Columnist Adam Candee: The hole Stewart left remains unfilled

Adam Candee

Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2004 | 8:58 a.m.

Adam Candee covers golf for the Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4085 or by e-mail at candee@lasvegassun.com.

Five years? Really?

It is difficult to believe that we lost Payne Stewart five years ago Monday. Has it been that long since one of golf's most colorful players left us after his private plane crashed in South Dakota?

The passing of time measures all, so the fact that golf misses Stewart now more than ever is a clear indication of his value to the game.

It is a rare player on the robotic PGA tour who can make the average sports fan care about golf. Stewart, from his knickers to his competitive fire, did just that. Getting excited about him took little effort. I even know someone who named a child after Stewart after his death.

He wasn't Arnie or Jack or Tiger, but Stewart commanded attention because he stood out from a mostly anonymous crowd. Sure, his anachronous clothes made you look, but the talent and passion that carried Stewart to U.S. Open titles in 1991 and 1999 held our interest beyond any novelty in his appearance. And he spoke his mind, for better or for worse.

Most fans would be hard-pressed even to name a dozen players currently on tour. Go past that: If Tiger is holed up with Elin on a yacht near Puerto Rico and Phil is still getting over that mystery food poisoning, do you really care about any one player on tour? It's a quality Stewart possessed that few golfers now can match.

For the best picture of what we miss in Stewart, think back to his battle at Pinehurst with Phil Mickelson for the second of his Open titles. Just after the turn, Stewart let Mickelson back into the tournament, stringing together three bogeys in six holes to give away the lead. But Stewart, who had his heart broken many times in majors, rallied.

After a Mickelson bogey at No. 16, Stewart birdied No. 17 to regain a one-shot lead and put his wedge to 15 feet at No. 18, needing that par putt for the win. What followed was what I hope is everyone's time capsule of Stewart, who died just a few months after this moment.

He drained the putt and triggered a torrent of emotion inside himself and throughout the crowd. Thrusting his fist, Stewart let out a scream to match those of the crowd, and then transferred his excitement to Mickelson, who was expecting his first child any minute.

Stewart grabbed Mickelson's face with two hands and told him, "Good luck with the baby. There's nothing like being a father."

The talent of a champion, the class of a sportsman and the emotion of a kid -- golf misses Payne, and so do we.

Is there a better shot at making good money anywhere at a book right now than picking up Vijay Singh at 4-1 odds? Think of what kind of an underdog it would take in an average matchup in another sport to generate such a return. And we're talking about the clear-cut best player in the world here.

As recently as the PGA Championship, a friend of mine got 12-1 odds on Singh and cashed in quite a nice ticket when he delivered in a playoff. Since then, the number has steadily declined as Singh has ascended.

Starting with the PGA, Singh's past six starts have resulted in four wins, a second last week at Disney and a tie for 32nd at the World Golf Championships in Ohio. Singh didn't exactly give away the title in that second-place finish, as Ryan Palmer shot 62 on Sunday to earn the win. That stretch could have been even more impressive had Singh not taken three weeks off to tend to his family's hurricane-damaged home in Florida.

If you want history at the Chrysler Championship at Innisbrook, Singh finished second last year. But the heck with history -- you've seen the guy play this year, right?

Granted, this is the toughest field that Singh has faced in a while. Guys like Mickelson (10-1) are promising, as is the larger crew going off at 25-1, but why even bother with such teases with Singh on the board?

The only lower return during Singh's run has been "field", which we've seen around 5-2. Of course, it's not that bad of an idea when you are introduced to Palmer and Michelin Championship winner Andre Stolz for the first time as they hoist trophies.

So if we're not playing the field (literal sense, honey, I swear), then a tidy little mantra applies for us: Vijay or no play.