Lord Byron

BYRON NELSON, Ben Hogan and Sam Snead, the first great American golf triumvirate, were all born in the same year, 1912, and they all had crisp, legible, enduring signatures. Hogan died in 1997, Snead in 2002 and Nelson, who left the vagabond life of the mid-century touring pro a decade or more before the other two, last week, at 94. You'll see their names on golf clubs, golf shirts and golf tournaments for years to come, not because they were so savvy at p.r., but for a more fundamental reason: They had character. Nelson--who in 1945 won a record 11 straight events--was the sport's consummate gentleman.

Lord Byron, to use his most unfitting nickname, was a deeply religious man who in retirement led a simple life on a working ranch in Texas. But unlike Hogan, his former caddie-yard rival, he made himself available to golfers and taught what he knew, most notably to Ken Venturi and Tom Watson, who learned from Nelson to slow down and breathe deeply while walking to the ball. Generations of teachers have been fixated on Hogan's odd, flat, handsy swing, but Nelson was the true progenitor of the modern golf swing: upright, simple, beautifully balanced, with few moving parts. You see echoes of Nelson's action every time Tiger Woods makes a swing.

He had been an honored ancient for decades but remained relevant all the while. At the Masters each April, Woods would always make it a point to spend time with Nelson. Tom Lehman, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain this year, sought advice and Biblical inspiration from Nelson. Lehman pulled out of a tournament in England to attend Nelson's funeral, where he was joined by dozens of other players, retired and active.

When a player received a handwritten note, adorned with that elegant signature, asking him to come play in the Byron Nelson Classic, it was almost impossible to say no. In 1996 Nelson requested the presence of Phil Mickelson, who was supposed to go on a vacation with his then fianc�e, Amy. Mickelson played--and won. Last Friday the Mickelsons were among the 2,220 mourners at Nelson's funeral. "Amy and I are so sorry for [ Nelson's widow] Peggy, but so happy for the great life of Byron Nelson," Mickelson said. "It should be an example for all golfers and for us all."

To TV watchers of a certain age, Nelson was Johnny Miller before there was a Johnny Miller, explaining the intricacies of the game as a commentator in the years when Arnold Palmer, slashing away, was making golf look more brawny than brainy. Byron Nelson never rushed a word, just as he never rushed a swing, or anything else in his graceful life.