With the U.S. Open returning to Pinehurst No. 2 this week, the first return there since Payne Stewart's second Open win in 1999, ESPN.com has a nice story with interviews of people sharing their thoughts on Payne.
http://sports.espn.go.com/golf/usope...ory?id=2083797
I was a huge Payne Stewart fan. I remember when I was just a teen when he beat Scott Simpson for his first Open title. Then his ups and downs for the next decade. When he competed at Pinehurst 6 years ago I was working that weekend. I worked security and the plant was closed down on the weekend, so on Sunday I lugged my TV to work with me. I sat there that day and watched Payne Stewart sink that 15 foot putt on 18 and pump his fist. As a true fan, I was just as excited as he was. Then I watched the trophy presentation and heard the kind words he had for Phil Mickelson, who had taken him to the brink. To this day, when I watch my tape of that final round (that I recorded not long after his death when ESPN Classic aired a 2 day tribute) I get chills when I hear him foreshadow his death when he told Mickelson that he would get his, but Payne's chances might be on a short list.
Fast forward 4 months to me in South Carolina watching CNN coverage of an unidentified Lear jet flying off course over the midwest, before crashing in South Dakota. Then word came that my favorite athlete was on the plane. I was devastated. It was probably the worst I have felt over the death of anybody I had never met. It was a few years before I could really watch golf again. I still don't watch it much anymore, when I would tune in every tourney I could with Stewart in it.
Anyway, the story on ESPN.com is nice, as is the statue near the 18th green at Pinehurst, which is of the moment after the putt sank and Stewart pumped his fist in jubilation. A fitting tribute I think to the last Pinehurst Open champ.