Taking Payne Stewart Seriously

On Golf, Fatherhood, and the U.S. Open

I love being a father. I love golf. I’m a sucker for nostalgia. And that’s why, after 25 years, I still get emotional whenever I think about professional golf’s 1999 U.S. Open.

It’s a story about PGA players Payne Stewart and Phil Mickelson. It’s about the love of a game. About friendship. But most of all, it’s a story about the importance of fatherhood and sacrifice in a world doing its best to devalue both.

1999 U.S. Open - Pinehurst #2

On June 20, 1999, 29-year-old Phil Mickelson led the U.S. Open tournament by one stroke after the 15th hole on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, he bogeyed the 16th. His playing partner, Payne Stewart, then birdied the 17th hole to take the lead by one stroke. This led to one of the most dramatic finishes in U.S. Open history. Stewart had to make a 15-foot putt at the 18th hole to win.

He sank the putt — the longest one ever made to win a U.S. Open on the final hole. The crowd erupted. Phil Mickelson finished second.

But that’s not why I’m writing about it today.

The story behind the story was that Mickelson’s week involved more than just the pressure of playing in the U.S. Open. He spent the entire week carrying a beeper (remember those?) in his golf bag. His wife, Amy, was due with their first child any day. If the beeper went off, Mickelson was prepared to leave the tournament and jet home for the birth of his first child. The Mickelson family story was part of the U.S. Open story that week because Sunday, June 20th, was not just any day — it was Father’s Day.

When Payne Stewart sank his putt, he let out a victorious shout. But before the echoes of that shout rebounded off the clubhouse behind him, Stewart was walking across the green. There were tears in his eyes.

He charged straight over to Mickelson and put everything in perspective. Stewart cupped Phil Mickelson’s face in his hands, looked him straight in the eyes, and said emphatically,

“Good luck with that baby. There’s nothing like being a father!”

Phil Mickelson became a dad less than 24 hours later. His first daughter, Amanda Brynn Mickelson, was born the following day.

Payne Stewart

I find it fascinating that in such a hugely emotional public moment as winning the U.S. Open, Payne Stewart’s first impulse was focused on someone else. He chose to share a private thought with his friend about a subject he deemed much more important than any athletic accolade he might receive. He wanted to talk about Fatherhood.

That gesture was a sign of something greater he had discovered about himself. Like many of us, he was brought up in a Christian home but later put his faith on the back burner. He wasn’t apostate; he was apathetic. He became brash and arrogant. He drank too much. But all that changed in the four or five years leading up to the 1999 U.S. Open.

Stewart realized that he was headed down a destructive path. But his relationship with his wife and family was too important to him to let that happen. So, he turned back to God and reprioritized his faith. Cupping Phil Mickelson’s face in his hands was a tangible expression of what he valued most in this world.

Four months later, Payne Stewart was dead.

Tragedy Strikes

On the morning of October 25, 1999, he and his manager, Robert Fraley, boarded a Learjet in Orlando, Florida to fly to Dallas for a business meeting. Shortly after takeoff, air traffic controllers realized that the crew wasn’t turning west or responding to their calls. The Air Force launched F-16s to join up on the airplane. And what the F-16 pilots saw was an eerie sight. Both pilots slumped over the controls. No one was visible in the windows.

Due to a freak mechanical problem, Stewart’s airplane never pressurized. Everyone on board died of hypoxia. But the airplane, full of fuel for the trip to Dallas and cruising on autopilot, continued north until it ran out of gas. Four hours later, it crashed in a field near Mina, South Dakota.

Combing through the wreckage, accident investigators found two devotional books and a singed, black “WWJD” bracelet. Payne Stewart had recently taken up the daily habit of reading his Bible and contemplating devotionals. He wore the bracelet everywhere he went. (You can see it in the pictures above).

As it turned out, June 20, 1999, was Payne Stewart’s last Father’s Day on Earth. And October 25, 1999, was his first day in eternity with his heavenly Father.

2017 U.S. Open

Eighteen years later, Phil Mickelson had finished second in the U.S. Open five more times. Over those 18 years, he had won three of the four Majors (The Masters, PGA Championship, and British Open), but never that one. Mickelson wanted nothing more than to add a U.S. Open championship to his record. At age 46, he remained one of the best players on the planet. He was still ranked number 23 in the world. But, realistically, his opportunities for winning any Major tournament were fading fast.

So, it came as a shock to the golf world when he announced that he would not be playing in the 2017 U.S. Open.

His reason? Amanda Brynn Mickelson was graduating from high school. She was the valedictorian of her class. Her graduation ceremony was scheduled for Thursday, June 15th — the opening day of the 2017 U.S. Open.

To most of the sports world, dropping out of a Major tournament near the peak of a player’s career was unheard of. But I don’t think it was hard for Mickelson to make that decision. Phil Mickelson had priorities.

I believe the idea that he would skip the 2017 U.S. Open to attend his daughter’s high school graduation was planted in his head on the 18th green at Pinehurst on June 20, 1999. It was cemented into his psyche just four months later, on the afternoon of October 25, 1999.

Phil Mickelson took Payne Stewart seriously when he said, “There’s nothing like being a father.”

Back to Pinehurst

This year’s U.S. Open returns to Pinehurst #2 on the 25th anniversary of Payne Stewart’s iconic win. A lot has changed in those 25 years.

Today, the Payne Stewart Family Foundation, started by Payne and his wife, Tracey in 1998, continues “to primarily assist with programs that allow children and youth to have new opportunities to experience the joy of the Christian life.”

Phil Mickelson’s game has faded. He won’t be in contention this year.

Pinehurst #2 underwent a complete redesign in 2014. Different grass. Greater punishment for missing fairways. Longer holes.

But some things will never change. The U.S. Open will end on the 18th green. And it will be on Father’s Day.

It would be fantastic to have another dramatic finish there. But for those who know the story of the 1999 U.S. Open, I hope that golf will serve only as a backdrop — a poignant reminder of more important things.

Payne Stewart’s life and legacy reach far beyond the 18th green at Pinehurst #2. It’s just another of the countless examples of how Christian principles stand on their own and fit perfectly with the realities of the world in which we live.

Sociologists have identified a host of things that are wrong in our society: success in school, physical and mental health, drug addiction, financial stability, sexual deviancy, abortion, crime prevention, and incarceration rates to name a few. And all of them would be vastly improved if we did something as simple as recognizing and promoting a rightly ordered view of fathers and fatherhood.

Phil Mickelson lost a golf tournament in 1999. But he was stabbed in the heart by a transcendent truth: godly fatherhood holds the potential to change the world. It may be naive to say, and silly to expect. But I hope that, for those who are paying attention, his experience and example will help many more take seriously the motivation behind one of Payne Stewart’s last acts of love.