Athletes - Payne Stewart

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	Athletes - Payne Stewart

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 a somewhat ghostly, cross-country plane accident at the age of 42.

Payne, as he was better known, 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 stylish clothing, and was reputed to have the biggest wardrobe of all professional golfers. He was a continual target for photographers because of his rakish tam o'shanter caps and elegant, patterned trousers, which were a combination of plus fours and knickers.

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 US Open in 1991 and 1999. He was a two-time winner of the Hassan II Trophy in Morocco.

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 didn't 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 Ryder Cup in Brookline, Massachusetts, Stewart's life was cut short while flying in a Learjet from Orlando to Texas. 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. The plane, apparently still on autopilot, was observed by F-16 fighter aircraft from the Air National Guards of several states. Other than condensation 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. President Bill Clinton authorized that the plane be shot down if it came near any major inhabited area. It never did, however, and was permitted to continue flying until it ran out of fuel and crashed into a field near 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.

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.

In 2001, Stewart was 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.

PGA Tour wins

1982 Quad Cities Open
1983 Walt Disney Classic
1987 Hertz Bay Hill Classic
1989 MCI Heritage Classic, PGA Championship
1990 MCI Heritage Classic, GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic
1991 U.S. Open
1995 Shell Houston Open
1999 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, U.S. Open

Major championships are shown in bold.

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Athletes - Payne Stewart

Golfing life

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