Payne and Tracey…A Love Story

U.S. Open Golf Quiz: Name the last eight foreign golfers to win the Open, the group having accounted for ten titles total. Answer below. 

It’s incredible to think it was ten years ago that Payne Stewart captured his second U.S. Open at Pinehurst. It was Stewart’s third major, and 11th (and last) PGA Tour triumph overall. He was 42, and I think most would agree he had another two or three majors in him. But then he died on that eerie day, Oct. 25, 1999, as we were transfixed, watching the coverage of a plane flying under its own power…both pilots and passengers already dead before the aircraft finally plunged into the ground, far off course, near Aberdeen, South Dakota. 

Golfweek’s Jeff Rude had a terrific interview with Payne’s widow, Tracey, on the anniversary of his death. Following are a few excerpts. 

Tracey: They say time heals all wounds. I don’t believe that. Because it hasn’t healed my wound. I mean, the only thing that’s going to heal my heart is if Payne was here. He’s the only one who can fill that void. 

Tracey: We had 18 years of marriage. It was wonderful. A lot of people don’t have that in a lifetime. I just had the best for a short time. I have to feel fortunate that I was able to have that time. 

Tracey: No. What do you do after you’ve had a Rolls-Royce? [Laughs] I have never met anybody I’ve ever thought about it. A couple of times (people have asked me out). But nothing. 

Tracey: Definitely. You always question. You go back and think, If I had done this differently, then maybe he wouldn’t have gone. Or wouldn’t have gone on that plane. I remember seeing the fax on Saturday night about the plane and I thought to myself, “Why are they going on that (chartered Learjet) plane? Why aren’t they going on Payne’s plane?” But he wasn’t in the room at the time and stuff was going on, and I never said anything. If I said to him, “Why aren’t you taking your plane?” he probably would’ve said, “You’re right.” 

GW: What’s your most vivid memory from his 1999 Open victory at Pinehurst? 

Tracey: When I dropped him off at the club before the last round, I said, “Believe in your heart that you can do it. Trust yourself.” He looked at me and said, “You know I have a big heart.” That was the joke he used to always say because he had an enlarged heart. He laughed and walked off. I know he was so disappointed from the year before and didn’t want everyone to say “Nice try” again. He wanted to win. 

Tracey: As a fierce competitor, a man who valued his friendships and relationships. And a really good person. 

GW: You two got married a year and a half after meeting in March 1980 at the Malaysian Open. You were there with your brother Michael, who like Payne was playing, and his wife. You two flirted like crazy, no? 

Tracey: We saw each other from across the room at the pro-am dinner Tuesday but didn’t meet until Friday. We played eye games all week long. It was definitely love at first sight for me. I thought he was gorgeous. He was tall and blond and tan, and really good-looking. And fortunately for me he had been in Asia for six weeks, and I was the first blonde he had seen in that time, so I kind of had an advantage. 

Tracey: On Friday I went into the pro shop to look at some clothes and he started walking up and down outside the pro shop looking in the window. At one stage, he was looking at me. So I just stood there and stared at him, and he got real embarrassed and walked away. When we went to the car, another pro introduced us. But I didn’t know what his first name was. I knew it started with a P, but I had never heard of anyone named Payne before. I got in the car and everyone in it said, “Oh, you finally met him! What’s his name?” I was like, “I don’t know what he said his name was. Something Stewart.” The lady we were staying with was working at the tournament and said he must be Payne Stewart. And then my brother started on me, “Payne! Payne! What kind of name is Payne?” The next morning, he was having breakfast at the course and he came over and talked to me and asked if I’d like to have dinner with him that night. 

Michael Wilbon / Washington Post on Phil Jackson 

“It’s been so insulting all these years that Phil Jackson has often been dismissed, even by some allegedly intelligent basketball people, as merely the benefactor of great talent. Right through the pregame moments of Game 5 here Sunday night, the players were the benefactors, because they were being coached by Jackson. 

“Quick story: The Lakers, their coach included, were concerned in the hours before Game 5 that they were overly excited about trying to close out the NBA Finals. So many coaches, even the great ones, would have actively tried to calm their players in the moments leading up to tip-off, but not Jackson. 

