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Reilly: Stewart found the right tempo
Posted: Tuesday October 26, 1999 12:36 PM
Sports Illustrated senior writer Rick Reilly, who knew Payne Stewart from covering dozens of golf tournaments for the magazine, spoke with CNNSI.com on Monday about his memories of the two-time U.S. Open champion. CNNSI.com: What were your first thoughts when you heard the news? Rick Reilly: I guess my first thought was, "it's too bad." He really had become such a good guy, he had found some religion. In the old days he could be a little bit arrogant. He was a very cocky kid. I mean he was very talented; he was a wonderful cook. He would always rent a house at tournaments and he'd never go out. He'd invite us over sometimes for dinner, or I'd see him and ask, "what are you cooking tonight?" And it was amazing stuff. His dad was a real cocky kind of guy, too; a salesman in Missouri who wore these outlandishly wild jackets. His dad always told him, "Son, you gotta make 'em remember you," because salesmen really need to be remembered. That's why he went to that knickers thing. Payne said he was playing one day with Mike Eastwood, I think, and they wore the exact same outfit. He realized everybody looked the same and he decided, then and there, to change. So he went to that outfit and he was just arrogant and cocky enough to pull it off. Nobody in the modern-day Tour would wear that stuff, but he pulled it off. And I remember his shoes were gorgeous, with these silver toes and heels, something like $400 each. He'd carry them around in this beautiful hand-made case that was custom-made for the shoes. And he'd have all these knickers and stuff. One time he came to the Masters for the par-3 contest in a tuxedo with knickers, with a matching black hat and a black-and-white, hand-tied bow tie. Oh, it was great. He was an amazing guy, a little bit cocky, but he loved those outfits because he could get off and be in jeans or pants and a baseball hat or no baseball hat, and nobody would recognize him. He said it was the best thing he ever did. He could be kind of tough to like, but over the last two years he kind of found religion and started wearing that wristband, What Would Jesus Do. And he was more open, friendlier. I always liked him, but a lot of guys didn't. He liked to play slam-dunk basketball, even though it could really hurt his career, and he was really good. He'd have serious games in driveways and he always liked to bring the games up -- "Hey, you play any basketball?" -- and was always wanting to get in games. So he could be real likeable. I just don't think enough people knew him. Over the last year and a half it seemed like he was happier with himself. CNNSI.com: How about your memories of him as a player? Reilly: Oh, as a player, it was this golf swing that came right out of 1925. It was the most beautiful swing; it was classic. And it was lifted right from those years in which it was all about tempo and classic finish. Really, I think it was the prettiest swing out there, though maybe it wasn't the most efficient. But he taught me this tempo drill, where he'd tee it up on the range and he'd take the shortest, slowest little swing with a driver you ever saw, and it would go about 40 yards. Just a perfect little arc. The next arc would be a little larger and he'd hit it 43 yards, then 46 and 50 and pretty soon the swing was full and complete, yet just as slow as that first one. It was a great way to keep tempo and it's an old trick from the old days. And I think toward the end, his life got some tempo. CNNSI.com: Where should Stewart rank in terms of success during his Tour career? Reilly: Kind of like Hale Irwin; he's a guy who rose to the occasion for very tough tournaments, where you had to hit the ball perfectly straight. And he was a wonderful putter, with the most lovely tempo on his putting stroke. He's a very good player who won more majors than anyone ever dreamed -- more than Greg Norman. He was a very elegant, classic player who was just so professional. I remember he had to make a four-footer to win at Hazletine in Minnesota, and he said he said to himself, standing over the putt, "Just putt this in the back like the professional you are." And he did. And that one at Pinehurst this summer, of course, was one of greatest clutch putts in history, right in the heart. CNNSI.com: You mention Pinehurst, and there are the Opens, but are there any defining moments you think of in his career? Reilly: Well, for years they called him "Avis" because he always came in second on the Tour. I think that putt at Pinehurst was the defining moment of his career because it wasn't lost to him, he won it. Remember, Mike Reid handed him his PGA Championship at Kemper Lakes by falling apart on the last two or three holes. And Scott Simpson fell apart in the playoff at the U.S. Open. But Pinehurst was all Stewart playing so great at the end, and I don't think it's any coincidence that he had this new lease on life. I think it's easier when you don't make your job the No. 1 thing. I think it's better when you put some other things first. CNNSI.com: What do you think precipitated that change? Reilly: Definitely the religion; his wife got him into the religion. He was big on putting God first and once he did that, then he put himself about fourth and it was easier to get along with him. I always did, but guys complained about him. I could see where he might be a little hard to talk to and a little arrogant. But he wasn't at the end. It's hard to believe he's gone, isn't it? CNNSI.com: How should he be remembered? Reilly: His swing was always classic and perfect. But as a person, he wasn't. I guess none of us are, but he really got it down at the end. He really grooved it at the end.
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