Born in Athens, Ga., Billy Payne attended Dykes High School in Atlanta where he quarterbacked the football team, and in 1966, he returned to Athens to play football at the University of Georgia. As a wide receiver and defensive end, Payne lettered three years earning All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) and All-America honors. In 1968 prior to his senior season, he was named a National Football Foundation (NFF) National Scholar-Athlete. He led his team to an SEC Championship and a berth in the Sugar Bowl that year as well.
After graduating in 1969 in political science, he later earned his law degree from UGA in 1973 and practiced real estate law until 1988, when he was named president and CEO of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. Payne launched a successful bid, and in 1990, Atlanta was selected to host the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. He continued in his leadership role, becoming the first person in modern history to earn an Olympic bid and remain president and CEO through the Games themselves. Atlanta also holds the distinction of being the first city to win an Olympic bid in its first attempt and being the first privately funded Olympics in the history of the event.
In 2006, Payne was announced as the new chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. During his 11 years as chairman, Payne oversaw several initiatives which enhanced the patron and player experience. He was part of negotiations of a new television contract with ESPN, allowing unprecedented coverage of the Par-3 Tournament. In 2008 a junior-patrons program was instituted, which allows one Augusta National Golf Club-accredited patron the opportunity to bring one junior patron to each competitive round of the Masters.
To advance the development of the game into regions underrepresented, Payne led the collaborative planning to create two competitions – the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship in 2009 and the Latin America Amateur Championship in 2014. The winner of each event earns an invitation to the following year’s Masters Tournament.
With a desire of grow junior golf, the Drive, Chip and Putt competition was founded in 2013 as a joint initiative by the Masters Tournament, United States Golf Association, and the PGA of America. DCP is a free nationwide junior golf development competition focusing on the fundamental skills in golf, with the finals held at Augusta National the Sunday prior to the Masters each year.
In 2012, Payne announced that Augusta National Golf Club would admit its first female members, extending invitations to Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore. Until this point, the club had been male-only since its opening in 1932.Payne retired as chairman in 2017, and in 2019 was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. In 2014, he was inducted as a Georgia Trustee, an honor given by the Georgia Historical Society to individuals whose accomplishments and community service reflect the ideals of the founding body of Trustees, which governed the Georgia colony.