U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

June 20, 1999

Payne Stewart

PAYNE STEWART: I did.

PAYNE STEWART: It was definitely that.

PAYNE STEWART: If I did that, I wouldn't be able to speak. All I wanted to do was give myself a chance. And I've got to give thanks to the Lord for giving me the ability to believe in myself. Without that peace that I have in my heart, I wouldn't be sitting here in front of you right now. So along with that I never gave up. I kept playing. I kept plugging. I didn't hit the great shots at certain times and then I did hit great shots, and then I'd hit great putts and poor chips, but I got the job done, and that means a lot to me. I sat here last night and told you all that if I won again that I'm going to enjoy it a lot more, and I will and it will be easier to understand the obligations that come along with being the United States Open Champion. It will be easier to understand that my family comes first and then if I have time for those obligations, I'll take care of them. But having not spoken to my children yet or my mother -- hopefully they watched. I know my mother did. My kids, I don't know.

PAYNE STEWART: How about the one on 17? Well, 16 for some reason I felt like I needed to chip that ball in, and I hit a very poor chip, and I shouldn't have thought that way. I should have just -- it felt like I needed to do it. And as it went 25 feet past the hole, I said, you didn't need to do that. So I stood up there and I got my line, and I went through my routine that I've been doing all day long with my putting, and I made my stroke. And I looked up and it's going in the hole and it's another birdie on 16, and off I went. And then 17 I put a real good swing on a 6-iron. And I was telling the local media and everybody else outside that at Hazeltine on the 17th hole the five rounds that I played there, every time I hit a shot, it was right at the pin. And all four of my shots on 17 went right at the pin this week. And when it ended up where it did, I definitely thought Phil was going to make his. After I hit that shot, he makes one of these only bogeys -- how many bogeys did he make today? He didn't make very many, did he? That was it, wasn't it? 16. And once he made bogey, and I stood up there and hit that shot and he followed it up with a great shot. And then he putted first and I expected him to make it and then he didn't and my putt was inside left edge, and I did it again, and I made another one. And then I stood up there and collected myself pretty well on 18 tee and hit a drive. I actually thought that drive was in the fairway. But I got up there, I had no chance to even think about the green, so I took my medicine, and put the ball out there where I at least could give myself a chance to get the ball up-and-down. And that's what I've done this week. When I was in a bad position, I didn't compound the situation by making two mistakes in a row. So once I saw that Phil hit his shot, I didn't feel that I was going to make that one, that was a very difficult putt. And he hit a great putt, and he's such a good putter. And he makes four. And I played my wedge shot in there. I walked up there and I figured out, okay, you want to be underneath the hole putting back up at it. And I would have liked it to have been a little closer, but after watching Phil's putt break hard up there right-to-left, I practiced there before during the practice rounds, I knew my putt is going to go up and was going to go to the right. Even though the mound wanted to influence that, I just knew in my mind that it was going to go to the right a little bit and so I stood up there and I read it. And I said this is an inside left putt, just believe that. And I stood up there and did my routine and kept my head still. I've got to thank my wife for the putting tip that she gave me, which was to keep my head still. She watched me yesterday and she said you're moving your head. So I worked on it a little bit last night and I kept my head still on that putt. And when I looked up, it was about two feet from the hole and it was breaking right in the center and I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that I'd accomplished another dream of mine.

PAYNE STEWART: Oh, I don't know, 15 feet, probably. That would be my rough guesstimate that it was about 15 feet, probably about five paces up that hill.

PAYNE STEWART: 3-wood, 7-iron on 1 to 10 feet, 15 feet and made it for birdie. Driver, 3-iron to the -- bad 3-iron to the right of the green on 2, even a worse chip. And then putted my next one and made about a 5-footer for bogey. 3 iron, 9-iron to, to two feet on 3, birdie. 10 I got away from that bunker today, but then I played a bad shot as my third shot, spun it back and made bogey there, missing about a ten-footer. 12, drove in the rough, took my medicine, chipped out, wedge shot to 15 feet, two putts. 13, 3-wood, 9-iron, 15 feet and made it for birdie. 15, 4-iron, missed the green left, chipped a 7-iron about 8 feet and hit a really good putt there. I thought I made that putt. When I looked up, I couldn't believe it didn't dive in the hole. 16, driver, 2-iron, you saw that, 25-footer. 17, 6-iron to 3 feet. And 18, driver, 9-iron, lob wedge, putt.

PAYNE STEWART: Oh, yeah, Rich, that will never change. He was there and we had a good cry on the green after I won in '82 at Quad City. And that will never change, no matter how many -- if I'm fortunate enough to win more Majors or more golf tournaments. The '82 Quad Cities will be my most cherished victory.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, we were at home before I came to the golf course today and the opening of the show on NBC Today, they ran a little piece, and it talked about myself and my father, and showed a picture of him, and I stood there and bawled in front of the television. And Tracy was in the other room, so she didn't see it, but I stood there and cried and thought a lot about my father and probably got a lot of strength from that, and then came on out to the golf course.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, it's obvious that that was one of many putts that I made today that won the golf tournament. But timing was everything. Like I said, it was a horrible chip, and I was thinking about trying to make a chip rather than thinking about getting the ball up there and making my four and going on because Phil's missed the green. I didn't go over and see what kind of lie he had. It didn't matter. I had to take care of myself.

