European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 31, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse July 1985 the stars and stripes Page 23 commentary the Freak that will never be broken Dave Anderson for six he had not lost a Golf Tournai Byron Nelson was leaving his hotel outside Chicago for the first round of the Tam Shanter tournament 40 years ago this weekend when he Sud Denly acknowledged the tension of the Streak that had gripped him tighter than he Ever gripped a glancing at his that he i Hope i blow up and get it Over several hours he his wife did you blow up Nelson i shot Nelson won that Tam Shanter then he won the Canadian open the next week for his 11th consecutive Ever that Streak has endured As golfs version of Joe Dimaggio 56game hitting on the 40th anniversary of that the 73yearold Nelson was honoured at the Merrill Lynch Golf digest prom in but he chose to remain at his Fairway ranch in where his wife is confined following a series of Shes All i and in All she Nelson was saying from his she dedicated 45 years of her life to and now i can help in recent Nelsons primary role in Golf has involved the Dallas tournament named for him and his tutoring of Tom the Best touring pro of the last before he was the a ctr Golf Folksy and but to anyone familiar with the games he is Best remembered for having reigned As the Best golfer of his even though it was a relatively Short Louise and i wanted a and we didst have the Money to pay for he i knew we needed in the neighbourhood of the year of his the year Nelson turned he found the his in prize much of it in War was Worth about in after that he began to limit his tournament preferring to stay on the 750 acre cattle ranch that his Streak had but his Streak was merely part of the Best year any golfer has Ever including his 11 consecutive Nelson won 18 of the 30 events he to appreciate what he a photo Byron Nelson and his protege Tom Watson superstars then and now he earned 10 percent of the prize Money on the pea tour in and that would be equivalent to a golfer winning million this through the cynics have minimized Nelsons feat by saying that he dominated tournaments weak ened by the absence of golfers who were in military but by Many of the golfers who had been in military service during world War ii had rejoined the notably Ben Hogan and Sam Snead who combined to win five of the seven tournaments in which Nelson finished deferred because of a blood Nelson was hardly a wartime tall and he had won the masters in 1937 and the open in and the professional golfers association championship in 1940 before he won the 1945 but the test of his reign that year was his official scoring average an astound ing stroke and a half better than that of Jug Mcspad Hogan and other sceptics assert that Nelson was play ing easy courses that but the scrubby condition of some courses made scoring on the golfers then were not allowed to clean the Ball or repair Ball and nobody shot the scores Nelson scoring and playing Are two different he was saying last and if i was playing id just go i remember Bobby Jones once saying that when he was playing he was Only thinking about one but if he had to think about two he would play and if he thought about three he would be Nelson hit Golf shots that arc Seldom seen notably the Driver off the Fairway and Low Long i once watched him hit 20 Drivers off a Fairway in practice and the trajectory never remembered Bob then a touring pro and now a respected and he could hit a 1iron or a 2 Iron that carried Over 200 Yards no More than 1 5 feet in the Ive never seen anybody else hit the Hall quite the Way he in his Nelson was the envy of his celebrated Ben Hogan probably Doest remember saying Nelson but he once told i wish i could pitch the Ball the Way you Ben meant the half wedge or the full wedge from 50 to 80 1 never hit a wedge from beyond 80 and one time Snead of Byron could drive the Ball bet Ter than the year of the Streak Nelson did just about every thing better than according to statistics compiled by Bill a Golf Nelson was a total of 320 under Par in his 118 stroke play rounds that year he was above Par in Only 15 of those in winning the pea that year Over 204 holes at match he was 37 under in his five he was a total of 17 but the Way people talk about the he said with just a hint of youd think i Only played one hardly despite his relatively Short Nelsons 54 tournament victories rank behind scads Jack Nicklaus hogans 62 and Arnold palmers if id been a Little More he 1 woul Dve won a few More i Shoul Dve won the open in Shoul Dve won two More Nelsons has won 31 tour including five British in the 10 years they have worked but none this Toms going through a thing of confusion right Hes thinking too Nelson Hes very but his mind is too Hes always fooling around with his when i started playing i just went out and i was i never had what i Call a Dee Valley i think Tom is in As Dee Valley a slump now As hell Ever but hell come out of Hes too Good a golfer not no matter How Good any golfer is none will Ever win 11 consecutive tournaments As Byron Nelson new York times Fisk has come Back Strong after dismal 1984 season Chicago a Carlton Fisk int thinking about the but judging from this past the position of the Chicago White sox Allstar Catcher seems bothered by an abdominal muscle pull All of the 1984 the 37yearold Fisk has bounced Back with one of his most productive last when he was forced to go on the disabled list and appeared in Only 102 risks average dropped to although he hit 21 Home he drove in but 43 after a Winter of agonizing which he still goes through three times a Fisk has turned the time clock despite a batting he already has hit a league leading 26 Home runs to equal his career High and has driven in a Tea leading 64 i cant say my injury last year has led to my Success this said but if i didst do anything about that injury last year i necessarily be playing this i always work every but the workouts have been More intense than in previous i had an Obsta Cle to work around and the workouts have added sending risks Frame from 202 pounds last year to about 225 but he insists it takes More than working out and adding Muscles to Lead the league in Home you could workout forever and be As Strong As a horse but you also have to have a Little said a laughing who is third Only to Johnny Bench and Yogi Berra on the Al time catchers Home run the 20pound differ ence in my weight is muscle you Muscles dont grow by Fisk is in the final year of a five year contract he signed when he left the Boston red sox As a free agent after the 1980 season and signed with the White when the season he becomes a free agent what about the future the future is a funny said dodging the obvious intimation of whats in store for a Catcher who will be 38 before the Start of next if you could see the there would be no All the problems would be getting away from Fisk flatly stated in not ready to hang them up yet but people see this game whats your Job what use do you have with the How do you fit in their plans plans change and needs said my first Choice is to stay with the White but that not necessarily important if in not their first that what happened in they figured at 32 i was too old to that has not been any problem since Fisk joined the White but even he might be reaching the Point where the chores of catching simply become too much with advancing i could do a lot of other Fisk but that not up to me to i catch 140 games at the age of but everything is the first negotiations will involve a new contract for White sox owners Jerry Reinsdorf and Eddie Ein Horn have indicated they want Fisk to remain with the a photo White sox Catcher Carlton Fisk leads Al with 26 homers
