There was no green jacket for Masters champions back then. Nelson instead received a gold medal from Bobby Jones. Nelson's every step during that final round was followed by -- imagine this! -- noted sportswriter O.B. Keeler. They met afterward in the locker room. "O.B. told me I reminded him of a poem by Lord Byron about Napoleon's defeat at the Battle of Waterloo," Nelson said. "I didn't know much about Lord Byron, except that he drank a lot and died young. I have never taken alcohol in my life, but my father was named John Byron because his mother liked Lord Byron's works and I was John Byron Jr.
Anyway, the next day, the headline over Keeler's story was, 'Lord Byron Wins Masters.' That's how I got the nickname, Lord Byron. I earned $1,500 for winning that Masters. Just two weeks before, I took a head pro's job at Reading CC in Pennsylvania for a guaranteed salary of $3,750. Together, that meant I wouldn't have to borrow any more from [wife] Louise's parents. That also helped my frame of mind going into the 1937 Masters, knowing I had a good position in Reading. But that doesn't change how I felt about that victory. The Masters was a wonderful tournament. We never thought it would become what it is. Tickets were something like $3 then, and there weren't many people in the galleries, not like now. But 1937, it meant everything to me. Everything."
Whether those "few minutes" with Lord Byron was his last interview is unimportant. His people say it was certainly one of the last. He asked if I had enough material and then thanked me. On Sept. 26, 2006, Byron Nelson died at 94. In the pantheon of gentlemen golfers, he retired the gold medal.
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