Payne Stewart

Stewart's father had played in the 1955 U.S. Open, and had introduced his son to the game.

William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane accident at the age of 42.

He played collegiate golf at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where he was a member of Phi Gamma Delta and graduated in 1979.

Stewart met Tracey Ferguson, sister of Australian golfer Mike Ferguson, in Kuala Lumpur in 1980 while he was playing on the Asia Golf Circuit, and they were married by November 1982.

Stewart failed to earn a PGA Tour card at Qualifying School in his graduation year, so he played on the Asia Golf Circuit for a couple of years.

He won two tournaments in 1981, including the Indonesia Open in a playoff over three players.

Later that year, he earned his PGA Tour card for 1982 and won his first title on the tour at that year's Quad Cities Open.

This win was especially memorable to him because it was the only time his father, Bill, saw him win.

In 1983, Stewart gained his second PGA Tour victory by winning the Walt Disney World Golf Classic by two strokes.

At the 1985 Byron Nelson Golf Classic, Stewart came to the 72nd hole with a three-shot lead.

Moments after Bob Eastwood birdied the final hole of regulation, Stewart took a double bogey to end the tournament tied for first.

Stewart then made another double bogey on the first playoff hole, causing him to lose to Eastwood.

In 1985, Stewart came close to winning The Open Championship, when he finished one stroke behind the champion Sandy Lyle.

Stewart briefly led the U.S. Open in 1986 during the back nine of the final round at Shinnecock Hills.

Stewart had four runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour in 1986.

Despite not winning a tournament that year, he had the most top-10 finishes of any player on the PGA Tour in 1986, finishing inside the top-10 sixteen times.

Stewart won the Hertz Bay Hill Classic in Orlando, Florida in 1987, shooting a third round of 63 and a final round of 65 to beat South African David Frost by three shots.

The tournament was a two-man duel in the final round, as Frost finished eight shots ahead of the third-place finisher Dan Pohl.

Stewart's victory was a memorable one to him as it came on his home course.

After his 1987 victory at Bay Hill, Stewart donated his $108,000 prize money to a Florida hospital in memory of his father, who died of cancer in 1985.

His victory at the Heritage Classic was his 18th top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since his previous win at the Bay Hill Classic in March 1987.

Stewart was gaining a reputation for being one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour and one of the best players in the world not yet to have won a major championship at that point.

Stewart had two runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour in 1988, at The Honda Classic and the Provident Classic.

Stewart gained his first major title at the 1989 PGA Championship.

In April 1989, Stewart won the MCI Heritage Golf Classic by five strokes, with a then tournament-record score of 268, 16-under-par.

At Kemper Lakes Golf Club, Stewart won the PGA Championship in 1989, his first major title.

At the start of the final round, Stewart was six shots behind the leader Mike Reid.

He made up five strokes in the final three holes to overtake Reid and win by a stroke.

Stewart's back-nine of 31 included birdies on four of his last five holes.

He won the 1991 U.S. Open after a playoff against Scott Simpson.

At the 1999 U.S. Open Stewart captured his third major title after holing a 15 ft par putt on the final hole for a one-stroke victory.

Stewart was a popular golfer with spectators, who responded enthusiastically to his distinctive clothing.

He was reputed to have the biggest wardrobe of all professional golfers and was a favorite of photographers because of his flamboyant attire of ivy caps and patterned pants, which were a cross between plus fours and knickerbockers, a throwback to the once-commonplace golf "uniform."

Stewart was also admired for having one of the most gracefully fluid and stylish golf swings of the modern era.

Stewart was born and raised in Springfield, Missouri, and attended Greenwood Laboratory School, a K-12 school, on the campus of Missouri State University.

After birdieing the 11th and 12th, Stewart took a one-shot lead, but he then had bogeys at the 13th and 14th, finishing the tournament tied for sixth place, behind the winner Raymond Floyd.

His house was situated adjacent to the 12th tee of the Bay Hill Club course in Orlando, Florida.

Stewart's cumulative tournament score of 264 is, to date, still a record for the lowest aggregate score over 72 holes in the event, which later became known as the "Arnold Palmer Invitational" held at the same Bay Hill venue.

He was able to gain the lead over Reid, who bogeyed the 16th, double-bogeyed the 17th, and missed a seven-foot (2 m) birdie putt on the 18th, which would have forced a playoff.

After the tournament, Stewart said: "This is a dream I've been trying to realize for a long time."