Title/Author:
“The Last Stand of
Payne Stewart: The Year Golf Changed Forever” by Kevin Robbins
Tags:
Golf, professional,
biography, history
Publish date:
October 8, 2019
Length:
227 pages
Rating:
5 of 5 stars (outstanding)
Review:
Payne Stewart was one of the most
popular and most interesting people on the professional golf tour in the 1990’s.
His tragic death in a plane crash in 1999, just weeks after being a member of
the famous American Ryder Cup team that made an incredible comeback on the last
day of matches to regain that award from the European team. Payne’s golf career
and life are chronicled in this excellent book by Kevin Robbins.
While the format of the biography
does follow Stewart’s life without much jumping around, what set this biography
apart from others was partly Stewart’s very interesting career with its ups and
downs and Robbins’ delicate manner in which he handles telling the story. Stewart
was not an ordinary professional golfer. The most known aspect of his golf career
was the headwear and plus four pants he wore on the course. It is not as well known why he wore these and
this book tells the tale of Stewart’s father stating that in order to become
famous, one must stand out. Payne took that advice to heart and his father was
never far from his thoughts, something Robbins illustrates in a touching manner
several times in the book.
As for Payne’s golf career (Robbins
always calls him “Payne” in the book, never “Stewart”), its ups and downs are
covered thoroughly in the book as well. Early on, even when Payne started achieving
some success and eventually winning his first major tournament in 1991, he often
came across as brash and even uncaring at times. It did lead to bouts of
depression that he was able to overcome with the help of his wife Tracey. She
is portrayed as the rock of their family as she was able to help Payne both on
and off the course. I especially enjoyed reading about the putting drill she
made Payne go through to work on that aspect of his game, as it is mentioned
several times, including Payne’s most memorable and satisfying win, the 1999 US
Open at Pinehurst #2.
Of course, the plane crash that took
Payne’s life was covered in great detail as well. The book starts and ends with
that event and no matter what aspect of that tragedy is discussed, it is told
in the same manner as the rest of the important events in the life of Payne
Stewart. They are told in a way that a reader will not only feel close to Payne
and Tracey, but also that he or she is reading about a person who is truly HUMAN
with all the highs and lows that all people experience but is also one that who
is loved and whose loss is still being felt nearly 20 years after his death.
I wish to thank Hachette Books for
providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
Buying Links:
Hi Lance. Thank you very much for the thoughtful review. If I may: The 1999 U.S. Open was at Pinehurst, not Pebble. It's an easy oversight, and one I made often in the pre-edited copy, because Stewart won the 1999 AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble, and the 2000 U.S. Open was played there. Lots of Pebble Beach in this book! Thank you sincerely. Kevin.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kevin - I will make the edit
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