Payne
Stewart captured the U.S. Open in storybook fashion, after a
devastating loss in the same tournament the year before. He was back
at the top of his game and brimming with confidence. But when he
accepted the trophy, he surprised everyone by saying:
"First of all, I have to give thanks to the Lord. If it weren’t for the faith that I have in him, I wouldn’t have been able to have the faith that I had in myself on the golf course."
Later he added, "I’m proud of the fact that my faith in God is so much stronger, and I’m so much more at peace with myself than I’ve ever been in my life."
Stewart’s wife, Tracey, recalls, "Many people were amazed at how Payne handled losing the 1998 U.S. Open and winning the 1999 Open with equal measures of grace. Members of the press, and some of his fellow competitors, were intrigued. Something was different about Payne Stewart. Oh, sure, he was still Payne--spontaneous, outspoken, extremely confident, and always wearing his emotions on his sleeve. He still loved a good party, and he’d still tell you what he thought about a subject if you asked him--or even if you didn’t. He still worked hard, played hard, and loved passionately. Yet people who knew Payne well recognized that he had changed somehow for the better. He possessed a deeper, unusual sense of peace... a peace that hadn’t always been there."
Although Stewart grew up in a Christian home, faith was not the focal point of his life. He was preoccupied--even consumed--with achieving success in the world of professional golf. He accomplished many of his goals. But as time went on, Stewart realized that fame and fortune didn’t bring him the fulfillment he was looking for. As a parent, Payne wanted to give his children the solid values he had been raised with. Friends encouraged him to take a deeper look at his own faith.