He is the golfer who won five major championships before retiring at the age of 34 and becoming an icon of the sport 

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There have been some truly legendary figures in professional golf over the past 100 years or so.

The likes of Bobby Jones, Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have all left indelible marks on the game.

Now there are a new generation of players who are trying to emulate the names listed above, led of course by Masters champion Rory McIlroy.

The Northern Irishman completed the Grand Slam with his win at The Masters.

And now McIlroy needs to win just two more majors to jump inside the top-10 all-time list.

Major championships are usually the deciding factor when it comes to ‘greatest of all-time’ discussions.

However, one of the true greats of the game of golf doesn’t even feature inside the top 10 of most majors won of all-time.

Byron Nelson won five major championships before retiring at the age of 34

The late, great Byron Nelson was a winning machine in the 1930’s and 40’s.

In 1945, Nelson won 11 consecutive tournaments, and ended the year with an unbelievable 18 victories to his name.

The Texan won five majors tournaments during his career, including two Masters, two PGA Championships and one US Open.

Tiger Woods lauded Nelson after the five-time major champion gave him some great advice back in 1999 about the pitfalls that awaited him.

He was a man who was willing to help others before he helped himself, and that was perhaps the best thing about him.

Nelson was widely regarded as one of the elite players of his generation alongside the likes of Jones, Sarazen and Sam Snead.

He is sixth on the all-time list of most wins on the PGA Tour with 52 victories to his name.

Nelson is a real icon of the game. To have won so many tournaments in such a short period of time really was a tremendous feat.

Imagine what he could have achieved if he would have played on for another 10 years or so!

Nelson retired early and bought a ranch

Nelson officially retired in 1946 at the age of just 34, although he did play a few events after that on a one-off basis.

Nelson wanted to enjoy his life and pursue other interests, and bought a 630-acre ranch with his family in Roanoke, Texas.

He is still talked about to this day as one of the greatest golfers to have ever played the game.

The golfing icon even has a tournament on the PGA Tour named after him. The CJ Cup Byron Nelson begins on Thursday in McKinney Texas, and every single player competing at TPC Craig Ranch will be desperate to add that title to their resume.

Nelson passed away in 2006, but he is still spoken about regularly in the current day. That is what you call leaving a legacy.