page_title: Payne Stewart
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Payne Stewart / Death / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Statue of Payne Stewart at Waterville Golf Links, County Kerry, Ireland Français&#160;: Statue de Payne Stewart au Waterville Golf Links, Comté Kerry, Irlande
context_page_description: William Payne Stewart was an American professional golfer who won eleven PGA Tour events, including three major championships in his career, the last of which occurred a few months before he died in an airplane accident at the age of 42.
  Stewart gained his first major title at the 1989 PGA Championship. 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-foot 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.
context_section_description: At that week's tournament, The Tour Championship, Stewart's good friend, Stuart Appleby, organized a tribute to his friend. With Stewart's wife's permission, he wore one of Payne's own signature outfits for the final round of the tournament on Sunday, and most of the rest of the golfers in the field wore "short pants" that day, as well.
  The tournament had been suspended/delayed in order to allow those who would be competing in it to attend Stewart's memorial service at the First Baptist Church of Orlando on October 30. Speakers included Tracey Stewart and Paul Azinger, both a fellow professional and one of Stewart's close friends, while attendees included Woods, Mickelson, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman, Davis Love III, Hal Sutton, Justin Leonard and Fred Couples, along with MLB pitcher Orel Hershiser, another friend of Stewart's.
  One year after Stewart's death, his widow Tracey and their two children, and the family of Stewart's agent, Robert Fraley, who also died on that flight, brought a lawsuit against Learjet, flight operator SunJet Aviation, Inc., and aircraft owner JetShares One Inc.  They alleged that a cracked adapter resulted in an airflow valve detaching from the frame, causing a fatal loss of cabin pressure.  They also claimed that the aircraft was severely out of maintenance due to negligence by SunJet. In April 2000 as part of a federal criminal investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided SunJet and seized its flight logbooks, effectively grounding all of its aircraft.  The investigation was dropped in 2002, but it was too late to save SunJet; unable to legally operate, it had filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2000. The case against Learjet went forward in state court in Orlando. In June 2005, jurors found that the aircraft's manufacturer had no liability in the deaths of Stewart and Fraley and that no negligence was found in the design or manufacture of the aircraft.
  The segment of Interstate 44 passing through Springfield, Missouri, was designated the "Payne Stewart Memorial Highway" in his memory. Payne Stewart Drive in Fullerton, California, and Payne Stewart Drive in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, leading into Northview golf course designed by Arnold Palmer, were named after him.  Finally, Payne Stewart Drive in Jacksonville, Florida, houses The First Tee along with a Job Corps center.
  The communities of Mina and Aberdeen created their own memorial. Jon Hoffman, owner of the property where the aircraft crashed, contacted Stewart's widow and several family members of other crash victims. All agreed that the memorial would be a rock from the crash site, engraved with the victims' names and a Bible passage. Hoffman fenced in about an acre (4,000 m²) of the property surrounding the memorial.
  In 2000, the PGA Tour established the Payne Stewart Award, given each year to a player who shows respect for the traditions of the game, commitment to uphold the game's heritage of charitable support, and professional and meticulous presentation of himself and the sport through his dress and conduct. A bronze statue of Stewart celebrating his winning putt in 1999 at Pinehurst overlooks the 18th green of the No. 2 course. Also, at that year's U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, where he would have been the defending champion, further tributes were paid. Firstly, on the eve of the tournament, there was another memorial at the 18th hole where speakers again included Tracey Stewart and Azinger. This time, the attendees included Stewart's old caddy Mike Hicks plus other professionals due to compete in the tournament such as Mickelson, Love, David Duval, Tom Lehman, Lee Janzen and Sergio García, and it concluded with shots being hit into Stillwater Cove in a golf version of a 21-gun salute. The next day, when Stewart's defending champion spot in the traditional initial pairings alongside the Open Championship winner (Paul Lawrie) and U.S. Amateur winner (David Gossett) was given to Nicklaus playing in his 44th consecutive and final U.S. Open, Nicklaus asked for a moment of silence before his opening tee shot. Garcí
caption: Statue of Payne Stewart at Waterville Golf Links, Ireland
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