Roundup: Payne Stewart The Character

With the return to Pinehurst 15 years after his win and on the eve of his family accepting the Bob Jones Award on his behalf, the late Payne Stewart is on the minds of many.

Erik Brady and Steve DiMeglio have put together an impressive Payne Stewart package for USA Today, and it’s not all somber stuff. (It also appears to be USA Today’s effort to try longer form stuff with chapters, so if nothing else for media junkies check out the layout. Interesting!)

Love this from Paul Azinger and the story from Scott Hoch.

AZINGER: "It was a good hour after I made the bunker shot to beat him and I had made my way up to the locker room. I remember sitting down and I opened my locker and everything seemed normal. But things weren't quite as they seemed. When I saw the bananas in my brand new shoes, I knew he was OK with what had happened.

" … Payne was different from everybody else because he wanted to be different. And Payne always made a difference. Always made a difference. He was a great cook, a terrific family man, he loved sports, and he loved beer. He was the life of the party. He was a guy's guy, even though he wore knickers."

When the Stewarts moved to Orlando, they stayed at Hoch's residence as base camp for their home search.

HOCH: "Funny thing, early on, he was in the kitchen with his skivvies on in our house. We told him to be right at home but that's being home a little too much. But he was comfortable with anything. And they were tight whiteys, too."

Jason Sobel reports on a story that encapsulates Stewart's life as a genuine character who loved his Pine Crest Inn time.

"At one point during the evening, he walked toward the first-floor men’s bathroom located underneath the stairs, ducking his 6-foot-1 frame just a bit to squeeze inside. When he exited, Stewart exhibited mock indignation over the fact that his signature, which once adorned the bathroom’s wall, had been painted over during a renovation. And so he retreated to the front desk and asked to make his own renovation."

Golf Channel's "Payne" documentary airs Monday at 10 pm ET.