Byron Nelson (Image Source: Getty) This is one of the most revered benchmarks of the sport and holds up as the single-season win record on the PGA Tour as well. Although current stars like Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, and Scottie Scheffler have had standout seasons and made headlines, they still trail one of the game’s all-time greats. Here’s an article dissecting who holds the record, who is a close modern-day runner-up, and what makes the standard so special.
Byron Nelson’s remarkable 18 wins in 1945
The record for the most PGA Tour wins in a single season that is beyond question is still held by Byron Nelson, who in 1945 won 18 times. It is not a mistake in writing; in the last era, nobody came close to those figures. Winning 11 straight tournaments that year was part of Nelson’s feat, which, considering the level of skill and precision required, was even more amazing.For comparison, many of today’s top players would consider winning five or six times in a single season a major achievement. But Nelson went on to do almost three times that number in 1945, a year when the majority of his competitors were not there because of the war.Nevertheless, no golfer has come close to Nelson’s total in the last few decades but a few players have had multiple seasons with double-digit wins in the presence of normal competition.
Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh set the modern benchmark
In the modern age, and particularly after the 1930s and the professional tour period, the highest single-season win totals are notably lower. The top names are tied with nine wins in a season, being Tiger Woods in 2000 and Vijay Singh in 2004.Tiger Woods achieved nine PGA Tour wins in one season in his indomitable year 2000. Likewise, Singh achieved nine victories in one season in 2004, thus equaling Woods’ best record in the modern era. These nine win seasons are the modern standards, and no one in recent decades has gone beyond that level under very competitive conditions.In addition, we can highlight Tom Watson’s exceptional 1980 season, when he secured seven first-place finishes. Tiger Woods’ eight-win seasons in 1999 and 2006 are also worth noting, showcasing his dominance across multiple years. Besides, Scottie Scheffler just set the record of the first golfer to achieve seven wins in one season since 2007, underlining the rarity of such a performance nowadays.Also Read: NYPD officer allegedly poses as Donald Trump’s bodyguard to infiltrate Ryder Cup, busted after suspicious
Why Byron Nelson’s record still stands above the rest
The disparity between the 18 victories of Nelson and the highest numbers of recent times illustrates that the 1945 season, being one of the most exceptional events, is still remembered in the history of golf. Even though Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh hold the record of the modern era with nine wins each, no one has been able to break it, as the all-time PGA Tour single-season record by Byron Nelson still stands. It is really amazing that during his 1945 season, he managed to win 18 times, 11 consecutively, and this feat remains to now as one of the biggest in the history of professional golf.