“ ‘Sit and be quiet for a few minutes before the game,’ he said. Rather than ‘filling up our brains with information,’ Jackson said he would have his team ‘take a few moments of silence.’ 

“No other coach in the NBA would have taken that approach; then again, no other coach in NBA history has won 10 championships. We don’t have to confine the praise today for Phil Jackson to just basketball either. No manager ever won 10 World Series. No coach ever won 10 NFL championships. And it isn’t just an issue of longevity; Jackson has won 10 of the last 19 NBA championships, and didn’t even coach in two of those seasons. 

“He’s had great players and just as importantly – probably more importantly – they’ve had him. Michael Jordan never won squat before he played for Jackson.   Shaq never won before he went to Los Angeles to play for Jackson. Bryant couldn’t even get the Lakers to the playoffs during the season Jackson was on a self-described ‘sabbatical.’ 

“The great Celtics boss Red Auerbach, with his nine NBA titles, and the wondrous John Wooden of UCLA, who won 10 NCAA championships in 12 seasons, have to move over. Same goes for Scotty Bowman, who won nine Stanley Cups with the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins and Detroit Red Wings. Blasphemous as it may sound, they’ve been surpassed. 

“Occasionally, even in a subjective arena, there is objective criteria for judging greatness. Jackson’s 10th championship is the equivalent of Tiger Woods winning a 19th championship to surpass Jack Nicklaus.” 

Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times broke the story that Sammy Sosa tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs in 2003, according to lawyers with knowledge of the drug-testing results from that year that first implicated Alex Rodriguez. So that makes two of the 104 positives supposedly on the list seized by federal agents, but that were stupidly never destroyed by the players union. As Schmidt says, though, remember that the samples were part of Major League Baseball’s first widescale program to see if further drug testing would be required. There were no penalties for getting caught in 2003. And with the judicial process now in place, regarding release of the names, “the losing side is expected to appeal to the United States Supreme Court.” 

Of course there isn’t a single baseball fan that is surprised by the Sosa revelation. In March 2005, he appeared before Congress to testify alongside Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro and said, “everything” he had heard “about steroids and human growth hormones is that they are bad for you, even lethal” and that he “would never put anything dangerous like that” in his body. “To be clear,” Sosa added, “I have never taken illegal performance-enhancing drugs. I have never injected myself or had anyone inject me with anything.” 

The New York Daily News reports that Sosa’s trainer in the Dominican Republic is the same one used by A-Rod and Juan Gonzalez…that being Angel Presinal, a fellow previously banned by MLB and a figure still under investigation. 

It’s safe to say that if Sosa had any supporters for the Hall of Fame before this revelation, they should be in hiding today. More names to follow….like eventually another 102 of ‘em. 

Lastly, from baseball’s glory days, the 1950s and 60s, we note the passing of pitcher Hal Woodeshick, 76. Woodeshick played for five teams from 1956-67 and had a career mark of 44-62, but with a respectable 3.56 ERA. He was an All-Star and a member of the Cardinal’s ’67 World Series squad. 

Back in 1962, Woodeshick went a miserable 5-16 for the first-year Houston Colt .45s, but he gave up just 3 homers in 139 innings as a starter/reliever, which I found rather interesting. Then in ’63, Houston turned him into a full-time relief pitcher and he went 11-9 with 10 saves and a 1.97 ERA, making the All-Star squad. The following year he led the league in saves with 23. I vividly remember his ’67 baseball card, the first year I was an avid collector. 

‘Sup with A-Rod? Yes, the Yanks have been winning with him back (24-12), and Mark Texeira is hitting a ton with Rodriguez batting behind him, but A-Rod himself is only at .224, 28-for-125. And check out his splits. At home, .197, 8 HR 14RBI [66 AB]. Away, .254, 1 HR 12 RBI [59 AB] 

Also, interesting stat concerning teammate Jorge Posada. Thru Sunday’s play, the Yanks’ staff ERA is 6.31 when he’s behind the plate, and 3.81 with the other three who’ve been catching this year. As Joe Buck and Tim McCarver pointed out in Saturday’s Yankees-Mets contest, Posada has a reputation for being difficult in terms of the pitcher-catcher relationship. 

