Fairy tale almost comes true for Stewart

Published 11:14 pm Sunday, August 26, 2007

SNOQUALMIE — For Ray Stewart, the weekend had all the makings of a fairy tale.

Picture this: Stewart wouldn’t have even played the Champions Tour Boeing Classic at Snoqualmie Ridge had he not qualified for it on Monday. Yet, he found himself at the top of the leader board after each of the first two rounds and was gunning to become the first qualifier to win a Champions Tour event since Pete Oakley at the 2004 Senior British Open.

The Abbottsford, British Columbia, native had a four-stroke lead after Saturday’s second round, at 10 under par for the tournament. He was looking to be the second Canadian to win a Champions Tour event. Dave Barr won the Royal Caribbean Classic in 2003.

Lord knows, he wanted it. He wanted to make his name known. He hadn’t won a tournament since 1999, when he twice was victorious on the Canadian Tour — the Edmonton Open and the Canadian Master. He hadn’t played in a Champions Tour tournament since the Senior British Open in 2006. He hadn’t led a PGA-sanctioned tournament since the 1990 Greater Milwaukee Open. He finished fourth.

Stewart’s PGA career lasted 202 tournaments. He joked this week that he worked feverishly on his short game, but it wasn’t getting any better, so he quit working on it. Shortly afterward, the PGA decided it no longer needed his services.

Stewart wanted it for himself and he wanted it for his son, Brett, 18, who caddied for his father.

“I left it all out there,” he said, “every piece of me is lying out there, somewhere.”

Folksy and likeable, Stewart became the darling of the crowd Sunday, especially for the considerable numbers who made the trek from north of the border in hopes of seeing history.

Stewart also made new friends with an easygoing manner and off-handed comments such as the gem Saturday, when he said he was exhausted because he hadn’t played back-to-back rounds all year.

Adding to the appeal was that the Boeing Classic was Stewart’s first pro tournament of the year. The reasoning for being choosy: Why fly hither and yon with no guarantee he even would qualify for a given tournament?

But on what turned out to be the wildest finish in men’s professional golf’s lore, a day in which a record seven golfers were knotted for the lead after regulation, Stewart found himself on the outside, looking in — by a single stroke.

“What a golden opportunity to do something special,” said Stewart, who, having finished tied for eighth, will not have to qualify for Pebble Beach this week. “Maybe next week. Maybe Pebble Beach.”

Then he smiled.

“Can’t very well quit now, you know?” he said.

Stewart desperately hung onto the lead until a bogey on the 10th hole. At roughly the same time, eventual winner Denis Watson nailed a 22-foot birdie on the 11th hole and passed him.

Then came the disastrous 15th, which Stewart four-putted for a double bogey. He badly missed a 12-footer for par and a six-footer for bogey, which left him 8-under for the tournament.

“I made a mistake with a wedge,” Stewart said. “It was the perfect distance with a wedge, but I didn’t allow for any error. I just missed it a little bit. It hit the top of the ridge, and four (bleep) putts later, it’s double bogey.”

Stewart effectively booted himself out of contention with another double bogey on No. 17, in which his tee shot flew out of bounds and into a swamp. He took a drop on the par three and couldn’t make it up.

“It was just a terrible stroke,” Stewart said of his tee shot. “Terrible stroke.”

Stewart’s day: 2-over par 74, 8-under for the tournament and one stroke away from turning it into an eight-man playoff.

It’s easy to say Stewart choked, that he couldn’t take the pressure of carrying the tournament for three days. The numbers suggest just that: a 74 Sunday after a 66 and a 68, respectively, the first two rounds.

Yet, Stewart denied feeling pressure.

“I felt great out there,” he said. “I was making enough bad swings to keep me on edge, but nerve-wise, I was pretty good. I felt real calm in spots.”

Rather, the issue was about finishing. Stewart gained respect from his fellow players with his first two rounds. Many even wanted him to win, but they knew odds were against it, even with the four-stroke lead going into the third and final round.

“Getting over that hump, that’s quite a great thing,” Watson said. “I hope Ray Stewart gets that feeling someday.”

With any luck, he may get the feeling in Pebble Beach.

Sports columnist John Sleeper: sleeper@heraldnet.com