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Payne Stewart

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File:Payne Stewart bio 2001 paperback edition.jpg
Payne Stewart on the cover of the 2001 paperback edition of the authorised biography by Tracey Stewart with Ken Abraham. He is holding the U.S. Open trophy.

William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999), was an American golfer who won three majors in his career, the last of which occurred only months before he died in an airplane accident at the age of 42.

Stewart was born in Springfield, Missouri, and attended Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta. He was always popular with fans, especially for his clothing, and was reputed to have the biggest wardrobe of all professional golfers. He was a continual target for photographers because of his tam o'shanter caps and patterned trousers, which were a combination of plus fours and knickerbockers, a throwback to the once-commonplace golfing "uniform".

Golfing life

Stewart failed to earn a PGA Tour card at Qualifying School in his graduation year, so he played on the Asian Tour for a couple of years, winning twice. He finally earned his PGA Tour card in 1982 and won his first event on the tour at that year's Quad Cities Open. He won eleven Tour events, including the 1989 PGA Championship and the U.S. Open in 1991 and 1999. He was a two-time winner of the Hassan II Trophy in Morocco and at the time of his death was ranked in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Rankings.

Stewart represented the United States on five Ryder Cup teams (1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1999) and was known for his patriotic passion for the event. He was disappointed to miss out in 1995 and 1997 when he failed to qualify automatically and wasn't chosen as a captain's pick. Stewart also played for the U.S. on three World Cup teams.

Death

On October 25 1999, a month after the American team rallied to win the 1999 Ryder Cup in Brookline, Massachusetts, Stewart was killed in a crash of a Learjet flying from Orlando to Dallas, Texas for the year-ending tournament, The TOUR Championship. National Transportation Safety Board investigators later concluded that the plane suffered a gradual loss of cabin pressure early in the flight and that all on board died of hypoxia, lack of oxygen. The plane, apparently still on autopilot and angled off-course, was observed by Air National Guard F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft as it continued its flight over the southern and midwestern United States. Other than frost on the plane's windows, the military pilots saw nothing amiss but were unable to directly observe the Learjet's pilot or copilot, who did not respond to repeated radio calls. It is likely that the pilots and occupants already had lost consciousness.

There was some speculation that military jets were prepared to shoot down the Lear if it threatened to crash in a heavily populated area. Officials at the Pentagon strongly denied that possibility. Shooting down the plane "was never an option," Air Force spokesman Capt. Joe Della Vedova said. "I don't know where that came from."

Instead, according to an Air Force timeline, a series of military planes provided an emergency escort to the stricken Lear, beginning with an F-16 from Eglin Air Force Base, about an hour and twenty minutes (9:33 EDT to 9:52 CDT - see NTSB report on the crash) after ground controllers lost contact. The plane continued flying until it ran out of fuel and crashed into a field around Mina, a town ten miles west of Aberdeen, South Dakota after an uncontrolled descent. Among the five other people aboard the plane was Bruce Borland, a highly-regarded golf architect with the Jack Nicklaus golf course design company.

Tributes

The 1999 TOUR Championship began with lone bagpipe player Steve Agan playing "Going Home" as he walked down the first fairway. The video of it, where the bagpiper was shrouded in morning fog, provided a haunting and memorable moment for years to come.

The 2000 U.S. Open, held at Pebble Beach Golf Links, began with 21 of Stewart's fellow players simultaneously hitting balls into the Pacific Ocean in a golf version of the 21-gun salute. Stewart would have been the defending champion at that tournament.

In 2001, Stewart was posthumously inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

On June 8 2005, a Florida state court jury in Orlando found that Learjet was not liable for the deaths of Stewart and his agent Robert Fraley, who had also been aboard the plane.

The 2005 U.S. Open marked the first return of the event to Pinehurst No. 2 since Stewart won on the famous North Carolina course in 1999. The weekend was filled with remembrances of and tributes to Payne. A bronze statue depicting his one-legged, fist-extended celebratory reaction following his tournament-clinching putt over Phil Mickelson was later unveiled near the 18th green.

Stewart was survived by his widow, Tracey, a native of Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia, daughter Chelsea, and son Aaron.

PGA Tour wins (11)

Major championships are shown in bold.

Other wins (6)

this list is probably incomplete

Results in major championships

Tournament 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989
The Masters DNP DNP T32 T21 T25 T8 T42 T25 T24
U.S. Open DNP DNP DNP CUT T5 T6 CUT T10 T13
The Open Championship T58 DNP DNP CUT 2 T35 T4 T7 T8
PGA Championship DNP CUT CUT CUT T12 T5 T24 T9 1
Tournament 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
The Masters T36 DNP CUT T9 CUT T41 CUT DNP DNP T52
U.S. Open CUT 1 T51 2 CUT T21 T27 T28 2 1
The Open Championship T2 T32 T34 12 CUT T11 T45 59 T44 T30
PGA Championship T8 T13 T69 T44 T66 T13 T69 T29 CUT T57

DNP = Did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Trivia

Payne appeared on episode number 169/7.18 titled Futile Attraction of the hit sitcom Home Improvement. It aired on March 10, 1998 and featured Payne as himself.

See also

References

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