Thru Tuesday’s action, the Twins’ phenomenal catcher, Joe Mauer, is hitting .429!!! But the reason many casual fans don’t know this is because he has yet to qualify for the batting title (and most lists you see online or in the papers) because he has only 180 plate appearances (still a helluva sample) due to an early season injury. Assuming he stays healthy, in about two weeks he’ll have the requisite at-bats to hit the lists and then look out…the national press will hit the story, big time. It’s easy to forget the 26-year-old superstar has already won two batting titles. This is no fluke. He can hit .370+ (having batted .347 in 2006)…so it could be one exciting summer for us hard-core fans. 

On Tuesday, Pudge Rodriguez tied Carlton Fisk for most games as catcher…2,226…a rather notable feat, though Pudge was a juicer in the eyes of many. [Bob Boone is third at 2,225.] 

Phil W. passed along a bit from ESPN’s Jayson Stark concerning the Mets’ David Wright, who thru Tuesday was hitting .365. Now most of us don’t expect Wright to finish at this level, but what’s interesting is that Wright is also on pace to whiff 160 times. As Stark points out (courtesy of Lee Sinins’ Complete Baseball Encyclopedia), no .360 hitter in history has fanned 100 times, let alone 160. Only four, in fact, have batted .360 and struck out 85 times. 

And now…the continuation of our tale of the 1969 New York Mets. We pick up the story with the Metsies 29-24, having just had a franchise record 11-game winning streak snapped out in San Francisco and now they have ventured south to Los Angeles for three with the Dodgers. 

June 13…Loss, 1-0, to L.A., as Jerry Koosman (3-4) goes 7 and takes the loss on an unearned run courtesy of outfielder Art Shamsky. Alan Foster (1-4) goes all the way for the Dodgers. Foster would finish just 3-9 on the season. 

June 14…Win, 3-1, as Tom Seaver hikes his record to 10-3 in going 8 innings while allowing 1 run on 6 hits and fanning 3. Tug McGraw picks up the save, his 3rd. Don Sutton (9-5) takes the loss for L.A. Who wudda thunk back then that both starters would end up in the Hall of Fame! But wait…there’s more! Shamsky hit his first homer of the season, but Seaver singled in the other two runs. 

June 15…Loss, 3-2, as Don Drysdale (2-2) bests Mets starter Jack DiLauro (0-1). For L.A., Jim Brewer went 3 1/3 in relief for the save, his 7th. Tommie Agee had three hits for New York. 

[Afterwards, the Mets announced a major move, acquiring slugger Donn Clendenon from Montreal for four youngsters; infielder Kevin Collins, and pitchers Steve Renko, Jay Carden and Dave Colon. “Collins is 22 and a good prospect. GM Johnny Murphy doesn’t think much of the others,” so wrote the Daily News at the time. Clendennon had threatened to retire after being dealt from Houston to Montreal, after Montreal had acquired Donn from Pittsburgh in the expansion draft. Very confusing.
Clendennon, however, was a huge fan of Gil Hodges and anxious to play for New York. Something tells me this is going to work. As for Johnny Murphy’s talent evaluations, Kevin Collins hit .209 in 388 total at-bats in his career, while Steve Renko went on to fashion a 134-146 record as a solid starter. A guy like Renko today would be making $8-$10 million a year.] 

June 17…Win, 1-0, first game of a Tuesday twi-nighter in Philadelphia, with Gary Gentry (6-5) going all the way on a sterling 2-hitter in which he struck out 9. Billy Champion (4-2) took the loss. Catcher J.C. Martin drove in the lone run with two outs in the 7th. 

June 17…Loss, 7-3, in the nightcap. Don Cardwell (2-7) was hit hard…3 innings, 6 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits. Grant Jackson (6-6) went all the way for the Phillies as Dick Allen clubbed home run No. 18 and Larry Hisle hit home runs No. 6 and 7. [Allen is having a great year…18 HR 44 RBI and a .330 average] 

June 18…Win, 2-0, as Jerry Koosman (4-4) goes all the way, allowing 4 hits and fanning 6 to lower his ERA to 1.59. Rick Wise (6-5) took the loss. 

