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A tribute to a friend Golfers at Tour Championship put on the plus-fours
Posted: Sunday October 31, 1999 02:48 PM
HOUSTON--If the reason had not been so appropriate, the season would have been. On Halloween morning, a couple dozen grown men showed up at the Champions Club looking for all the world like they might be begging for candy and not preparing for the final round of the Tour Championship. "Get a good look," said a blushing Jeff Sluman, "cause you'll never see me lookin' like this again." In truth, a grand tribute. Dressed in flowing knickers and argyle socks, some with Hogan caps, they were saying a very public goodbye to their fallen friend, Payne Stewart. If he had made this elite field and not perished so tragically Monday in the air accident, he would surely have been the only man in the field wearing such an outfit. And no one would have said a word, for it had been his trademark style for two decades. But mid-week, midst-mourning, the players here gathered and voted unanimously to wear the knickers on Sunday as one last public show of devotion. A call was made to Stewart's clothing manufacturer but only 33 pair of plus-fours were sent. Sizing was a problem for men like Vijay Singh, Ernie Els who are tall, and Tiger Woods and David Duval who have waists the size of teenagers. Some chose to simply tuck their regular trousers into their socks on the first tee, then loosen them for the rest of the round. Others simply chose to do nothing, honoring their friend in other ways. "I hope we don't get hammered for this," one of the latter said. "Mine were cutting off the circulation in my legs," complained another, who was going to change back to regular slacks after the first hole of play. "I like em," laughed Nick Price. "In fact, I used to wear plus-twos, which are cut a bit tighter, on the South African tour years ago. Really loved them but I was afraid to wear them over here. Thought I'd get laughed off the course. That was before Payne." The look varied. Tall, thin golfers looked elegant. Short, heavier men did not. One stood out from all the rest. As we made our way to the practice range, we all stopped in stunned amazement. We were actually seeing Payne Stewart warming up. It was him, surely. There, his best friend, Stewart Appleby, in Hogan cap and plaid knickers, the blond hair closely cropped. It was eerie. And there was a reason for that. With the gracious permission of Tracey Stewart, Appleby had gone into Payne's closet Friday and outfitted himself from head to toe, just for this occasion. It would be wonderfully appropos to report that it transformed him into a champion by Sunday night. It did not. But for a moment, the gesture by both him and every other man made the day one nobody will ever forget. Halloween, 1999. The trick was Payne Stewart's sudden death. The treat was having him as long as we did.
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