Lehman recalls Stewart's style, sportsmanship while accepting award

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ATLANTA -- In reality, Tom Lehman wishes there was no cause to even hand out the award.

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He wishes the plane had never taken off that late October morning in 1999. He wishes he could forget the lone bagpiper walking through the eerie and ephemeral early morning mist during the emotional memorial at Champions Golf Club three days later.

Most of all, Lehman wishes his good friend was still alive rather than immortalized in the bronze Payne Stewart Award he accepted on Tuesday.

"When I was told I was going to receive this award, I started thinking about my years knowing Payne Stewart," Lehman said. "... I think the overriding feeling that I had and I still have even sitting here right now is I really wish that this award wasn't being given out for another 30 years.

"It would be nice to have Payne Stewart here still. And I think ... it would be great to see where his life might have gone. ... His style, his grace, his sportsmanship, his leadership qualities, his smile, his laugh, they were such a big part of the TOUR, and with the friends.

"So to accept this award is so incredibly humbling. It's so humbling that I'm not even sure how to say thank you."

The award has been given out for the last 11 years to honor Stewart, one of the PGA TOUR's true bon vivants, fiercest competitors and dedicated philanthropists, who was killed in a plane crash as he flew to Houston to play in THE TOUR Championship. Stewart was 42 when he died and had won the U.S. Open just three months earlier.

Past recipients include Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer (2000), Ben Crenshaw (2001), Nick Price (2002), Tom Watson (2003), Jay Haas (2004), Brad Faxon (2005), Gary Player (2006), Hal Sutton (2007), Davis Love (2008) and Kenny Perry (2009).

Lehman is a five-time PGA TOUR champion, including the 1996 British Open and TOUR Championship, a combo that earned him Player of the Year honors. He competed in three Presidents Cups and three Ryder Cups, then served as Captain of the 2006 team. He has won twice on the Champions Tour, including this year's Senior PGA Championship.

For seven years, Lehman hosted a golf tournament that raised more than $4.7 million for the Children's Cancer Research Fund at the University of Minnesota, which is his alma mater. He's also involved with Match Point, an organization in Phoenix, where Lehman makes his home, that matches adults with troubled children.

"There was a lot that I learned about people, about dealing with people, about having fun and respecting the game from Payne."

--Tom Lehman

His philanthropic endeavors have earned Lehman the 2001 Charles Bartlett Award from the Golf Writers Association of America, as well as the 2007 Byron Nelson Prize from the Salesmanship Club of Dallas. He has also been active on the TOUR's Board of Directors, as well as its Player Advisory Council.

"I think this year's honoree ... has certainly personified the ideals that the award really represents, which include sportsmanship, really, integrity, the spirit of giving back, and understanding and an acceptance of what it means to be a role model," PGA TOUR Commissioner Tim Finchem said.

Lehman, who is a born-again Christian, was playing in THE TOUR Championship the week his friend died so suddenly. The Learjet Stewart was riding in lost cabin pressure and flew, uncontrolled, for several hours until it ran out of gas and crashed on South Dakota.

Lehman read a Christian message at a memorial prior to the first round of the 1999 TOUR Championship. The funeral was in Orlando on Friday and more than 100 players attended. Competition resumed on Saturday, and Stuart Appleby wore one of Stewart's signature plus-four outfits in the final round while many other players also wore knickers in tribute to their friend.

Lehman's memories on Tuesday, though, were much more pleasant ones.

He talked about Stewart's jubilation over the U.S. Team's come-from-behind victory at the 1999 Ryder Cup. Lehman remembered seeing Stewart wearing "his jalapeno pepper pants drinking tequila shots on top of the piano." He thought about the times Stewart talked about his father and how he wished he could have been there that week.

Perhaps the memory that was the most indicative of the man Stewart had become, though, was after the U.S. had rallied from four points behind in Singles on Sunday. Stewart had a Stars-and-Stripes top hat in his golf bag, and his match with Colin Montgomerie was the last one on the course.

The amazing U.S. victory was assured as the two men were walking down the 18th fairway. The American fans had made no secret of their disdain for Montgomerie, and Stewart, mindful of the abuse his competitor had endured, conceded the Scotsman's 20-foot putt -- giving the final point to the Europeans.

"So after all is said and done, I said, why didn't you put that hat on? It was a big celebration. Why didn't you put the hat on walking down the 18th fairway?" Lehman recalled. "His comment was, I couldn't do that to Monty.

"I thought about that, and I think that really says a lot about his idea of sportsmanship, his idea of competition, his idea of respect for your competitor, his idea of respect for the game. ... So there was a lot that I learned about that, about people, about dealing with people, about having fun and about respecting the game from Payne."