History: Nissan Open  PGATOUR.COM Contributor The Tiger Woods victory streak on the PGA TOUR survives into mid-February, drawing the requisite comparisons with Byron Nelson's wins in 11 consecutive official starts in 1945.  (Condon/WireImage)
With seven titles in his back pocket, Woods has jumped to second place on the all-time list, passing Ben Hogan's six victories in the summer of 1948 and Woods' own half-dozen in 1999-2000. But run a finger a bit further down that item in the TOUR records and you find three instances of winning four starts in a row: Hogan in 1953, Jack Burke Jr. in 1952 and Nelson in 1945-46. That's right. Everyone obsesses on Nelson's phenomenal 11-tournament streak from March to August 1945, as World War II drew to a close. But he came back a few months later and reeled off four more, including No. 3 the first full week of January 1946 at Riviera Country Club. Nelson helped the Junior Chamber of Commerce affix a big, gold star to its 20th edition of the Los Angeles Open, now known as the Nissan Open. Nelson's even-par 284 at Riviera, then one of the most demanding sites in the circuit's 44 events, left him five shots clear of Hogan and six ahead of Jim Ferrier, Jimmy Demaret and Chandler Harper. "Looks as if they'll have to rebuild the golf courses to keep him from spread-eagling the field, or else handicap him with weight as they do the hay burners [horses]," Braven Dyer wrote of Nelson in the next morning's Los Angeles Times. "Or put blinkers on him and make him play blind." What made Nelson's victory more astounding was that the L.A. Open was one of the few significant titles he lacked. He'd lost his 11th attempt the previous year when Sam Snead birdied the 72nd hole. Riviera was the fifth L.A. Open venue he'd played in that time. Although Nelson came in having won his last two 1945 starts, the Seattle Open and Glen Gardner Invitational, just as much chatter focused on Hogan and Snead's prospects. Also in the mix was Mildred (Babe) Didrikson Zaharias, who fought her way through the 36-hole qualifier to make the field proper (she shot 81-81 and missed the cut). Nelson made his way to the Pacific Ocean after Christmas and tuned up for the new season in earnest, skipping a chance to catch Alabama stomping Southern Cal, 34-14, in the Rose Bowl. It was the last game before the Rose inaugurated its traditional showdown between the Pacific Coast and Big Ten conference champs. There was a military air to the first round as the day's four top scorers were all former servicemen: Snead (68, Navy), Demaret (69, Navy), five-time Australian Open and Amateur champ Ferrier (69, Army) and Vic Ghezzi (70, Army). Nelson, barred from military service thanks to a blood condition, recorded a 71 that included botching an 18-inch putt. The next day, Nelson intensified his ball striking, hitting 17 greens and keeping to the fringe of the other in a two-under 69. Nelson may have three-putted twice in the second round -- from 20 feet at the fourth and from just on the 14th fringe -- but his one-shot cushion over Snead and Ferrier was all but daunting. "When you give Nelson the lead, you'll never catch him," said Willie Hunter, Riviera's head pro and a competitor in every L.A. Open. "He isn't like the others -- he never slips much." Foes may have remained close in the third round, but Nelson's pursuers crumpled in Monday's concluding round. Snead made a triple-bogey 8 at the 11th, where he suffered a penalty stroke when his ball moved while he removed eucalyptus twigs. Ferrier three-putted five times. And Hogan made a double at the fifth when he hit into trees and, according to the Times, "topped his shot coming out, winding up in a [bunker]." Nelson had the potential for his own scare, needing an eight-footer for bogey at the seventh. ³Snead and Ferrier, who were two shots behind me when we started the final round, were out ahead of me, you remember, and I got the word that neither was going so well," Nelson said. ³So I figured that even par the rest of the way would put me in." He lost one other shot to par but a 72-72 conclusion was sufficient. The man who won $34.50 in Los Angeles in 1933 took home $2,666.67 in Victory Bonds this time. A week later the story was unchanged in the $15,000 Victory Bond San Francisco Open, where he won a third straight time. Nelson again led after the second day, a four-shot margin, and won by nine over Herman Barron. The Associated Press called it ³one of the finest fields ever assembled for the P.G.A. winter tournament circuit." Although Nelson lost his next start, he won subsequent tournaments in New Orleans, Houston, Columbus and the Chicago Victory National Open. The latter marked his 52nd and final official title: Nelson, 34, purchased a ranch north of Fort Worth, Texas, at season's end and severely curtailed his competitive schedule. Nelson died last September at the age of 94 on that Roanoke property. It was a few weeks shy of the 60th anniversary of the beginning of his four-victory streak, even now one of the most overlooked in the game's history. |
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