A brief memorial service to honor Payne Stewart took
place this morning at 8:45am ET on the first tee of the Tour
Championship in Houston. Tom Lehman delivered a eulogy and
a lone bagpiper walked the first fairway in a dense fog.
ESPN carried some of the service live, while ABC's "GMA"
also went live with some of the service (THE DAILY).
THE RIGHT MOVE? Davis Love III said "some people
question whether we should be playing this tournament" after
Stewart's death: "I questioned should we play. ... But the
best thing the tour can do is to show its support for Payne
and his family." Love added, "My concern is, once we get to
Orlando [for Stewart's memorial service on Friday] and see
Tracey [Stewart] and the kids, am I going to want to come
back and play golf? I don't know." But PGA Tour
Commissioner Tim Finchem said, "If we're not playing golf, I
don't know how else we are able to honor Payne's life. If
we're not playing, what forum can we use to remind people
about Payne and what he was all about?" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE,
10/28). Finchem said that there "never was any consideration
of postponing or canceling" the event. Finchem: "In a short
period of time, we looked at every conceivable alternative.
We concluded that given all the various factors ... we
determined this course of action. I suspect it could be
second-guessed, but it doesn't really matter at this point.
It's our course of action, and frankly, we are very
comfortable with it." The tour "has not decided how it will
honor" Stewart's memory (WASHINGTON POST, 10/28). The
$81,000 check for last place in the Tour Championship will
be transferred to Stewart's estate (FL TIMES-UNION, 10/28).