PAYNE STEWART: In control? I thought I played a beautiful front 9, except for the shot on 9, but that was a great par -- I forgot about that. That was a good par. Until the back 9 where I missed the fairway on 12, and that rough was nasty, it was wet and it just wasn't -- it was nasty. So I wasn't thinking about Phil or Tiger or David or anybody. I was thinking about getting the job done and doing what I had to do to give myself a chance. And after I made bogey on 12, my caddy said there's a long ways to go in this golf tournament. And I came right back with a birdie on 13. And there it was. I just wasn't going to hand the trophy over to him.

PAYNE STEWART: She doesn't want to be up here at all.

PAYNE STEWART: She's not enjoying that, either. Sorry, Honey. Something you've got to go when you're my wife.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, I knew that it was going to come down to having to make putts to win the golf tournament. It happens that way anywhere. And last night on the putting green I'm -- Tracy stayed at home because you can't see in the gallery, so she watched it on TV. And first thing she said to me is you've got to hold your head still. She said you're wanting to see it go in, wanting to see it go in. I went out on the putting green last night after I left here and I worked on that. I putted with my eyes closed. I putted and never looked up. And I took that out on the golf course today and I never moved my head to watch a putting in until I knew it was well away from the putter. And I've heard on television before that the thing that -- one of the detriments of Payne Stewart's golf game is he's not that good a putter. Well, maybe I squelched those rumors.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, I don't think I can compare the situation for the fact that I wasn't playing as well last year. I was just struggling to hang on. And I thought I did a pretty good job of that and then got beat by a great round. But I felt like I was playing a lot better this time. And the putt at Olympic last year was probably 20, 25 feet, but it had huge break in it. And this putt today, like I said, from 15 feet, it was right up inside left. It was a very makable putt. The one at Olympic Club was one in 50, maybe.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, I thought I was very prepared for this golf tournament. It was probably a blessing in disguise that I missed the cut at Memphis, because I came in here Saturday, my swing teacher, Chuck Cook, and I walked around the golf course. I took an 8-iron, a 9-iron, pitching wedge, sand wedge, and we just walked the golf course. Hit a bunch of chip shots and a bunch of shots from all sorts of areas, and I did that again on Sunday. And I was here when nobody was around and I got a lot of good work done on the golf course. And I think that my preparation was why I was so excited, because I knew I was playing well. Even though I didn't make the cut at Memphis, I think my mind was thinking about this week. And I've been working at it and putting the time in and seeing the results, and I felt like I was very prepared for this week, and I developed a gameplan during my practice rounds, and I stuck to it. Even when the wind started blowing, I never hit a driver off the first tee. I hit 3-wood every day, and I hit the fairway every day. And, by the way, I drove the ball pretty well for the week. So maybe my stats on the PGA TOUR will get better.

PAYNE STEWART: I'm on the Ryder Cup team, now.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, 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. And that's the reason that I was able to gather myself and conduct myself. And where I was with my faith last year and where I am now is leaps and bounds. And that gave me the strength to stand up there and believe in myself and get the job done.

PAYNE STEWART: I didn't question how I played the hole. I stood up there -- we come walking off the tee and I saw the marshal go over there and stick a yellow flag in the rough. And I looked at my caddy and said, "That's in the rough?" And he said, "Yeah, I think so it is." So I got up there, and you've got the walking announcers always go over there (indicating). (Laughter.) So I got up there. I kind of knew what kind of lie I had, and so I dealt with it. The only option I had was give yourself a chance to get it up-and-down with your wedge game. And my wedge game was pretty decent all week. And boom, I put it in there. I walked up there and saw where I wanted to try to make a putt from, and I put the ball in that position. I wanted it a little bit closer, but I played what I thought all week long was very smart golf out there.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, I think myself and all the contestants this week will attest to how grand Pinehurst No. 2 is and how special a place it is. I don't know that anybody's walked in here and said this is horrible. If they did, then they've got a different perspective than I do. But it's a special golf course. It goes to show one under par wins the golf tournament. Even par was, I'm sure, most of you were betting on a playoff tomorrow, thinking, oh, man, I've got to hang around again. Stewart's doing it to me again (laughter.) But I think the USGA is very pleased with what happened this week with the -- I'm sure they wanted it drier, but the golf course stood the test of the United States Open, and I think that they will be back again.

PAYNE STEWART: I'd like to think I was Jack Nicklaus. The same thing, on the putting green. I'm going to be Jack today. I'm going to make this one and win the U.S. Open. I guess I'm proud of the fact that the kids would want to be Payne Stewart. I think that's pretty neat that somebody would aspire to be myself.

PAYNE STEWART: I think what happened last year I really built on and I was prepared for today. I was prepared for all the media. The USGA did great jobs of blocking off tees. We got put on the clock again. I was prepared for that. I was prepared for that sand divot I got on No. 4, but I didn't play that good a shot, but I was prepared to play a good shot. I just think that I learned a lot from last year. If you can learn from defeat, then I think that that makes you a much better player.

