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Payne Stewart killed in plane crash

US Open golf champion Payne Stewart was among six people killed today when a Learjet that had been flying out of control for several hours across the United States crashed in South Dakota, CNN television reported.

It was the first report categorically stating that Stewart was among the dead.

The Learjet took off earlier in the day from Orlando, Florida, on a flight to Dallas, Texas, but veered off course and lost radio contact with the ground soon after. It crashed in a remote area near the town of Aberdeen, South Dakota.

Stewart was a giant of the fairways who upheld the traditions of fair play in the dollar-laden days of the late 20th century.

The 42-year-old father of two children, cut a dash on the course. His idiosyncratic dress sense - he dressed in plus fours and a Tam O'Shanter hat - was also a throwback to the days when how you behaved on course was as important - if not more important - than victory itself.

Stewart, unlike many of his American Ryder Cup teammates, was a staunch critic of the boorish elements in the galleries who abused and harangued the vanquished European team in Boston this year.

He even conceded a putt on the 18th hole to Scotland's Colin Montgomerie - the man the Americans loved to hate - to spare him the insults and catcalls that forced Montgomerie's father to leave the course in anger.

"I was disgusted with some of the actions and some of the name-calling and the heckling that goes on with Colin," said Stewart.

"He doesn't deserve that. That is not what this event is about. I don't know if he's got a big bull's-eye on his back or what it is, but it is not fair.

"When I got to the 18th green I looked at my caddie and I said I'm not going to make him putt. He doesn't deserve to have to stand over this putt. We had already won the Ryder Cup.

"My individual statistics don't mean crap out here in the Ryder Cup. And I wasn't going to put him through that."

But despite his impeccable manners and high standards of behaviour Stewart was a keen competitor. Not many golfers can claim three Major victories on their resume - the 1989 US PGA and the 1991 and 1999 US Opens. And he featured on the American winning team in Kiawah Island in 1991 - the 'war on the shore' - and Boston this year in two Ryder Cups.

Stewart also savaged excessive American celebration after the Kiawah Island triumph.

"That was too strong," he said of what was perceived as his compatriots' unnecessary jingoism.

"For these people who disgrace the American way and burn our flag I say don't live here and disgrace my country.

"In the end it's still a game of golf, and if you can't shake hands with your opponents and still be friends then you've missed the point."

Stewart was a slow starter in golf and claimed a peptalk from legend Jack Nicklaus after a Ryder Cup defeat prompted him to turn a career of underachievement into one of success.

Stewart explained: "He (Nicklaus) told us 'You guys just don't know how to win. How many matches were we leading going into 18 and didn't win? Look at you, Payne Stewart. You make all this money on tour, but how many tournaments have you won?

"Why don't you win more? You guys need to learn how to win or you're going to continue getting beaten in this thing'."

Agencies