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Stewart after 1999 U.S. Open |
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William Payne Stewart was born January 30th, 1957 in Springfield, Missouri. At the age of 3 Payne started hitting the golf course. His mother Bee would drop him off at Hickory Hills Country club where he would spend the day playing golf and creating havoc at the swimming pool. As Payne developed as a golfer Bill, Payne’s father who was a noted amateur golfer, would teach him the finer points while club professionals Sam Reynolds and Dorl Sweet would look on. As a kid he was surrounded by golf. His dad grew up with Herman Keiser, and Payne would set at the foot of the great Ky Laffoon’s bed to listen to stories about life on tour in the early days.
Payne would attend Greenwood, a laboratory school through Southwest Missouri State University. During his high school years Payne would play football, basketball, and golf. At the beginning of high school golf Bill approached Paul Mullins the golf coach at Greenwood and got right to the point in saying, “Payne knows how to play golf. He doesn’t need any help. Please don’t mess with his swing.” In 1971, Payne’s freshman year, he was a medalist at the SMSU High School Relays. In 1973 he would lead them to the title of the same event.
Payne would take his golfing talents on the road to play for Southern Methodist University. In 1977 he would tie for 16th in the collegiate national championship. In 1979 he was co-champion of the Southwest Conference along with being voted All-American. College wasn’t just about golf for Payne, he also obtained a degree in business. In 1979 at the age of 22, Payne would win the Missouri State Amateur at Wolf Creek. He beat Jim Holtgrieve 8 and 7 in the final.
Before obtaining his tour card he played on both the European and Asian tours for two years. He would win twice in 1981 at the Indonesian Open and the Indian Open. In 1982 Payne would win his tour card. The same year he would marry Tracy Ferguson whom he met the prior year at a cocktail party while playing in the 1980 Malaysian Open.
In 1982 Bill would give Payne some important words of advice. “In life you can’t blend in with the masses.” Soon after is when Payne began wearing the knickers and tam o’shanter everyone recognized him in. The NFL would eventually pay Payne to wear the colors of the nearest pro football team in the area of the tournament to help promote the NFL.
In 1982 Payne broke out and won his first tournament at the Quad Cities Open. Payne would say that no other tournament win would be bigger than that one because that was the only one his father would live to see. Bill died of cancer in 1985. Before his first U.S. Open in 1984 Bill told Payne “This is the National Championship. When you send your entry in, you sign your real name William Payne Stewart on the entry form.” During Payne’s win at Bay Hill in 1987 he donated his winning check of $108,000 to the Florida Hospital’s Circle of Friends in Orlando in his father’s name.
In 1989 he would win the MCI Heritage, at Harbor Town but the biggest win in his young career would come later in the year. During the PGA Championship held at Kemper Lakes, Payne would have a first round score of 74 with scores of 66 and 69 during the second and third rounds. During the final holes of the fourth round there would be a 7-storke swing between the current leader Mike Reid and Payne. Payne would birdie 4 of the last 5 holes to shoot a 67 while Reid would shoot 3 over on the last three holes. Payne won his first major championship.
Later that year Payne prepared for the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club a little more than normal because this was the same course his father participated on during the 1955 U.S. Open. Payne would end the first round tied for the lead with a 66 but couldn’t keep up the pace. Payne would keep his focus on the Open and it finally paid off in 1991. In the 1991 U.S. Open at Hazeltine National Golf Club, Payne would beat Scott Simpson in a playoff to win his second major championship.
In 1993 Payne would have another personal victory on the golf course. This time he would be able to share this victory with a life long friend Jim Morris. Payne and Jim would win the Pro-Am portion of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. They would shoot a total score of 257 to be the second two-man group to win this tournament from the Springfield area. The first to do so was Leonard Dodson and Ray Watson in 1941. Payne would strike again at Pebble Beach in 1999 winning the professional portion of the rain shortened Pro-Am tournament.
The most memorable of all of Payne’s 10 wins on tour came in 1999. The U.S. Open was played at Pinehurst number 2. Before the final round he watched a special on NBC just before the tournaments was to be aired Fathers Day. The piece’s focus was on Payne and his father. Payne didn’t know they had done the piece. He used this as motivation to go out and win the tournament.
After arriving at the tournament Payne headed to the practice range. Due to the chilly weather Payne had on his rain jacket. While warming up Payne felt the jacket tugging at his arms. He told his caddy to go and grab some scissors. When he returned Payne cut the sleeves off of the jacket. Payne’s usual attention to looking good was not what Payne cared about; he just wanted to win. On the final hole Payne sunk a 15 footer to beat Phil Mickelson by one stroke. After the U.S. Open victory Payne went back to Springfield to celebrate with family and friends with the champions cup in hand. During the trip he went to Hickory Hills and Bill & Payne Stewart golf course. The latter course was named in his honor in 1995. At both courses he talked about the U.S. Open win and gave a clinic to the youth golfers in attendance.
Payne was known as the ultimate patriot. This translated to his love of playing in the Ryder Cup representing his country. Payne was a member of the Ryder Cup in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, and 1999. During the memorable Ryder Cup matches in 1999 the U.S. team clinched a win when Justin Leonard hit a clutch put in his match against Jose Maria Olazabal. The celebration by the U.S. fans were so distracting that during the match between Payne and Colin Montgomerie Payne would show his sportsmanship and concede Colin’s final put on the 18th green.
In 1999 Hickory Hills Country Club was developing a tribute to the local golf history with Payne being the focus. They wanted a duplicate copy of Payne’s U.S. Open trophy for the display. In order to get a copy Payne would have to ask permission from the United States Golf Association. The letter would arrive on president David Fay’s desk October 25, 1999. This would be the same day Payne would be traveling from Florida to Texas for a golf tournament. Payne along with five others was as aboard a Learjet. The plane would develop mechanical problems and lose cabin pressure soon after take off. This caused those aboard to lose consciousness. The plane flew uncontrolled for hours until it ran out of fuel and crashed in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Payne would leave behind his wife and two children Chelsea and Aaron.
Payne’s death shook people not only in the golf world but also in the Ozarks. Two funerals were held, one in Orlando where a large contingent of tour players paid their respects, the other in Springfield at the Second Baptist Church. Payne was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1994. On April 19, 1999 he was inducted into Springfield Sports Hall of Fame, World Golf Hall of Fame in 2001, and the Ozarks Golf Hall of Fame in 2005. Golf Digest listed Payne as the 37th all time greatest golfer.
“Springfield will always be my home.. I just happen to live in Florida.”
Career Victories
1981 Indian Open
1981 Indonesian Open
1982 Magnolia Classic
1982 Tweed Heads Classic
1982 Quad Cities Open
1983 Walt Disney Classic
1987 Bay Hill Classic
1989 Heritage Classic
1989 PGA Championship
1990 Byron Nelson Classic
1991 Dutch Open
1991 U.S. Open
1991 Skins Game
1992 King Hassan II
1992 Skins Game
1993 King Hassan II
1993 Skins Game
1995 Houston Open
199 Pebble Beach Pro-Am
1999 U.S. Open
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