His death in 1999 was probably the saddest day the sport of golf has ever seen. Frankly, it's one of the saddest days that any sport has ever seen.

The amount of tributes that his friends and competitors came out with in the following weeks spoke volumes about how well liked he was on tour, and how memorable he was.

Stewart once said that when he practiced in normal clothes, nobody recognized him, no matter how good he was playing. Conversely, if he wore the knickers and hat, everyone knew exactly who it was.

After his death, many golfers wore some variation of his trademark outfits.

Stewart's look was just so different than anything that anyone else was wearing. Today, we may look at a guy like Rickie Fowler or Ian Poulter and notice their outfits, but they are wearing the same clothes as everyone else, just in a louder way.

Ryan Moore may be the closest modern golfer to Stewart, but even then, you need to be looking right at him to know that it's him. None of that was the case with Stewart.

You could spot him across a golf course and know exactly who it was. He found a way to make himself notable to fans while at the same time paying a great tribute to the history of the game.

It's absolutely no surprise to me that he was so loved by his competitors, and why even those who played with him for a short time continue to speak so highly of him.