Zach Johnson Breaks Down After Receiving Payne Stewart Award

The two-time Major champion was emotional after receiving the 2020 Payne Stewart Award

Zach Johnson Breaks Down After Receiving Payne Stewart Award

Zach Johnson broke down in tears after being surprised with the Payne Stewart award on a video call.

The two-time Major champion is the 2020 recipient of the award that honours the golfer “who best exemplifies Stewart’s steadfast values of character, charity and sportsmanship.”

Payne Stewart tragically died in a plane crash in 1999 during the week of the Tour Championship, and this award is presented at the Tour Championship each year.

Johnson was on a video call with Jay Monahan before recognising that Payne Stewart’s children Chelsea and Aaron were on the call as well.

Watch the video below –

“I never got to meet Payne, but I loved him,” Johnson said of Payne Stewart.

“I loved how he played the game certainly as a competitor but then how he lived his life off the golf course – he’s the model. I remember going to the Tour Championship and the Payne Stewart Award Ceremony my rookie year and thinking, ‘This is the pinnacle of a PGA Tour player’s career.’ It’s about how you utilise the gifts you are given, and I know Payne lived that way.

“I am deeply grateful and honoured. I don’t like being in the limelight a whole lot, but I hope in this regard I can at least be a small piece of his legacy.”

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“Zach Johnson as the recipient of this year’s Payne Stewart Award is a testament to the impact Payne made on many of our contemporary players who never had the chance to meet him in person,” PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan said.

“Zach would say he’s just a normal guy from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, but in truth, he has one of the most compelling stories on the PGA TOUR in the last 25 years, a fearless underdog who has carved out an incredibly successful career through hard work and dedication to his craft.

“Off the course, his commitment to charity through his Foundation has made an indelible impact in Cedar Rapids and throughout Iowa where he is a state-wide hero. The PGA Tour is thrilled to add his name to what is an illustrious list of the game’s ambassadors.”

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Zach Johnson is best known for his Major victories at what are arguably the world’s two most famous courses – Augusta National and The Old Course at St Andrews.

Johnson won the 2007 Masters and the 2015 Open.

He has won 12 times on the PGA Tour in total and played in five Ryder Cups.

Payne Stewart Award Winners:

2020 – Zach Johnson
2019 – Hale Irwin
2018 – Bernhard Langer
2017 – Stewart Cink
2016 – Jim Furyk
2015 – Ernie Els
2014 – Nick Faldo
2013 – Peter Jacobsen
2012 – Steve Stricker
2011 – David Toms
2010 – Tom Lehman
2009 – Kenny Perry
2008 – Davis Love III
2007 – Hal Sutton
2006 – Gary Player
2005 – Brad Faxon
2004 – Jay Haas
2003 – Tom Watson
2002 – Nick Price
2001 – Ben Crenshaw
2000 – Byron Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer

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This article Zach Johnson Breaks Down After Receiving Payne Stewart Award appeared first on Golf Monthly.