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 Closer Look: Stewart rights ship on 16
Posted: Sunday June 20, 1999 10:59 PM
By Albert Lin, CNN/SI PINEHURST, N.C. -- Payne Stewart's putt on 18 won the U.S. Open, but it was a similar stroke two holes earlier that could be looked upon as the actual game-winner. Following a Stewart bogey on 15, Phil Mickelson stepped onto the 16th tee with a one-stroke lead. On the 489-yard hole -- the longest par-4 in U.S. Open history -- both players hit perfect tee shots within three feet of each other. Stewart's second shot was short and to the left of the green, and when his chip flew past the hole he was left with a 25-foot putt just to make par. Mickelson's second shot was also far from perfect, buried in the grass above the front right bunker, but his chip rolled to within eight feet of the cup. "For some reason I felt I needed to chip that ball in," said Stewart, who beat Scott Simpson in a Monday playoff to win the 1991 Open. "I shouldn't have thought that way." It looked like Stewart was about to drop another stroke behind Mickelson and hand the expectant dad a storybook first major title on Father's Day. "I thought after Payne chipped by on 16 that my nearest pursuer was Tiger," said Mickelson. "He was at even par and it looked like Payne was going to slip to one over." But Stewart stepped up and improbably drained the putt to save par and stay even for the tournament. "I stood up there, got my line, went through my routine that I'd been going through all day long on putts, and made my stroke," he said. Mickelson, perhaps feeling a little more pressure, then pulled his eight-footer right and settled for bogey to drop into a tie. That set up the exciting finish. The duo moved to the par-3 17th and hit virtually identical tee shots, Mickelson ending up two feet below Duval. But the lefthander, whose putter had bailed him out on numerous occasions throughout the day, again barely missed, putting up a bogey 4 and surrendering the lead. "All week I've had a tendency to miss to the right, a slight pull, and I didn't give them quite enough speed, I guess, and pulled both just a little bit," he said. On 18, Stewart's tee shot found the right rough and a Monday playoff seemed imminent. His second shot didn't reach the green and his chip was still 20 feet short. Meanwhile, Mickelson was on in two and easily two-putted for par. That left the outcome of the Open in Stewart's hands, much like a year ago at Olympic when he missed a birdie putt on 18 that would have tied Lee Janzen. "I read it, I believed in my read, I stood up there and it went in," Stewart said. "I can't describe the feeling that went through my body when I looked up and saw the putt going in the hole. It was unbelievable. "I learned a lot last year. I learned how to deal with all the commotion, the media, the rustling around today. I didn't feel I was the gallery's choice; everybody was cheering for Phil and Tiger and David, that was the scenario they wanted. I figured if I just go out and be Payne Stewart, it's good enough."
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