Byron Nelson's widow remembers 'sentimental walk'

Walking hand-in-hand, Byron Nelson and wife, Peggy, left Augusta National’s famed Par-3 Course on April 8, 1987, and began trekking toward the No. 10 tee. The couple – 32 years apart in age – had married the previous year but 1987 marked her first trip to Augusta.

A day earlier, she laid eyes on Amen Corner for the first time as Nelson played a practice round with Tom Watson. However, Lord Byron wanted to give his wife a real tour.

“The course was closed during the Par-3 tournament, so really the only people out there were us and the mowers,” said Nelson, now 71. “I always called them the mower ballet – being in perfect unison.”

As the two approached the No. 10 green, her husband began reliving memories from 1937 – his first Masters victory. Coming into that Sunday, the Texan had never won a major championship and trailed by four strokes to Ralph Guldahl. After seven holes, Guldahl was 7-under, while Nelson was fading at 1-under.

However, as Nelson told her, his charge began on No. 10.

“Byron was playing with Wiffy Cox, who was an older golfer in 1937,” she said. “After Byron made birdie on No. 10, Wiffy said, ‘That’s the one you needed, kid.’”

As the tour progressed toward Amen Corner, his memories flooded back from 1937. Each shot. Each club. His birdie on 12. His tournament-changing eagle on 13.

Still gripping his wife’s hand, Nelson recounted the four-hole stretch from No. 10 to No. 13, which proved vital to determining the 1937 outcome.

“Byron said he was standing on No. 12 tee and realized Guldahl had gone in the water,” she recalled. “You know in comic-books when a light bulb goes off over someone’s head? Well, that’s what happened to Byron. He thought, ‘Man, if I birdie No. 12 I could catch him.’”

Nelson did exactly that. After Guldahl’s double-bogey, he holed his birdie putt to pull to within one. The following hole, Guldahl again found water, while Nelson contemplated whether to go for the green in two.

“Byron says to his caddie, ‘The Lord hates a coward,’ and took out his 3-wood,” Peggy Nelson said. “Byron hit the shot left of the green and chipped in for eagle.”

Nelson played No. 12 and No. 13 in 3-under, while Guldahl played them in 3-over. In the end, Nelson won by two strokes.

“1937 meant so much to him because it was his first major,” Peggy Nelson said. “That’s when he proved to himself he could win against anybody. Out of every tournament he ever won, the 1937 Masters was his most important.”

The two were married for 20 years until Nelson’s death in 2006. He was 94. The couple had many traditions, including celebrating their anniversary each month. Their age difference never bothered either, and she says, “Byron, even though he looked his age to a degree, you could never think of him as old. He didn’t think old. Didn’t act old. You know, he could out-walk me. We would take walks up and down this country road at our ranch and I really had to hustle to keep up with him.”

Among the couple’s many traditions was their Wednesday walk at Amen Corner. After their first visit in 1987, the two would escape the Par-3 Contest each Wednesday and journey from No. 10 to No. 13, eventually hiking back to the clubhouse.

Each year, the tour remained the same, as did their conversation.

“He always retold the story of 1937,” she said. “He’d start with his birdie on 10 and finish with the eagle on 13. Byron remembered every shot from 1937.”

In the early 1990s, The Augus­ta Chronicle captured an image of the Nelsons on their annual journey. Hand-in-hand, the two gazed toward the Nelson Bridge, as the headline read “Sentimental walk.”

“We saw the paper and couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I didn’t think anyone was out there but us. It was a remarkable photo, but I think my favorite part is the title. For Byron and myself, it truly was our sentimental walk.”

Peggy Nelson attended the Masters for two years after his death, but hasn’t returned to Augusta since 2008.