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Every week of the 2009 PGA Tour season, the editorial staff of the SI Golf Group will conduct an e-mail roundtable. Check in on Mondays for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors.
Michael Bamberger, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Greetings, fellow dimple heads, and welcome to Tour Confidential, where all opinions are created equal, except that some are more equal than others. I don't know about you, but I'm loving this Fall Series. It's grind-city in beautiful weather, with spectacular shot-making, good and bad. You can listen for an hour and never hear the name Tiger Woods mentioned (except in the promos for the so-called Tiger Tour). It's a great reminder that golf does not begin and end with Woods, or with the four majors.
We'll get to Mr. Excitement (Rickie Fowler) and the wild finish at the Frys.com, but let's start by remembering one of the great swingers of all time, Payne Stewart, who died 10 years ago in a plane crash. I loved watching Payne swing and play, and he was great to talk to, too. Twenty years ago, I was talking to him about Kenny Green, who had a club-flipping routine with his caddie. Talking about Green's club-tossing, there was a flash of anger in Payne. He said, "If he flips that putter in front of my nose one more time, it's coming back to him in two pieces." Payne was moody and real, and he'd still be a force in the game today — for sure. He had a swing, like Tom Watson's, that would not quit. Anyone want to share a favorite Payne moment?
Gary Van Sickle, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Not that the NFL needed the exposure, but when he wore those team-color knicker outfits, he got written up in the paper every day in every city. (Unlike when Ben Curtis did it and nobody noticed.) The constant questions about his outfits fed his peacock personality, and he had great fun with it, sometimes intentionally wearing the clothes of a city's arch nemesis. We joked that he was doomed the last day at Shoal Creek in the PGA because he wore the Packers' colors, back in the days when they were big losers. And he did, indeed, shoot a big number. Payne enjoyed the spotlight. The whole knicker thing turned out to be genius. For years, when he left the course in jeans and a T-shirt, he was unrecognizable. At least until he became so famous that it didn't matter anymore.
Jim Herre, managing editor, SI Golf Group: Payne's other fashion contribution: He launched the sleeveless rain jacket at the 1999 Open. It misted all weekend at Pinehurst, and when Stewart cut the sleeves off his jacket, a trend was born.
Rick Lipsey, writer-reporter, Sports Illustrated: I did trunk duty with Payne at Pinehurst after the '99 US Open, following him from his last putt until he left the grounds. I was with him when he shed a tear in the locker room speaking to me about his rebirth (religious and otherwise). He had his foibles, as we all do, but the guy was all heart and soul, something the Tour sorely lacks today. He was the epitome of everything today's robot pros lack
Dick Friedman, senior editor, Sports Illustrated: Would anyone dare to be a Payne Stewart nowadays? Is there anyone on the horizon who could be the total package — flaunting the game, the stylishly fun look, the rapport with the fans? Some guys have two of three. Ian Poulter has game and great duds.
Alan Shipnuck, senior writer, Sports Illustrated: Poulter has flashy clothes but little on-course charisma. And call me when he wins a coupla majors.
Friedman: Agreed. That's my point.
Van Sickle: I like Poulter, and he has the same look-at-me personality, and he wears flashy clothes. But Stewart had a feel swing with a sweet tempo, a la Sam Snead or Colin Montgomerie. It was among the best of his generation. If Poulter is going to reach Payne's heights, he'd better get started winning something soon.
Herre: Payne's swing was a thing of beauty. Isn't it the model for the PGA Tour's logo?
Bamberger: I posed that question, Jim, at Tour HQ this year and was told it was a composite swing.
Van Sickle: I don't know, I seem to recall somebody admitting when that logo came out that it was based on Payne. Maybe they're worried about legal liability now.
