November 3, 1999
Payne Stewart was Baptist & new Christian
___By Art Toalston
___Baptist Press
___ORLANDO, Fla. (BP)--Payne Stewart, the world's eighth-ranked professional golfer who was killed in the crash of a small jet Oct. 25, was a member of First Baptist Church of Orlando, Fla., who, by numerous accounts, had undergone a spiritual renewal in the past year.
___Stewart, 42, won the U.S. Open on Father's Day in June--on the final hole, sinking the longest putt ever to decide the event in its 105-year history--and was a member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team that staged a comeback win over the European team in September. Stewart also had won the U.S. Open in 1991 and the PGA championship in 1989.
___"At the presentation of the coveted U.S. Open trophy, Payne revealed his trust in God and appreciation to God for helping him finish strong," recount Jim Sheard and Wally Armstrong in an upcoming book, "Finishing the Course: Strategies for the Back Nine of Your Life," in a section Stewart had approved for publication the week before his death.
___"For Payne Stewart, this was not some hackneyed cliche. It was a revelation of his newfound faith in Christ," Sheard and Armstrong write. "In recent months, Payne has come to faith in Christ as his Savior. He now trusts God for the provision of his strength and for the needed balance in his life."
___The book is to be published by J. Countryman, a division of Thomas Nelson.
___Stewart leaves a wife, Tracey, an Australian native, and two children, Chelsea, 13, and Aaron, 10. The children attend First Baptist Church of Orlando's school, First Academy.
___Stewart was "a wonderful Christian who had Christ in his life and somehow in his death," said Jim Henry, pastor of First Baptist and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention. "That brought a great sense of peace to his family in a difficult and tragic time."
___Stewart's charitable giving prompted a separate article in the Orlando Sentinel Oct. 26, recounting, for example, that he had given $500,000 to an arm of First Baptist less than two weeks before his death and had lent his name and energies to various charity golf tournaments, most recently for the Orlando Children's Charities.
___Sports Illustrated took note of Stewart's newfound faith in its U.S. Open coverage last June, recounting that Stewart had "turned to religion, embracing Christianity with the fervor of a prison convert."
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