June 19…Win, 6-5…finally plated some runs (after 7 straight of 3 or less), but Seaver struggles and gets no decision; 7 innings, 5 runs on 10 hits, with 8 strikeouts and 5 walks! Good gawd. What do you think his pitch count was for this effort?! Ron Taylor (3-1) picked up the win (though blew a save) while Tug McGraw saved his 4th. Art Shamsky went 4-4 with 2 homers, No. 2 and 3, and drove in 3 in hiking his average to .351. I also have to note that for Philadelphia, catcher Mike Ryan hit his 8th homer. Mike Ryan? 8 home runs? Yup, the same Ryan who finished up his career with a .193 average did manage to club 12 home runs in all of 1969. 

It’s back home for the Mets with a 33-27 mark, six games behind the Cubs, after a 12-game road trip. More next Thursday. 

One player to watch at Bethpage is James Kamte, the 26-year-old black South African who just started playing the game nine years ago and is in the States for the first time, primarily because Jack Nicklaus gave him a special exemption for his Memorial event. Kamte missed the cut there, but then that Monday qualified for the U.S. Open in a 36-hole qualifier. Kamte is one of 14 children and was evidently a super soccer player but stuck with golf. His first tournament was the club championship at the course where he caddied. He won by 18 shots. 

[Phil W. pointed out that a 22-year-old amateur from High Point, N.C., Drew Weaver, is connected somewhat to good friends of ours from Wake Forest, so Drew, a Virginia Tech grad, has a growing fan club as he participates in the Open.] 

The other day I mentioned that while Jack Nicklaus didn’t go back-to-back in more than one major (1965-66, Masters), he has quite a record defending his titles nonetheless. In addition to having a stupendous 19 second-place finishes to Tiger’s 5, in defense of his various majors, Jack also had 8 top-3s and 12 top-5s. As for Tiger, in his 8 defenses where he didn’t repeat, he has 2 top tens. 

Michelle Wie failed to qualify for the U.S. Women’s Open. While she has been competitive in her first year on the LPGA Tour, you can also rightfully say her career is a mess, even at just 19. 

–Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody has opted to come back for his senior year after realizing he might have been a second round selection in the upcoming NBA draft, June 25. With his 23 points, 11 rebounds returning, ND’s prospects look real strong. At 6’8”, however, some NBA teams are concerned he doesn’t have the size to play power forward. [Neither did Dave Cowens or Wes Unseld, yet the two similarly sized players played center….Ah, Wes Unseld (really like 6’5”, despite being listed a few inches taller). Now there was one of the greats.] 

Meanwhile, Wake Forest says ‘good riddance’ to guard Jeff Teague, who chose to join fellow sophomore teammate James Johnson in leaving the school after two years of chokedom. Johnson and Teague were attitude cases the second half of last year and while I am in a distinct minority, I think the Deacons will be better off without their two top scorers. But as Phil W. keeps reminding me, it’s about coaching…and whether Dino Gaudio is up to the task. 

[Writing from Las Vegas, site of the World Series of Poker, Chad being a star in this arena.] 

“(In a) city that invites and defines excess, there are excessive displays of conspicuous consumption everywhere. The other night, when I couldn’t sleep – who sleeps here? – I compiled a list of my favorite immoderate, larger-than-large Las Vegas landmarks: 

“World’s Largest Burrito: How big? Two feet in length, six pounds in weight – or about the same size as Yao Ming at birth. It’s available at the NASCAR Café at the Sahara Hotel & Casino and it costs $19.95. 

“But there’s a customer-friendly catch. These are the words straight from the menu board: ‘Finish It and It’s Free!’ 

“Now, before you call Southwest and get on the next no-hidden-fees flight, ask yourself this: Could you eat 24 Quarter Pounders with cheese at McDonald’s? Exactly. Still, I wanted to conquer that 96-ounce burrito, but, well, I can’t expense these things anymore – what with newspapers plunging into bankruptcy – and I thought a double sawbuck was too much to pay for apocalyptic indigestion. 

