In 1979, Stewart turned professional. He failed to earn a
PGA Tour card at qualifying school after his senior year of college. Stewart played on the
Asia Golf Circuit for a couple of seasons. He won two tournaments in 1981, including the
Indonesia Open in a playoff over three players. Later that year, Stewart earned his PGA Tour card at
Spring 1981 PGA Tour Qualifying School. He won his first title on the tour at the 1982
Quad Cities Open. This win was especially memorable to him because it was the only time his father, Bill, saw him win. Stewart's father had played in the 1955
U.S. Open, and had introduced his son to the game. In 1983, Stewart gained his second PGA Tour victory by winning the
Walt Disney World Golf Classic by two strokes. At the 1985
Byron Nelson Golf Classic, Stewart came to the 72nd hole with a three-shot lead. Moments after
Bob Eastwood birdied the final hole of regulation, Stewart took a double bogey to end the tournament tied for first. Stewart then made another double bogey on the first playoff hole, causing him to lose to Eastwood. In
1985, Stewart came close to winning
The Open Championship, when he finished one stroke behind the champion
Sandy Lyle. Stewart briefly led the U.S. Open in
1986 during the back nine of the final round at
Shinnecock Hills. After birdieing the 11th and 12th, Stewart took a one-shot lead, but he then had bogeys at the 13th and 14th, finishing the tournament tied for sixth place, behind the winner
Raymond Floyd. Stewart had four runner-up finishes on the PGA Tour in
1986. Despite not winning a tournament that year, he had the most top-10 finishes of any player on the PGA Tour, finishing inside the top-10 sixteen times. Another runner-up finish came in early
1987 at the
AT&T at
Pebble Beach, after leading by two shots after 54 holes. His victory at the Heritage Classic was his 18th top-10 finish on the PGA Tour since his previous win at the Bay Hill Classic in March 1987. Stewart was gaining a reputation for being one of the most consistent players on the PGA Tour After the tournament, Stewart said: "This is a dream I've been trying to realize for a long time." Reid shed tears and said: "As disappointed as I am, I'm happy for Payne." The following
year, Stewart became the first player to win back-to-back titles at the
MCI Heritage Golf Classic at
Harbour Town Golf Links, winning a playoff against
Larry Mize and
Steve Jones on the second extra hole with an birdie putt. This was his first playoff win on the PGA Tour, having lost all five of his playoffs in the 1980s. In May 1990, Stewart won his second tournament of the year at the
GTE Byron Nelson Golf Classic. As a result of this victory and runner-up finishes at the
Western Open and
1990 Open Championship Stewart reached his
Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) peak of number 3 in the summer of 1990. At the end of 1990, Stewart was ranked as the fifth-best golfer in the world on the OWGR. Overall, Stewart spent nearly 250 weeks within the top 10 of the OWGR between 1986, the year the OWGR began, and 1999, the year of his death. Stewart's second major title came at the
1991 U.S. Open after an 18-hole Monday playoff with
Scott Simpson on a windblown
Hazeltine National Golf Club course in Minnesota. Stewart was two shots behind Simpson going into the final three holes of the playoff. After the 16th hole, the match was squared, as Stewart holed a birdie putt and Simpson missed a par putt. Stewart's par on the 18th hole won the playoff by two strokes. The following month, Stewart won the 1991
Heineken Dutch Open by nine shots, which included a course record of 62 in the third round. Stewart won the
Hassan II Golf Trophy in Morocco in 1992 and 1993. In 1993 at
Royal St George's Golf Club in England, Stewart's fourth round of 63 tied the record for the lowest individual round in The Open Championship. He was one of 10 players, until
Branden Grace shot a 62 in 2017, to hold the record for shooting a 63 at the British Open. In 1995, Stewart gained his first U.S. PGA Tour win in four years by winning the
Shell Houston Open in a playoff over
Scott Hoch, who lost a six-shot lead with seven holes to play. Hoch collapsed on the back-nine with three bogeys and a double-bogey on the 17th when his tee shot found water. Stewart won the playoff on the first extra hole. In the
1998 U.S. Open at
Olympic Club in San Francisco, Stewart had a four-shot lead going into the final round, but lost to
Lee Janzen by a stroke. Stewart missed a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole of his final round, which would have forced a playoff with Janzen. The following year at the 1999 U.S. Open at
Pinehurst Resort, Stewart won his last major title, memorably holing a 15-foot par putt that defeated
Phil Mickelson by a stroke in the final round when
Tiger Woods and
Vijay Singh were also in contention for the trophy. Stewart credited his winning putt to being more at peace with himself after his strengthened religious belief. At the time of his death, Stewart was ranked third on the all-time money list and in the top 10 of the Official World Golf Ranking – he had been ranked in the top 10 for almost 250 weeks from 1986 to 1993, and again in 1999. At a time of international domination of the golf scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was often the highest-ranked American player. At the time of his death, Stewart had won $12,673,193 in career earnings. He won over $2 million during the
1999 season and finished seventh on the year's money list. Stewart represented the United States on five
Ryder Cup teams (1987, 1989, 1991, 1993, and 1999). He also played for the U.S. on three
World Cup teams. His Ryder cup record was 8–9–2. Stewart was known for his patriotic passion for the Ryder Cup, once saying of his European opponents, "On paper, they should be caddying for us." The United States team was 3–1–1 during the five times he played. He was disappointed to miss out in 1995 and 1997 when he failed to qualify automatically and was not chosen as a captain's pick. In the
1999 Ryder Cup, Stewart criticized the heckling of European player
Colin Montgomerie. With victory assured for the United States, Stewart conceded a putt (and his own singles match) to Montgomerie on the 18th hole. "This game is about sportsmanship," Stewart said afterward. He gained an affection for
links golf, becoming a popular figure in Ireland after playing on Irish courses to warm up for The Open Championship. After he died in 1999, Waterville Golf Links in
County Kerry, Ireland, commissioned a bronze statue of Stewart to pay tribute to him and his affiliation with Waterville. Stewart historically played well in
The Open Championship, finishing runner-up in 1985 and 1990. In general, he was known to play well internationally, posting victories at the 1981
Indian Open, the 1981
Indonesia Open, and Japan Golf Tour's 1985
Jun Classic. He also played in international tournaments that were less obscure for American golfers, posting runners-up at the 1982
Australian Open, 1989
German Masters, and the 1993
Scottish Open. He also won the 1991
Dutch Open. For a large part of his career, Stewart was known for his
National Football League (NFL) sponsorship, whereby he wore the team colors of the geographically closest NFL franchise; the sponsorship ended in May 1995. == Personal life ==