PAYNE Stewart, who was killed on October 22nd, when the private plane in which he was travelling crashed in South Dakota, was the reigning US Open golf champion and one of the world's leading golf professionals. He was also a popular visitor to this country and was recently accorded the unique distinction of being named honorary captain of Waterville Golf Club for the Millennium year.
At 42, he was thought to be at the peak of his golfing powers. He was in the process of completing a season in which two victories on the USPGA Tour, including the US Open at Pinehurst, North Carolina, last June, earned him a return to the US Ryder Cup team.
Described by a leading golf commentator as "a colourful figure in a beige world", he wore distinctive, highly colourful attire, characterised by plus twos (slacks overlapping stockings at the knee). This was a deliberate strategy to accentuate his visual impact on television and it proved to be very successful and popular with the galleries.
Among his 11 American tournament victories were three of professional golf's major titles, the first being the USPGA Championship in 1989. Then came a US Open victory in June 1991, after which he made his first competitive visit to this country.
That was in the Irish Open Championship at Killarney where he endeared himself to spectators as a warm, approachable sportsman with a ready smile and relaxed temperament. He was joint leader of the championship at the halfway stage before succumbing to the the effects of jet lag. He later came here in more relaxed circumstances as a guest, with fellow American professionals, of financiers Dermot Desmond and J. P. McManus. The first such visit was prior to the British Open in July 1998 when he played at Waterville and later had a hole-in-one on the short third at Ballybunion.
A month later, he competed in the Smurfit European Open at The K Club, Straffan, but performed disappointingly, failing to make the halfway cut.
Last July, he returned to Waterville, again as a guest of Dermot Desmond and J. P. McManus. On this occasion, his golfing activities took in the Old Head of Kinsale, but the visit is best remembered for his wonderful interaction with the villagers of Waterville.
It was said that he visited every pub in the area, chatting freely with the locals and, on occasions, entertaining them with some splendid musical renditions on the harmonica. He also enjoyed fly-fishing in the local lakes.
Born on January 30th, 1957 in Springfield, Missouri, he was a resident of Orlando, Florida. He is survived by his wife, Tracey (nee Ferguson), his daughter, Chelsea, and his son, Aaron.
Payne Stewart: born 1957; died October, 1999