ATLANTA – A proven winner late in his PGA Tour career, Steve Stricker added another piece of hardware to his trophy case on Tuesday, as he was named this year’s recipient of the Payne Stewart Award.
“I take great pride in being recognized for the values that the Payne Stewart Award stands for,” Stricker said. “I was fortunate enough to spend time with and compete against Payne, and I watched how he handled himself on the course, with his fellow competitors, with the fans and volunteers. I hope that by leading by example, just as Payne did, that our younger players will follow in the traditions of sportsmanship, integrity and charitable efforts that he helped bring to our sport.”
According to the Tour, the Payne Stewart Award is presented annually to a player sharing Stewart’s respect for the traditions of the game, his commitment to uphold the game’s heritage of charitable support and his professional and meticulous presentation of himself and the sport through his dress and conduct. Stewart, an 11-time winner on Tour and World Golf Hall of Fame member, died tragically the week of the Tour Championship in 1999.
Stricker, who has never failed to qualify for a FedEx Cup playoff event, is competing in this week’s Tour Championship, followed by his third Ryder Cup appearance next week.
He becomes the 15th recipient of the Payne Stewart Award. The inaugural award was presented in 2000 to Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer. Ben Crenshaw was the 2001 recipient, followed by Nick Price (2002), Tom Watson (2003), Jay Haas (2004), Brad Faxon (2005), Gary Player (2006), Hal Sutton (2007), Davis Love III (2008), Kenny Perry (2009), Tom Lehman (2010) and David Toms (2011).