Byron Nelson

TIGER WOODS almost never relinquishes a lead. He wins coming from far behind as well -- as he did on Sunday, making up seven shots in seven holes at Pebble Beach. Power and finesse, confidence and grace, he may have it all -- and he's strikingly mature at the age of 24. Sunday's victory gave him six PGA championships in a row. He presses to match the record set in 1945 by the man called Lord Byron. Mr. Woods probably won't win another five straight. And yet he has already surpassed many of golf's best players of this and any era. When Byron Nelson went on his tear, professional golf was a relative infant.

Rory Sabbatini's heart and sense of golf history certainly are in the right place. The sentiments of a defending champion, though, may not stand up to the hard-bitten realities of the contemporary PGA Tour. The Byron Nelson Championship plays its 43rd edition this week — honoring the gentlemanly "Lord Byron" whose run of 11 consecutive tournament wins and 18 in a season might as well be chiseled into the PGA Tour record books. "The only emissary this tournament will ever need is Byron Nelson's name," Sabbatini told reporters not long ago. "That in itself is inspiration enough for anybody on tour."

Nelson, lord of links, dies at 94 Byron Nelson, whose record of winning 11 consecutive professional golf events in 1945 remains one of sports' most unassailable records, died yesterday at his home in Roanoke, Texas. He was 94. The Tarrant County Medical Examiners office announced Nelson's death, according to the Associated Press. He died of natural causes. "The golf world suffered a devastating loss with the passing of a true gentleman, Byron Nelson. He was a legend who transcended generations.

Nelson, lord of links, dies at 94 Byron Nelson, whose record of winning 11 consecutive professional golf events in 1945 remains one of sports' most unassailable records, died yesterday at his home in Roanoke, Texas. He was 94. The Tarrant County Medical Examiners office announced Nelson's death, according to the Associated Press. He died of natural causes. "The golf world suffered a devastating loss with the passing of a true gentleman, Byron Nelson. He was a legend who transcended generations.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Old champions Gene Sarazen (92), Byron Nelson (82) and Sam Snead (82) were the honorary starters today in the 58th Masters golf tournament. A chilly north wind, gusting to about 25 mph, was blowing into their faces.Former champions Tommy Aaron and Gay Brewer were the first two in the competing field to tee off.* Earlier coverage, Page 9D.

PGA TourByron Nelson ClassicSite: Irving, Texas.Schedule: Today-Sunday.Course: TPC at Las Colinas (6,899 yards, par 70) and Cottonwood Valley (6,846 yards, par 70).Purse: $2.5 million.Winner's share: $450,000.TV: USA (Today-tomorrow, 4-6 p.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 2-4: 30 p.m.; Sunday, 3-6 p.m.).Last year: Tiger Woods won the third of four 1997 titles, closing with a 2-under 68 to match Ernie Els' 1995 tournament record of 17-under 263.Last week: Woods ended a 10-month winless streak on the PGA Tour, winning the BellSouth Classic at Duluth, Ga.Skinny: With last week's victory, Woods regained the No. 1 spot in the World Ranking from Els. David Duval, a five-time winner in his last 13 starts, withdrew Monday.

ROANOKE, Texas -- Byron Nelson at 80 is a jukebox waiting for a quarter. Drop one in and the records spin in his mind, and the words keep coming at you in exquisite detail. Events of 50 years ago seem as fresh as this morning's dew, and dates and numbers are recalled as if cue-carded."You have the mind of someone 60," his wife, Peggy, has told him.No, Nelson's problem with 80 is not looking back. "I've had a wonderful life," he says. Rather, what worries him is fast forward. He has peeked ahead, and the possibility of senility scares him."

DUBLIN, Ohio -- There was the ricochet chip off the bank and into the pond in front of the 11th green. There was the near-whiff from the rough in front of the 16th green. There was the badly hooked drive on the 18th hole into a creek left of the fairway.There was the 6-over-42 on the back nine after a 3-under 33 on the front.There was the 3-over 147 posted next to his name on the scoreboards at Muirfield Village Golf Club.And there was his name under barely making the cut yesterday '' after the second round at the Memorial Tournament.

POTOMAC -- For every Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, for whom success came early on the PGA Tour, there are scores of players who have labored in obscurity, ones struggling on and off the tour to achieve success.John Morse, who has played himself into Kemper Open contention with rounds of 69-68137, is one of the latter, having come to the tour in 1994 at the advanced age of 36.Today and tomorrow, he will be trying to get his game home in the same fashion he has pushed it to this point, a 5-under-par total, one stroke behind co-leaders D. A. Weibring and Mark Wiebe.

