On October 25, 1999, golf lost Payne Stewart at age 42. This is the story of the best moment of his career, which came just four months earlier, and of everything that had to happen to him before it could.
The Early Payne
Payne Stewart was a showman: plus-fours, a flat cap, and an effortless swing. He was also, by several accounts, a handful. Friends and fellow players described him as egotistical and sarcastic, and a brash needler who sometimes went too far. He once mocked players who attended the Tour’s Bible study.
Then something shifted. Over roughly a decade, people close to him saw his faith deepen, and in 1998 he privately committed his life to Christ. Early in 1999, his 10-year-old son Aaron gave him a WWJD bracelet and encouraged him to be open about it. Friends described a calmer, more reflective man in his last years. He began attending those same Tour Bible Studies.
The ’98 Collapse
The 1998 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco should have been his. Stewart led by four strokes after 54 holes. In the final round he shot a 74, and Lee Janzen caught and passed him to win.
What stayed with people was how Stewart handled it. A childhood friend watched him respond graciously and cheer for Janzen, which he took as a sign of how much Stewart had changed.
The equipment shuffle
His gear was in flux, too. His Spalding deal expired after 1998, which made him an equipment free agent for the first time in five years. By November 1998 he’d switched to Mizuno irons and a Titleist driver and ball, and he wound up playing what he wanted. Then the putter. He’d been putting badly, and a SeeMore rep suggested the Bronze FGP model. Stewart tried it, and his caddie’s verdict: “Well, you can’t putt any worse than you’re putting.” He never used another putter. It was in his bag the day before he won at Pebble Beach that winter, and again at Pinehurst.
Pinehurst, Sunday
Pinehurst No. 2 was brutal that week. After a third-round 72 in difficult conditions (the field averaged 75.97), Stewart’s wife, Tracey, gave him a tip. Years earlier, after his father died, he’d written her a list of things to watch for in his game. One was to keep his head still, not down, still. She told him he was moving it. He worked on it Saturday evening on the practice green and told reporters afterward that this was the key.
His final-round playing partner was Phil Mickelson, and Mickelson had a pager in his bag. His wife, Amy, was expecting their first child, and he had said he’d leave the tournament if it went off. Amy reportedly had contractions Saturday night and kept it secret until the round was over. Mickelson’s caddie, Jim “Bones” McKay, carried the pager.
The round was a brawl. On the 8th hole, John Daly made an 11. Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh hovered nearby. Stewart and Mickelson stayed courteous and quiet, with no small talk all day.
Then came the stretch that decided it.
- No. 16: Stewart’s second shot bounced out of a cross bunker, and his chip ran about 25 feet past the hole. He holed the slick downhill 25-foot par putt with ice in his veins. Mickelson missed an 8-footer for par, and the two were tied.
- No. 17: Stewart hit a 6-iron to four feet and made the birdie. Mickelson missed, and Stewart led by one.
- No. 18: Stewart found the rough, left himself a long par putt, and holed it. About 15 feet (one account says 18), described as the longest putt ever holed on the 72nd green to win a U.S. Open.
He finished at 1 under, 279, one shot clear of Mickelson, and he one-putted the last three greens. His fist pump on the 18th green, wearing the bracelet, is now a statue next to the green. Check out the video here, it’s worth your time.
The moment after
Stewart took Mickelson’s face in his hands and reportedly told him something like, “Good luck with the baby. There’s nothing like being a father!” Mickelson flew home that night. His daughter, Amanda, was born the next day.
That night, Stewart celebrated. His caddie said they drank booze of some sort out of the trophy until about 4 a.m. at his home, and Stewart showed up the next morning in knickers for a charity skins game. Mike Hicks, his caddie, said in a 2020 interview that his community still talks about the night a U.S. Open winner spent the night celebrating in his caddie’s home with 20 of Mike’s friends.
Why it mattered
Stewart ended with 24 wins worldwide, three majors, and five Ryder Cup appearances, but this is the one people remember. He’d lost the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club the year before, and a year later he won it with a steely resolve and a putter he’d had for a few months. He won it not with arrogance but with grace, and then to the great dismay of the golf world and those who knew him, he was gone. Cheers Mr. Stewart. To this day, that is my favorite golf moment of all time.