After a birdie at the penultimate hole to regain an outright lead , Stewart sank a par putt on the final hole for 279 ( − 1 ) and avoided a Monday playoff . He redeemed himself at the U.S. Open , after losing a four-stroke 54-hole lead the year before in San Francisco . Stewart did not get a chance to defend his title in 2000 , as he died four months later in a plane crash . The U.S. Open was his eleventh and final PGA Tour win
plane crash
1999 South Dakota Learjet crash
1999 U.S. Open (golf)