The streak began on a soggy Sunday afternoon 20 years ago this week. It began with little fanfare at Pine Ridge Golf Course in Timonium, at a long-forgotten LPGA tournament called the Greater Baltimore Golf Classic, with a 21-year-old rookie beating veteran Donna Caponi by three shots.Nancy Lopez doesn't recall much about the week or the win."I remember we putted on a temporary green," she said last week.But the victory for Lopez was just the beginning of her march into history.Her streak of five straight victories in tournaments she entered broke the record shared previously by LPGA Hall of Famers Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright, and was the third-longest run in professional golf behind Byron Nelson (11 in 1945)

COMPUTERS, carefully examined and feverishly retrofitted, took us into this year with new confidence in a fail-safe life. A vibrant economy all but erased our fear of mass layoffs. Consumers spent with even more exuberance than Americans seem programmed to do. (It's our patriotic duty to resist saving and to sustain the marketplace.) Life is good and totally predictable. The illusion of an environment capable of absorbing unlimited SUVs might well have gone undisturbed in 2000. And then a jolt.

TIGER WOODS almost never relinquishes a lead. He wins coming from far behind as well -- as he did on Sunday, making up seven shots in seven holes at Pebble Beach. Power and finesse, confidence and grace, he may have it all -- and he's strikingly mature at the age of 24. Sunday's victory gave him six PGA championships in a row. He presses to match the record set in 1945 by the man called Lord Byron. Mr. Woods probably won't win another five straight. And yet he has already surpassed many of golf's best players of this and any era. When Byron Nelson went on his tear, professional golf was a relative infant.

PGA TourByron Nelson ClassicSite: Irving, Texas.Schedule: Today-Sunday.Course: TPC at Las Colinas (6,899 yards, par 70) and Cottonwood Valley (6,846 yards, par 70).Purse: $2.5 million.Winner's share: $450,000.TV: USA (Today-tomorrow, 4-6 p.m.) and ABC (Saturday, 2-4: 30 p.m.; Sunday, 3-6 p.m.).Last year: Tiger Woods won the third of four 1997 titles, closing with a 2-under 68 to match Ernie Els' 1995 tournament record of 17-under 263.Last week: Woods ended a 10-month winless streak on the PGA Tour, winning the BellSouth Classic at Duluth, Ga.Skinny: With last week's victory, Woods regained the No. 1 spot in the World Ranking from Els. David Duval, a five-time winner in his last 13 starts, withdrew Monday.

The streak began on a soggy Sunday afternoon 20 years ago this week. It began with little fanfare at Pine Ridge Golf Course in Timonium, at a long-forgotten LPGA tournament called the Greater Baltimore Golf Classic, with a 21-year-old rookie beating veteran Donna Caponi by three shots.Nancy Lopez doesn't recall much about the week or the win."I remember we putted on a temporary green," she said last week.But the victory for Lopez was just the beginning of her march into history.Her streak of five straight victories in tournaments she entered broke the record shared previously by LPGA Hall of Famers Kathy Whitworth and Mickey Wright, and was the third-longest run in professional golf behind Byron Nelson (11 in 1945)

POTOMAC -- For every Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, for whom success came early on the PGA Tour, there are scores of players who have labored in obscurity, ones struggling on and off the tour to achieve success.John Morse, who has played himself into Kemper Open contention with rounds of 69-68137, is one of the latter, having come to the tour in 1994 at the advanced age of 36.Today and tomorrow, he will be trying to get his game home in the same fashion he has pushed it to this point, a 5-under-par total, one stroke behind co-leaders D. A. Weibring and Mark Wiebe.

DUBLIN, Ohio -- There was the ricochet chip off the bank and into the pond in front of the 11th green. There was the near-whiff from the rough in front of the 16th green. There was the badly hooked drive on the 18th hole into a creek left of the fairway.There was the 6-over-42 on the back nine after a 3-under 33 on the front.There was the 3-over 147 posted next to his name on the scoreboards at Muirfield Village Golf Club.And there was his name under barely making the cut yesterday '' after the second round at the Memorial Tournament.

COMPUTERS, carefully examined and feverishly retrofitted, took us into this year with new confidence in a fail-safe life. A vibrant economy all but erased our fear of mass layoffs. Consumers spent with even more exuberance than Americans seem programmed to do. (It's our patriotic duty to resist saving and to sustain the marketplace.) Life is good and totally predictable. The illusion of an environment capable of absorbing unlimited SUVs might well have gone undisturbed in 2000. And then a jolt.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Old champions Gene Sarazen (92), Byron Nelson (82) and Sam Snead (82) were the honorary starters today in the 58th Masters golf tournament. A chilly north wind, gusting to about 25 mph, was blowing into their faces.Former champions Tommy Aaron and Gay Brewer were the first two in the competing field to tee off.* Earlier coverage, Page 9D.