron nelson , jr. -lrb- february 4 , 1912 -- september 26 , 2006 -rrb- 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 .