PAYNE STEWART: Yes, what happened last year at the U.S. Open and everybody, oh, man, what a great try you did, great try. Well, I didn't want to hear that today. I didn't want to hear that when I got back to Orlando and all my friends came up and said, boy, you sure tried. It was a great effort. You're a great competitor, but bad luck. I didn't want to hear that, and that motivated me. I mean, the Ryder Cup -- I've contended all year long the Ryder Cup's motivated me. That's one cup that isn't sitting on this table right now. It's on the wrong side of the ocean. Hopefully, I can do something about it. I maintain if I wasn't on the team, the only way I can make a difference is get on the team. I can't rely on Crenshaw to pick me, so that's been the driving force for me. And 300 points will put me up to 917, thank you very much, and I will be on the team. (Laughter.)

PAYNE STEWART: I appreciate that.

PAYNE STEWART: I was saying, look, just give yourself -- you've given yourself a chance. You're here. Do the same thing you're doing. Believe that you've read it right and make your stroke. And I did all of the above. But I putted -- you guys watched it, I putted my little derriere off today.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, that's better than I've been doing all week.

PAYNE STEWART: I would have had to. I would have had to summon that again. You have to do what you have to do to win. But I'm fatigued right now. I'm tired. Your gut just churns and I know I should be hungry, but I'm not. And if I had to play tomorrow, I would have gotten up for it.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, I'm going to answer the latter question first. Where it puts me in the golf world is what I believe in myself. I'm a pretty good and pretty accomplished player, and nobody can ever take that away from me, no matter what's written about me. So I think that I've accomplished a lot in my golf career. And I forgot your first question.

PAYNE STEWART: Yeah, I kind of came from behind on Simpson in '91. There was a two shot swing on 16 on Sunday. There was a 2-shot swing on Monday in the playoff. But it felt so good today. I don't know how high I jumped. I know that I got a credit card jump shot. But it felt like I was sky high. It felt like I was way up there. But it felt so good to accomplish what I did today.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, I don't have an answer to why the Europeans don't perform well at the U.S. Open. There's some great players over there that should perform well at these tournaments. And why that happens, I don't know. Maybe it's a mental block to them. I don't have the answer for that one. But the Ryder Cup, I'm excited about that. And there's going to be a lot of new faces on both sides. David Duval has never been on a Ryder Cup team, which is really hard to believe. But this will be his first Ryder Cup. And there will be a lot of new faces on the European team. I understand that Jesse is not going to play, whether he makes the team or not. It would be tough to be a playing captain, it really would. And I think he's going to do a wonderful job as captain. I think Crenshaw is going to do a wonderful job, also.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, what I did today was I choose the line that I saw the putt, and then once I took my position to the side of the ball, I made two practice strokes with my eyes closed to feel the distance. And then I got up and I aimed my putter on the line that I saw, and I said hold your head still, and I made the stroke. And I didn't do that routine all week long, just today.

PAYNE STEWART: It's exactly what I'm talking about. I think I'm a lot more prepared to deal with everything that goes along with holding onto this trophy for a year. I don't plan on changing my schedules. I plan on doing the same things that I've been doing that got me in position to win today, which is working out and spending a lot of time at home and playing when I want to play and playing when I feel at golf tournaments that I enjoy playing at. And I'm not going to -- I don't think I'm going to -- I don't look forward to running after the elusive dollar, because I've been invited to go and play here and here and here and here. I'm looking forward to as soon as the tournament in Valderrama is over, which is the 7th or 8th of November, I'm not playing again until the Hawaiian Open. I had so much fun being at home, being a father, getting up in the morning, making breakfast, taking my kids to school, going to high school athletics, that's what my life is right now, and I'm not going to do what I did in '91, along that line.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, officially -- well, I don't know, I think I bring enthusiasm. I'm a very outspoken person. I've got a lot of energy. I think I bring some knowledge to the guys that are going to be on the team, such as David Duval, that are not going to be used to hearing people cheer when he misses a putt. And being able to prepare the guys on the team -- I feel like I'm a rah-rah person. I'm going to -- if I'm teamed up in whatever I'm playing in and I have a partner, boy, I'm going to be in his ear if he doesn't want me to be in his ear, then I'm not going to be there. But I'm going to be very supportive. And I'm a very supportive person when I'm on a team.

PAYNE STEWART: Well, I think what's motivated me to this year was the fact that I couldn't rely on the captains to pick. I felt like I was a legitimate selection, the last two Ryder Cup teams. I thought the captain's choices that they picked were good choices. That's something that maybe I'll have the opportunity to do later in my career is be a captain, and then I can be analyzed, well, why did you pick him? I can be that -- be analyzed, be put on that pedestal and be carved about. In answer to your second question, yes, I'm a lot more mentally prepared to deal with these situations than I have been in the past. And I'm going back to the fact that my faith is strong. And the Lord's given me the ability that he wants me to use so I can stand up here and give him the praise.