During a six-month span in the year 1912 three of the greatest golfers who’ve ever lived were brought into the world. Combined, the trio would account for 198 career PGA Tour victories and make dozens of indelible marks on the game.
At the 1946 Houston Open, the first year the city’s professional golf event was promoted by the Houston Golf Association as the part of the PGA Tour, Lord Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and Slammin’ Sammy Snead made history.
The week of May 9 -12, Nelson, Hogan and Snead finished 1-2-3 in the tournament held at the prestigious and private River Oaks Country Club. It would be the only time in their storied careers they would all place inside the top 3 in the same event.
Nelson, who set a pair of records by winning 11 consecutive and 18
total PGA Tour tournaments the previous year, outlasted Ben Hogan by
two shots to claim the $2,000 first prize. Snead, who was reportedly
distracted by the young female models assigned to carry signs that
identified
the players, finished third.
Nelson’s 1945 season has been called the greatest single season in the history of golf, and Tiger Woods has said that his achievement is one of the most outstanding accomplishments in the history of all sports. Snead would go on to win 82 PGA Tour events over the course of his legendary career, more than any other man in the history of professional golf.
Hogan compiled a Hall of Fame tournament record, but his greatest contribution to the game might have been his technique; he is widely acknowledged to have been the greatest ball-striker to have ever played golf.
That initial PGA Tour edition of the Houston Open would be the only time the tournament was played at River Oaks. Nelson, Hogan nor Snead would go on to win in Houston for the remainder of their careers.
In 2009, the Shell Houston Open enters its 61st year. The Houston Golf Association’s tournament is the 10th oldest on the PGA Tour. Now forerunner to golf’s first major championship, the event once witnessed a unique battle between three true masters of the sport.