William Payne Stewart (January 30, 1957 – October 25, 1999) was an American professional golfer who won 11 PGA Tour events, including three major championships, the last of which came just a few months before his death in an airplane accident at the age of 42.

He was reputed to have the biggest wardrobe of all professional golfers and was a favorite of photographers because of his flamboyant attire of ivy caps and patterned pants, which were a cross between plus fours and knickerbockers, a throwback to the once-commonplace golf "uniform".

[4] In 1983, Stewart gained his second PGA Tour victory by winning the Walt Disney World Golf Classic by two strokes.

Moments after Bob Eastwood birdied the final hole of regulation, Stewart took a double bogey to end the tournament tied for first.

Stewart then made another double bogey on the first playoff hole, causing him to lose to Eastwood.

[5] In 1985, Stewart came close to winning The Open Championship, when he finished one stroke behind the champion Sandy Lyle.

After birdieing the 11th and 12th, Stewart took a one-shot lead, but he then had bogeys at the 13th and 14th, finishing the tournament tied for sixth place, behind the winner Raymond Floyd.

In April 1989, Stewart won the MCI Heritage Golf Classic by five strokes, with a then tournament-record score of 268, 16-under-par.

At Kemper Lakes Golf Club, Stewart won the PGA Championship in 1989, his first major title.

He was able to gain the lead over Reid, who bogeyed the 16th, double-bogeyed the 17th, and missed a seven-foot (2 m) birdie putt on the 18th, which would have forced a playoff.

"[16] The following year, Stewart became the first player to win back-to-back titles at the MCI Heritage Golf Classic at Harbour Town Golf Links, winning a playoff against Larry Mize and Steve Jones on the second extra hole with an 18-foot (5 m) birdie putt.

[20] Stewart's second major title came at the 1991 U.S. Open after an 18-hole Monday playoff with Scott Simpson on a windblown Hazeltine National Golf Club course in Minnesota.

[21] The following month, Stewart won the 1991 Heineken Dutch Open by nine shots, which included a course record of 62 in the third round.

[24] In the 1998 U.S. Open at Olympic Club in San Francisco, Stewart had a four-shot lead going into the final round, but lost to Lee Janzen by a stroke.

[26] The following year at the 1999 U.S. Open at Pinehurst Resort, Stewart won his last major title, memorably holing a 15-foot par putt that defeated Phil Mickelson by a stroke in the final round when Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh were also in contention for the trophy.

With victory assured for the United States, Stewart conceded a putt (and his own singles match) to Montgomerie on the 18th hole.

"[31] He gained an affection for links golf, becoming a popular figure in Ireland after playing on Irish courses to warm up for The Open Championship.

[35] Stewart was also a musician, and played harmonica in the blues rock group Jake Trout and the Flounders, which also included fellow golfers Larry Rinker and Peter Jacobsen.

[36] The music video for the title track, a golf-themed parody of Randy Newman's "I Love L.A.", earned rotation on VH-1.

On October 25, 1999, Stewart was killed in the crash of a Learjet flying from his home in Orlando, Florida, to Texas for the year-ending tournament, The Tour Championship, held at Champions Golf Club in Houston.

The aircraft continued flying on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed into a field near Mina, South Dakota.

[41] The tournament had been delayed in order to allow those who would be competing in it to attend Stewart's memorial service at the First Baptist Church of Orlando on October 30.

They alleged that a cracked adapter resulted in an airflow valve detaching from the frame, causing a fatal loss of cabin pressure.

The investigation was dropped in 2002, but it was too late to save SunJet; unable to legally operate, it had filed for bankruptcy protection in June 2000.

Finally, Payne Stewart Drive in Jacksonville, Florida, houses The First Tee along with a Job Corps center.

This time, the attendees included Stewart's old caddy Mike Hicks plus other professionals due to compete in the tournament such as Mickelson, Love, David Duval, Tom Lehman, Lee Janzen and Sergio García, and it concluded with shots being hit into Stillwater Cove in a golf version of a 21-gun salute.

The next day, when Stewart's defending champion spot in the traditional initial pairings alongside the Open Championship winner (Paul Lawrie) and U.S.

Later in 2020, Woods christened the first public course by him and his company TGR Design at Big Cedar Lodge near Branson as Payne's Valley in Stewart's honor.