Nelson compares Tiger to Bobby Jones
By RON SIRAK / AP Golf Writer
IRVING, Texas (AP) - Byron Nelson shifted slightly in his seat, bothered a bit by the balky hips that ended his playing days, and thought back over his 75 years in golf - from $1,000 purses to $1,000 sets of irons, from Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods.
The 85-year-old patriarch of the Byron Nelson Classic spoke with pure appreciation and not a note of jealousy about the incredible growth of golf that will push the average PGA Tour purse past $3 million by the end of the century.
And he spoke with crystal-clear recollection and modest pride of the pioneering days of the game, when players traveled by car and the most important equipment was a good set of tires and new sparkplugs.
In 1945, Nelson accomplished one of the most incredible feats in the history of sports, winning 18 tour events - including an astounding 11 in a row. He also set a record that still stands for the lowest stroke average for a season - 68.3.
There were no $40 million Nike contracts back then and no $200 million TV deals. But Nelson's feat did not go unrewarded.
"Well, I got some Wheaties," Nelson said about the free case he received after his picture appeared on the cereal box. "But not until after I had won seven or eight in a row did I get them. And I got 200 bucks."
Nelson, who started in golf life in 1922 as a caddie at Glen Garden Country Club in nearby Fort Worth, left the tour fulltime after the 1946 season, when the total prize money was $411,533. Forty-eight players won more than that last year.
"I did not ever dream in my wildest imagination there would be as much money or that people would hit the ball so far," said Nelson, sitting in the clubhouse at the TPC course at the Four Season Resort during the tournament named after him.
"I only won $182,000 in my whole life," he said. "In 1937, I got fourth-place money at the British Open - $187 - and it cost me $3,000 to play because I had to take a one-month leave of absence from my club job to go."
The last tournament Nelson won was the French Open in 1955, and his 10,000-franc prize was not enough to pay the hotel bill.
"I had to put up another $200," he said with a huge smile.
Nelson recalls names, dates and places with shocking ease - throwing out sentences like: "When Tommy Armour won at Oakmont in 1927..." as if it were written on a piece of paper in front of him. He is a master at putting everything in a historical context.
About the incredible growth of prize money in golf, he said: "A few years ago, did you think the stock market would hit 7,200?"
And to put Woods in the proper perspective, Nelson reaches back to Jones, who won the Grand Slam in 1930, when Nelson was 18.
"When Bob Jones won the Grand Slam, he had a tremendous following and people followed him like the do Tiger," Nelson said. "He had a tickertape parade down Broadway in New York." In fact, Jones is the only person to have two tickertape parades down Broadway.
Woods, Nelson said, is the perfect package of talent and personality at the perfect time.
"The name Tiger, he has a great smile and the background he has," Nelson said. "Someone just comes along at a time and has something no one else has."
Asked what makes Woods special as a golfer, Nelson sounded like he was describing his own swing when he analyzed the motion of the 21-year-old.
"He has perfect balance," Nelson said. "His coordination from the feet up is all synchronized. And you've got to feel through your sight. He does that great."
Then, with a graceful demonstration of the part of the golf swing from the waist on the downswing to the waist on the follow through, Nelson said: "From here to here, you can't see anything because he moves so fast."
Beside the flowing swing, Nelson sees another similarity.
"I was taught to do the best I could possibly do," he said. "When he hits a bad shot, he doesn't like it. He wants to do the best he can do and when he doesn't, he doesn't like it."
Nelson stirred to get up, reached for his cane, then gave another glimpse into what made him special.
"I don't know very much," he said. "I know a little bit about golf. I know how to make a stew. And I know how to be a decent man."
If the stew is anywhere near as good as the golf or the man, it's some good eating.