Payne Stewart’s son shares emotional Father’s Day U.S. Open tribute

Payne Stewart knew he would by no means reside via one other Father’s Day just like the one he celebrated in 1999, as a result of when Payne Stewart left Pinehurst No. 2 that 12 months, he was immortalized.

He had simply received the U.S. Open, the fruits of a journey with religion, household and golf that captured the spirit of {the golfing} world. He was residing out the wildest desires of his second life, feeling the achievement of a profitable skilled profession and a profitable house life. He was really comfortable.

He was extra proper than he knew. Because it turned out, Stewart’s Father’s Day triumph can be his final. He died in an unthinkable personal airplane crash simply months after his crowning victory in Pinehurst.

Father’s Day has grow to be a complicated time for the Stewart household. On one hand, the vacation is a chance to have a good time the life and legacy of their late father, remembering his journey in skilled golf via the occasion he burnished his skilled legacy. On the opposite, it’s a glimpse in any respect the issues the household has misplaced since that second in 1999 — a reminder of the room that’s now empty.

Few individuals would perceive this dichotomy higher than Stewart’s son, Aaron. He’s the spitting picture of his late father, sporting the identical mild cowlick, inviting eyes and heat smile that endeared his father to hundreds of thousands. Aaron was solely 10 on the time of his father’s dying, too younger to course of the depth of the tragedy that had befallen him.

Now, although, issues have modified. Aaron Stewart is 35 years outdated, a husband and father of his personal. He’ll have a good time Father’s Day by witnessing the twenty fifth anniversary of his father’s biggest triumph, and as you may think, the approaching anniversary has left him with rather a lot on his thoughts.

In a superb video essay that can air at the beginning of NBC’s U.S. Open protection at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Aaron pays tribute to his late father with an emotional reflection on their relationship and on the years which have adopted his dying.

The essay, which Aaron wrote and recorded alongside his son, was produced by Golf Channel’s Emmy-winning options group of Izzy Deherrera, Jared Ficklin, Ben Jorden, Matthew Durham and Aaron Cohen. The group met with Stewart at his house in Islesworth, Fla., within the months previous the U.S. Open and inspired him to write down a letter to his late dad, which they helped to adapt right into a video essay for NBC’s protection.

You’ll be able to watch the total video above, and might catch it within the moments earlier than NBC’s final-round U.S. Open protection goes reside on Father’s Day afternoon at 2 p.m. ET.

However earlier than watching, allow us to be the primary to supply the next recommendation: Seize a tissue.

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James Colgan

Golf.com Editor

James Colgan is a information and options editor at GOLF, writing tales for the web site and journal. He manages the Sizzling Mic, GOLF’s media vertical, and makes use of his on-camera expertise throughout the model’s platforms. Previous to becoming a member of GOLF, James graduated from Syracuse College, throughout which era he was a caddie scholarship recipient (and astute looper) on Lengthy Island, the place he’s from. He will be reached at [email protected].