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Payne Stewart would be 63 (born January 30, 1957) had he not tragically died in a plane crash when he was 42 years old. His golf swing was a throwback to the days of Bobby Jones when any thought of restriction was nonexistent. Payne had more backswing hip turn and more total lateral movement (off the ball in the backswing, then forward in the downswing) than anyone on the PGA Tour today. In fact, no one is even close. You hear many words and phrases to describe great rhythm and tempo such as “fluid” or “syrupy” , “smooth”, effortless” etc., but rather than waste time trying to describe it just watch his swing in action. He won 11 times on Tour including 2 U.S. Open titles and a PGA Championship, and was twice runner up in the British Open. I have no doubt that with his Sam Snead like action he would have had an equally lengthy and successful career. His ability to return the club to impact from the backswing he used is far beyond the ability of the vast majority of golfers, which is why I believe this type of swing has fallen out of favor. Tour players have found more efficient ways to swing the club, eliminating a lot of the rotational and lateral movement used by Stewart, although it can be said that few swings these days are as aesthetically pleasing.
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