Payne Stewart’s Son to Play Pinehurst No. 2

You can forgive Aaron Stewart for being a little preoccupied this week.  Entering his redshirt sophomore season at SMU, the 20 year old Stewart is slated to play in the North and South Amateur, at Pinehurst No.2, the very course where his father Payne Stewart won the U.S. Open a decade ago, four months before perishing in a plane crash.

Payne Stewart (Image: Zuma Press)

It will be difficult for Aaron to carry on his father’s legacy at the site of his last victory.  Payne Stewart’s shadow looms large over Pinehurst, both figuratively, and literally.  A statue in Stewart’s honor sits just off the 18th hole, dedicated to the first U.S. Open winner at the vaunted course.

Aaron Stewart was 10 years old at the time of his father’s death, and his interest in golf didn’t pique until his high school years.  Now he has a chance to replicate his father’s final PGA victory, albeit on a much smaller scale.  Irregardless of the outcome at the North and South, the younger Stewart hopes to one day follow in his father’s footsteps and play on the pro tour.

And with his father undoubtedly watching over him, there’s a good chance that one day he will.