Golf Books #292 (The Last Stand of Payne Stewart: The Year Golf Changed Forever)

From award-winning sports writer Kevin Robbins, the story of legendary golfer Payne Stewart, focusing on his last year in the PGA Tour in 1999 that culminated in a tragic air disaster.

Forever remembered as one of the most dramatic storylines in the history of golf, Payne Stewart’s legendary career was bookended by a dramatic comeback and a shocking, tragic end. In The Last Stand of Payne Stewart, acclaimed sports writer Kevin Robbins brings Stewart’s story vividly to life. 

Written off as a pompous showman past the prime of his career, Stewart emerged from a long slump in the unforgettable season of 1999 to capture the U.S. Open and play on the victorious U.S. Ryder Cup team in Brookline, Massachusetts. He appeared to be a new man that summer: wiser, deeper, and on the verge of a new level of greatness. But his journey to redemption ended in October, when his chartered Learjet flew aimlessly for more than a thousand miles, ran out of fuel, and fell to earth in a prairie in South Dakota.

His death marked the end of an era, one made up of “shotmakers” who played the game with artistry, guile, finesse, and heart. Behind them were Tiger Woods, David Duval, Phil Mickelson, and other young players whose power and strength changed the PGA Tour forever.

With his peerless narrative gifts, rare human empathy, and exclusive access to Stewart’s friends, family, and onetime colleagues, Kevin Robbins provides a long-overdue portrait of one of golf’s greats in one of golf’s greatest seasons.

Publication date: October 8, 2019 (source)

About the Author

Kevin Robbins is an award-winning veteran sports writer and the author of Harvey Penick, co-winner of the 2017 Herbert Warren Wind International Book Award. He has written for The New York Times, Texas Monthly, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Golf Journal. He teaches journalism at the University of Texas at Austin.