“On the other hand, if I’m the Oakland Raiders, I’d shift my practice facility to Sin City tomorrow and the entire team could eat without cost every day…. 

“World’s Largest Topless Pool: Admission varies – guys should expect to pay $30 or more – but who’s pinching pennies? 

“It’s the Sapphire Pool at the Rio, daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., in which ‘performers’ from the Sapphire – aptly billed as The World’s Largest Gentlemen’s Club – hang out poolside and talk shop with tourists. It beats downloading porn, does it not?” 

Now Mr. Chad has a bit, “Ask the Slouch,” where you can win $1.25 if he selects your question. [e-mail asktheslouch@aol.com …I have, and never sniffed the $1.25, despite my pleadings that it would buy me a can of domestic, assuming the liquor store would break up a six-pack.] So I loved this one. 

Q: If Joba Chamberlain enters the World Series of Poker Main Event, will Joe Girardi put him on a chip count? [Brian Mruk; Arlington] 

—Ray Romano gave Newsweek his list of best television shows ever. 

The Twilight Zone [scared the hell out of him], Tonight Show [made him want to be a comic], The Andy Griffith Show [a show you thought was old-fashioned but isn’t], Survivor [watches with his kids], The Honeymooners [the show that inspired his show and most others], The Brady Bunch [“The show that taught the world about MILFS”] 

–Mark R. notes that with the city of Pittsburgh having the reigning world champs in football and hockey, when it comes to the Pirates, if, after a record-tying 16 years of sub-.500 baseball they can finish above that mark, it’s a three-peat. 

–Cleveland Browns wide receiver Donte Stallworth agreed to plead guilty to a DUI manslaughter charge and will serve 30 days in jail, plus be placed on ten years’ combination probation/house arrest and serve 1,000 hours community service for a Miami car crash in which a pedestrian was struck and killed (the victim was not in a crosswalk). Stallworth faced 15 years in prison. 

There are some who are harshly criticizing the seemingly light sentence and penalties, but understand the victim’s family wanted the case wrapped up quickly and there is a substantial financial arrangement between Stallworth and the family. From day one, Stallworth cooperated with the Miami-Dade police and has shown remorse.   He also pulled over immediately after the accident and called 911.   

Of course Stallworth is hoping to play football again, having signed a 7-year, $35 million contract a year ago, but the NFL has yet to rule on whether he can or not. 

–The New York Jets, Tampa Bay and Chicago are the three teams most interested in the services of disgraced wide receiver Plaxico Burress, according to reports. And with his court case for firing an unlicensed weapon in a crowded nightclub delayed until Sept. 23, Burress can sign a $multi-million contract beforehand. “Under NFL rules, Burress could be indicted for felony gun possession, agree to a trial date, and still play a season – so long as he hasn’t actually pleaded guilty or been convicted.” [Laura Italiano / New York Post] As opposed to Stallworth, Burress was far from cooperative when the incident went down. 

–For the record, Brett Favre says he’ll know in a few weeks whether his surgically repaired arm will allow him to come out of retirement again to play for the Vikings. Whatever. 

–Talk about my philosophy of ‘wait 24 hours.’ It certainly applies to Miss California, Carrie Prejean. Some of us jumped on the bandwagon in supporting her, yet all you need do is listen to Donald Trump himself, who said when asked why he finally fired her, “To me, she was the sweetest thing. Everyone else, she treated like s—t.” [Newsweek] 

“Male and female baboons form platonic friendships, where sex is off the menu. 

“Having a caring friend around seems to greatly benefit the females and their infants, as both are harassed less by other baboons when in the company of their male pal. 

“But why the males choose to be platonic friends remains a mystery.” 

It seems, though, that primatologist Nga Nguyen, of Cal-State Fullerton (per the above, great baseball teams there), nailed it. 

“We don’t really know what males or females get from these friendships. Males should be off trying to get other females to mate with them, not squandering their time on a female with a young infant.” 

