PGATOUR.com Editorial Coordinator
ATLANTA -- When young Bobby Jones was busy honing his game on the pristine fairways of East Lake Golf Club, he couldn't have fathomed the fanfare that surrounds his home course this week for THE TOUR Championship presented by Coca-Cola.
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But he probably would have related to fellow Southerner Hal Sutton who, like Jones, stepped away from the game to focus on life's other priorities.
"My wife and my children came first; then my profession (by this he meant his legal profession); finally, and never in a life by itself, came golf," Jones once said. Upon his retirement, Jones went on to serve his family and city in many ways, including being one of the first directors of Southern Company, sponsor of the Payne Stewart Award.
As things came full circle on Wednesday, Sutton echoed Jones' sentiment in his acceptance speech as the 2007 Payne Stewart Award recipient, established to recognize professional golfers who embody the legacy of the late Stewart through their actions on and off the course.
"There's more important stuff in life than chasing the white ball and chasing your own personal dream," Sutton said. "It's balance. And not balance in the golf swing."
At THE TOUR Championship in 1998, Sutton remembers spending a day working on just that - balance in his golf swing. Though his wife had just had their first child Samantha and was pregnant with twin daughters Sara and Sadie, to Sutton, the most important thing in life was winning that tournament.
"I thought I had it all figured out. But I was leading a very self-centered life, and when I walked away, a lot of other things became apparent," Sutton said in his speech, a copy of which is given to each q-school graduate and new PGA TOUR member so he can learn from the veterans who exemplify the TOUR's highest standards.
"To all the guys graduating, I give this advice: Don't be so self-serving," Sutton said.
Sutton has taken his own words to heart, choosing to devote his time away from the game to his wife, children and several charities in his home state of Louisiana, including teaming up with fellow TOUR pros David Toms and Kelly Gibson to raise more than $2 million to help Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita victims in Louisiana in 2006.
When Sutton, a father of four, watched his long-time agent Gilbert Little lose his 7-year-old daughter Reagan to viral meningitis in 2001, he decided that something needed to be done to help parents and children in similar situations. So he worked tirelessly to donate time and money to create the Sutton Children's Medical Center at CHRISTUS Schumpert in his native Shreveport, La., a 60,000-square foot, 80-bed facility that opened in May 2007.
With colorful paintings adorning the walls, cheerful music and an underwater-themed emergency room with strands of light that change colors, the hospital serves as a haven for parents and children undergoing one of the most terrifying experiences of their lives.
"The most gratifying part of it is that I'll be in a grocery store," Sutton said in May, "and I can't tell you how many times a mother has come up to me, crying, and said, 'I never thought I'd see the need, but I have experienced it, and I thank you."
Sutton's devotion to his own children is evident, as 4-year-old Holt -- who barely comes up to his dad's waist -- couldn't wait to run forward to hug his dad at the award ceremony's end. The elder Sutton also added a splash of color to the partly cloudy day with a pink and green tie that coordinated well with his daughters' matching pink and brown dresses.
The flashy tie was an outward way of demonstrating one of his key traits -- boldness. As Commissioner Tim Finchem put it, "Hal's not bashful. He's not bashful about his belief in the principles important to the TOUR. He's also not hesitant to tell a younger player to put on different pants or stand up at a player meeting."
That trait, along with leadership skills gained from a stint on the PGA TOUR Policy Board, served Sutton well as the 2004 captain of the Ryder Cup team, which lost to the Europeans. That event opened his eyes to the need for more mentoring and less on-course obsessing in modern golf.
"Having the Ryder Cup captaincy was a climax -- for us and the tailspin we are in now in American golf that has us scratching our heads and wondering what's wrong and how we might do something about it," Sutton said. "[It took] walking away... and looking from the outside and saying maybe we're being blinded by the obvious here. Maybe the camaraderie everyone talks about the Europeans having, maybe it's [just having] more balance in their life."
With his focus on his life off the course, Sutton, who has played just one event since 2005, is not sure whether he will return to competitive golf. He feels like the TOUR has already paid him back in more ways than he can count, so it is up to his young family whether he plays the Champions Tour upon turning 50 in 2008.
"There are parts that I miss," said Sutton, who won 14 times on TOUR. "If I were to come back, I'd have a completely different outlook. I sometimes wonder if my contribution now is talking about this rather than chasing my own dream. Whatever I achieve personally would be miniscule if I could make a difference in someone else's life....
"I think [my wife] would like to see me play some. [Holt]'s never seen me in this environment. Really and truly, I don't think Sadie and Sara remember it very well. I think Samantha does a little bit. Samantha is all for me going back to play, my oldest who does remember it."
Acknowledging his family caused Sutton to choke up during the ceremony, as did remembering his friend Payne Stewart, who debuted on the TOUR in 1982, just one year after Sutton. With "Stewart" and "Sutton" falling so close in the alphabet, the two often had adjoining lockers.
"I can't say enough good things about Payne Stewart," Sutton said, who was grateful for his chance to get to know the late golfer off the course before he died in a plane crash on his way to THE TOUR Championship in 1999.
And, if they can see it, it's likely that his friend Stewart and fellow Southerner Jones -- two of golf's greatest gentleman -- are somewhere smiling down on their living gentlemanly counterpart, Sutton.
