Nelson and two other legendary champions of the time, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, were born within seven months of each other in 1912.

He received the 1994 Old Tom Morris Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, that organization's highest honor.

[6] When Nelson was 11 years old, the family moved to Fort Worth, where he barely survived typhoid fever after losing nearly half his body weight to the disease, which also left him unable to sire children[citation needed].

[9] In 1934, Nelson was working as a golf pro in Texarkana, Arkansas, when he met his future wife Louise Shofner, to whom he was married for 50 years before she died in 1985 after two severe strokes.

He worked hard on his game, having earlier realized that with the technological change from hickory to steel shafts, which was gathering momentum in the early 1930s, that the golf swing would have to adapt as well.

[9] While at Inverness, Nelson coached and mentored the promising young player Frank Stranahan, who would go on to stardom over the next two decades.

[13] During the war, Nelson gave hundreds of golf exhibitions across the country to raise money for charitable causes, often partnering with Harold "Jug" McSpaden, who was also exempt from military service.

Nelson's run of 11 wins started in March with the Miami International Four-Ball, where he partnered Jug McSpaden.

[16] But in reality many of the leading golfers of that time, including Sam Snead and Ben Hogan still played a full or at least part schedule that year.

This feat has since been matched by Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Billy Casper, and Tiger Woods.

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, at age 53.

Nelson gave paid golf exhibitions for many years after he retired from the Tour, notably after his 1951 Crosby victory.

Over nearly 70 years in the sport, Nelson played with many celebrities and well-known personalities, including: Roone Arledge, Bing Crosby, James Garner, Bob Hope, Bobby Knight, Randolph Scott, Ed Sullivan, Johnny Weissmuller, Lawrence Welk, and Babe Zaharias.

[20] Among the rising golf talents Nelson coached and mentored, from the 1950s to the 1970s, are World Golf Hall of Fame members Ken Venturi and Tom Watson, along with Marty Fleckman (who won the 1965 NCAA title and one PGA Tour event), and the dominant amateur Harvie Ward.

He was survived by Peggy, his wife of nearly 20 years, sister Margaret Ellen Sherman (1920–2007), and brother Charles (1926–2018), a professor emeritus at Abilene Christian University,[25] where Byron Nelson had been a trustee and benefactor.

[26] Nelson was often referred to as "Lord Byron", after the English poet by that name, in recognition of his reputation for gentlemanly conduct, a nickname given him by Atlanta sports journalist O.

On this list, Jack Nicklaus was first, Nelson's longtime rivals Ben Hogan and Sam Snead were second and third respectively, and Bobby Jones was fourth.

[30] A 2009 Sports Illustrated panel ranked him seventh on its list of all-time greatest golfers, behind Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Jones, Hogan, Snead, and Arnold Palmer.

[31] The "Iron Byron" electro-mechanical machine or robot, developed by Battelle Memorial Institute and True Temper Sports and used by the United States Golf Association and golf manufacturers to compare and test clubs and balls for conformity to standards, was named for Nelson, honoring the consistency of his swing.

Representative Michael C. Burgess (R-TX) sponsored the resolution, originally proposed on March 8, 2006, well before Nelson's death.

[36] Artist Chelle Adams painted two portraits of Byron Nelson in dedication which hang in the school's auditorium.

PGA Tour playoff record (6–4) Source:[37] (This list may be incomplete) Note: The PGA Championship was match play until 1958 1 Defeated Craig Wood and Denny Shute in a 36-hole playoff - Nelson (68-70=138), Wood (68-73=141), Shute (76) (eliminated after first 18) 2 Defeated Ben Hogan in an 18-hole playoff - Nelson 69 (−3), Hogan 70 (−2) NT = no tournament WD = withdrew CUT = missed the half-way cut R64, R32, R16, QF, SF = Round in which player lost in PGA Championship match play "T" indicates a tie for a place