You know, folks, I think I’m going to take a pass from commenting further given my current situation. I hope you’ll understand. 

“A Muslim cocktail waitress has won a 3000 pound ($6000) compensation payout for having to wear a figure-hugging red dress she said made her feel ‘like a prostitute.’ 

“But a claim by Fata Lemes for about 17,000 pounds in damages was dismissed as ‘manifestly absurd’ by a British employment tribunal, which rejected her claim that she was sacked. 

“Lemes, 33, worked at the Rocket Bar in Mayfair, central London, for barely a week…. When she started, female staff wore a loose-fitting uniform, but she was told this would change in summer. 

“The summer outfit turned out to be a tight-fitting red dress – which she refused to wear, saying it was ‘disgusting.’” 

–Speaking of London, Wimbledon is just around the corner and according to reports the All England Club has “discreetly told some of the game’s worst offenders to keep the noise to a minimum.” 

We’re talking the grunting, sports fans. 

“The move comes after Portuguese teenager Michelle Larcher de Brito was warned over her loud and lengthy wails while playing her shots at last month’s French Open. 

“The 16-year-old, who has a wildcard entry to Wimbledon, was booed off the court in Paris.” 

The Daily Mail reports that the International Tennis Federation is considering formal sanctions that could lead to points deductions and even forfeits. 

As reported by the Sydney Morning Herald, “Former French Open champion Sue Barker, now the face of the BBC’s tennis coverage, believes the shriekers are damaging the sport. 

“ ‘I have lost count of the number of people who have written to me saying grunting spoils their enjoyment of a match,’ Barker told The Sunday Times. ‘It’s unattractive, it’s distracting.’”  

–So I’m reading the New York Post’s Page Six and the latest on Lindsay Lohan and her erratic behavior, and a witness to her latest escapades told the Post: “She came in at 4:30 a.m. and went to a VIP room, where she immediately climbed a stripper pole.” Forget the stripper pole…she was just walking in at 4:30! Who goes to these places at that hour! [I’m getting up to go to work at 4:30, truth be told…which is why I’ll never make Page Six.] 

–Michael Jackson has hired “Incredible Hulk” Lou Ferrigno to be his trainer to prepare him for his long London show run. I only bring this up because am I the only one who thought Ferrigno was dead? 

“A plan by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department that would have stationed deputies at fast-food joints to sniff out drunken drivers appears to have fallen flat. 

“The department had hoped to target drunken driving by putting undercover deputies inside 24-hour fast-food restaurants to spot impaired drivers placing their orders. If deputies spotted someone with classic symptoms of impairment, they were to call a uniformed deputy stationed outside to pull the driver over.” 

Well, it seems none of the fast-food chains wanted to participate. Gee, I wonder why. 

–Speaking of beer, reader Allen H. and I were comparing senior moments the other day and we agree there is a difference in performance when you’re drinking premium vs. domestic. For example, “My son had some leftover Pabst that we were trying to finish while watching a game and I’m a little jittery today,” noted Allen. It happens. Especially during these tough economic times, when it’s easy to rationalize sticking with domestic like PBR, you always have to think of the tradeoffs. 

–We note the passing of the great Bob Bogle, lead guitarist for the Ventures of “Walk Don’t Run” and “Hawaii Five-O” fame. The Ventures were inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame just last year. 

[By the way, there is an obituary out there that credits the Ventures with the top 40 tune “Telstar.” Wrong! That was the English group the Tornadoes.] 

Top 3 songs for the week 6/19/71: #1 “It’s Too Late” (Carole King…in my personal Top 40) #2 “Rainy Days And Mondays” (Carpenters) #3 “Want Ads” (The Honey Cone)…and…#4 “Brown Sugar” (The Rolling Stones) #5 “It Don’t Come Easy” (Ringo Starr) #6 “Treat Her Like A Lady” (Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose) #7 “Indian Reservation” (Raiders) #8 “Joy To The World” (Three Dog Night) #9 “I’ll Meet You Halfway” (The Partridge Family) #10 “Sweet And Innocent” (Donny Osmond) 

U.S. Open Golf Quiz Answer: Last eight foreign golfers to win.