NBC’s emotional Father’s Day tribute to Payne Stewart was a remarkable start to their U.S. Open final round broadcast

Around this week’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina, there’s been a lot of discussion of the first time that course hosted the tournament. That was in 1999, where Payne Stewart memorably drained a 15-foot putt on the 18th hole to beat Phil Mickelson by a stroke.

That was Stewart’s second U.S. Open win and his third major overall. And it would be his last; he passed away at 42 in a plane crash a few months later. The U.S. Open returned to Pinehurst No. 2 in 2005, and then again this year, 25 years after Stewart’s win. And both of those returns saw many significant tributes to Stewart, including the statue seen at the top of this post.

On the final day of this year’s tournament Sunday, which fell on Father’s Day, NBC opened their broadcast with an emotional tribute to Stewart. That combines narration from Stewart’s son Aaron with news clips on his father and this tournament and home video clips of their family. Here it is:

Here’s Aaron’s narration:

“You can say the best parts of fatherhood are the parts dads usually don’t talk about. The tiny moments that disappear into the rhythms of everyday life. The bonds you form, the connections you make, that you would hope they hold on to for the rest of their lives. …I lost my dad when I was 10 years old. It was only four months after one of the greatest days of his life, winning the U.S. Open at Pinehurst.

“One of the toughest things about what happened was thinking about all the times we didn’t have together. The memories we would have made, and the moments I know both of us would have loved to have been a part of. 25 years can go by quickly for a son and a father, but what I’m really grateful for now is all my dad did leave behind. It’s because of this championship that we’re lucky enough to look back on his legacy and see just how much he loved this game, how much he adored his family, how much he wanted everyone who followed in his footsteps to feel the joy that both can bring.

“Today, back at Pinehurst, someone else will be celebrating at the end. But I’ll take any chance I can to celebrate my dad, and the impact he made, showing us all how a champion can win with grace and how a father can always find ways to teach. Just like I take every chance I can to be with my kids in those tiny moments, that have a way of meaning everything.”

That’s a thoughtful tribute, and one that illustrates Stewart’s legacy around this event and this course. And it was one of many tributes to him Sunday. The pin location on 18 Sunday is in the spot it was for Stewart’s famous putt in 1999, and course superintendent John Jeffreys got emotional placing the U.S. Golf Association’s custom flag honoring Stewart there:

Aaron Stewart also had some good quotes on his father to Kevin Prise of PGATour.com:

“There are certain people that we all have in our lives that just make you feel better when you’re around them,” said Stewart’s son Aaron Stewart. “And he was certainly one of those people. He could brighten up a room just by walking into it.

“When they see that pose, you can see just how much it meant to him, right? There was nothing that got him more fired up than playing in his country’s open.”

Stewart is certainly in the minds of many around this final round. And NBC did a great job of spotlighting that.

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