Read AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson’s story about Payne’s link to the 2024 US Open:
Pinehurst No. 2 in the sandhills region of North Carolina has 117 years of golf history behind it. That includes a PGA Championship not many remember, a Ryder Cup before anyone cared and one U.S. Open champion no one can forget.
No trip to Pinehurst No. 2 is complete without posing with the statue of Payne Stewart striking as famous a pose as any in U.S. Open history — left leg planted, right arm thrust forward after he holed a 15-foot par putt on the 18th hole for a one-shot victory over Phil Mickelson.
It’s hard to go to Pinehurst without thinking about Payne.