Editing Byron Nelson (section)

==Professional career==

===Championship heyday===
After turning professional in 1932, Nelson served as a club professional in Texas and played as many significant tournaments as he could afford, to develop his game. Money was tight, as Texas was hit very hard by the [[Great Depression]]. A pair of top-three finishes in important Texas events encouraged him. He then took a club professional's job at the [[Ridgewood Country Club]] in [[New Jersey]] in 1935. 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. Nelson was among the first of a new generation of players who developed a full swing with increased leg drive leading the downswing; this is the forerunner of modern golf technique as practiced by top players, right to the present day. Nelson is sometimes credited as being the father of the modern golf swing. He refined the changes for a couple of years, and then took his game to the highest level of competition, the PGA Tour.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite book |title=Gettin' to the Dance Floor: An Oral History of American Golf |first=Al |last=Barkow |author-link=Al Barkow |year=1985 |publisher=Atheneum |isbn=978-0689115172}}</ref> Nelson's first significant victory was in 1935 at the [[New Jersey State Open]]. He followed this up with a win at the [[Metropolitan Open]] the following year. He reportedly won this tournament with "$5 in my pocket".<ref name="Interview">{{cite journal|url=http://www.golfonline.com/golfonline/features/kessler/columnist/0,17742,545269-3,00.html |title=Golf's great gentleman looks back – and ahead |access-date=May 22, 2007 |last=Kessler |first=Peter |journal=Golf Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927231301/http://www.golfonline.com/golfonline/features/kessler/columnist/0%2C17742%2C545269-3%2C00.html |archive-date=September 27, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1937, Nelson was hired as the head professional at the Reading Country Club in [[Reading, Pennsylvania]], and worked there until 1940, when he took a new job as head pro at the [[Inverness Club]] in [[Toledo, Ohio]].<ref name=dodson/> While at Inverness, Nelson coached and mentored the promising young player [[Frank Stranahan]], who would go on to stardom over the next two decades.

===Wins major championships===
Nelson won his first [[Men's major golf championships|major]] title at [[Masters Tournament|The Masters]] in [[1937 Masters Tournament|1937]], two shots ahead of runner-up [[Ralph Guldahl]]. During this tournament, he shot a first-round 66, which was the lowest first-round score at the Masters until [[1976 Masters Tournament|1976]], when [[Raymond Floyd]] shot a 65 en route to his victory.<ref name="Dallas">{{cite news |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/golf/stories/092706dnnewnelsonchrono.321c420.html |title=A course for success |access-date=May 22, 2007 |last=Townsend |first=Brad |newspaper=The Dallas Morning News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061103054912/http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/golf/stories/092706dnnewnelsonchrono.321c420.html |archive-date=November 3, 2006}}</ref> Nelson won four more majors, the [[U.S. Open (golf)|U.S. Open]] in [[1939 U.S. Open (golf)|1939]], the [[PGA Championship]] in [[1940 PGA Championship|1940]] and [[1945 PGA Championship|1945]], and a second Masters in [[1942 Masters Tournament|1942]].

====World War II years====
Nelson had a blood disorder that caused his blood to clot four times slower than normal, which kept him out of military service during [[World War II]]. It has sometimes mistakenly been reported that he had [[hemophilia]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Nelson |first=Byron |title=How I Played the Game |year=1993 |publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing |isbn=978-0-87833-819-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780878338191 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>