Top Individual Seasons in Men's Golf History

Joe DiMaggio, 1941

What is considered a perfect season? Baseball is mainly judged by statistics: batting average, RBIs, and homeruns to mention some. The best season award may still go to Joe DiMaggio. With the 56-game hitting streak, a record still standing, DiMaggio’s 1941 season is considered one of the most outstanding.

Top individual golf seasons are measured mainly in the events won (majors and non-majors), and the total money earnings in a year. Not as much emphasis is put on an average score or a statistic as in baseball. So deciding on who brings home the title for the best season of all isn't as easy. But there are plenty of players to choose from. 



Bobby Jones, 1930

Records date back from 1870, the first year of the British Open, and the world has seen several tremendous players and seasons. Starting with Bobby Jones' 1930 pre-Masters Grand Slam title: winning the British Amateur, British Open, US Open, and finally the US Amateur, all this as an amateur, is, of course, one of the favorites. Nobody has ever won the Grand Slam since Jones, although six players have completed the Career Grand Slam, winning each major at least once.

In 2000-01, 70 years later, Tiger Woods became one of the first players to come close to complete the Grand Slam since Jones. Woods was the title holder of all four majors simultaneously (he won the US Open, British Open, PGA Championship in the year 2000, and the Masters 2001), but since he didn’t hold all four titles in one calendar year, this wasn’t considered a Grand Slam.

Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, 1942

Ben Hogan had a number of astonishing seasons. During his 1953 season, he only played in seven events, but after winning five of them, he still lead the PGA tour in wins. He also won all three majors he entered. (At the time, the British Open overlapped with the PGA Championship qualifying rounds; Hogan chose to play in the British Open.)

Byron Nelson, 1945

But above all, according to Brent Kelley of About.com, the best season of all goes to Byron Nelson. (To read Kelley's full article Top 10 Individual Seasons in Men's Golf History, click here.) In 1945, while the world was in the turmoil of World War II, this well-known player had a tremendous golf year. After being exempt from the military service due to a blood disorder, Nelson started his incredible winning streak at the Miami Four-Ball in March. He continued on to win the Charlotte Open, Greensboro Open, Durham Open, Atlanta Open, Montreal Open, Philadelphia Inquirer Invitational, the Chicago Victory National Open, The PGA Championship, the Tam O’Shanter Open, and to finish it up, the Canadian Open. His earnings totaled up to just below $35,000 for these eleven – yes, eleven – consecutive wins. He won a total of 18 tournaments in 1945. (He actually won one additional tournament during the eleven consecutive wins; however, it consisted of only 36 holes and therefor wasn't considered an official tournament.)

"Iron Byron"

Nelson also finished second another seven times, finishing top-two a total of 25 times that year. He had improved his scoring average by one whole shot from the previous year, and played better golf than the PGA had ever seen. His scoring average that year was 68.33; a record that stood for 55 years. (Only to be broken in 2000 by… well, Tiger Woods, of course.) Nelson also won the only major held in 1945, the PGA Championship.

Described as exquisite, Nelson’s swing became the model for the modern golf swing. When the USGA developed a robot to test golf clubs and balls, the robot was nick-named “Iron Byron.”

Interviewed about his incredible season, Nelson said: “At the time I can’t remember feeling much of anything – I was close to being numb. I had this wonderful momentum going and I didn’t seem to have to worry about anything or think about anything – everything I hit went pretty much where I wanted it to go. I was almost in a trance. I don’t know whether the moon got in a certain phase and just hung there or what. I’m inclined to think it was something like that, I really am. I believe we’re all affected by conditions we can’t understand, and that the laws of chance can lead to some strange things. I’m not superstitious, but it’s always struck me funny that you can go for weeks and never see a traffic accident, and then you’ll see three in one day. How do you account for that? I don’t pretend to know.” 

The Brandenburg Historical Golf Museum is the home of some incredible pieces of memorabilia from the Byron Nelson era. From pictures to books, make sure to look through these displays to find these unique items.

Byron Nelson display
Brandenburg Historical Golf Museum
Cinnabar Hills Golf Club