Notah Begay III

{{Infobox golfer

| name = Notah Begay III

| image = Notah Begay III interview (cropped).png

| imagesize =

| caption = Begay in 2011

| fullname = Notah Ryan Begay III

| nickname =

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1972|9|14}}

| birth_place = Albuquerque, New Mexico

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = {{height|ft=5|in=11}}

| weight = {{convert|195|lb|kg st|abbr=on}}

| nationality = {{USA}}

| residence =

| spouse =

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| children =

| college = Stanford University

| yearpro = 1995

| tour = PGA Tour Champions

| extour = PGA Tour
Nationwide Tour
European Tour

| prowins = 5

| pgawins = 4

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| nwidewins =

| chalwins =

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| otherwins = 1

| majorwins =

| masters = T37: 2000

| usopen = 22nd: 2000

| open = T20: 2000

| pga = 8th: 2000

| wghofid =

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}}

Notah Ryan Begay III (born September 14, 1972) is an American professional golfer. He is one of the few Native American[http://www.pgatour.com/players/r/?/02/00/29/media PGA Tour Media Guide profile] golfers to have played in the PGA Tour.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ndnsports.com/native-american-golfers-tee-it-up-together-on-golfweeks-national-pro-tour-event/ |title=Native American Golfers Competing at Golfweek's National Pro Tour Event |date=May 23, 2012 |publisher=NDNSPORTS |access-date=2020-04-27}} Since 2013, Begay has served as an analyst with the Golf Channel and NBC Sports.{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2013/02/26/pga-tour-nbc-golf-channel-notah-begay-cnn-showtime-anderson-cooper-mlb-fox-daytona-500/1949099/ |title=Notah Begay now walking the course for NBC |newspaper=USA Today |first=Michael |last=Hiestand |date=February 26, 2013}}

Early life and amateur career

Begay was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Begay is a Native American of the Navajo, San Felipe, and Isleta people. His first name in the Navajo language means "almost there."{{cite news |last=Farrey |first=Tom |date=June 3, 2000 |title=OTL: Notah Begay's long walk |url=https://www.espn.com/otl/americans/begayprint.html |access-date=14 November 2023 |work=ESPN.com}} His grandfather, Notah Begay, was a code talker.{{cite news |last=Kimball |first=George |date=July 6, 2000 |title=Time in jail made a golfer of Notah |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/sport/time-in-jail-made-a-golfer-of-notah-1.289730 |access-date=14 November 2023 |newspaper=The Irish Times}} In 1990, he graduated from a private high school, Albuquerque Academy.

Begay attended Stanford University, where he was a three-time All-American and a teammate of Tiger Woods. He was a member of Stanford's 1994 NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championship team. He was a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity (Alpha Omega chapter) while at Stanford. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics in 1995 from Stanford University.{{cite web |title=About Notah |url=http://www.notah.com/about-notah.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419014709/http://www.notah.com/about-notah.html |archive-date=April 19, 2014}}

Professional career

=Nike Tour=

In 1995, Begay turned professional. In 1998, Begay shot a 59 in the second round of the Nike Tour Dominion Open, to join the few golfers to ever shoot a 59 in a professional tournament. He placed 10th on the Nike Tour money list that year, earning a place on the PGA Tour for 1999.

=PGA Tour=

Begay had a pair of wins in each of his first two seasons on the Tour. From late September 1999 to early July 2000, a period of just over nine months, Begay recorded four PGA Tour wins, with the third and fourth wins coming in successive weeks. Since then, he was plagued by back trouble which put his future as a professional golfer in doubt. In 2005, he played under a "Major Medical Exemption" with little success. In 2006, he played on the Nationwide Tour. At the end of 2006, he successfully earned a card for the European Tour from their qualifying school. In December 2008, he regained his playing card for the 2009 PGA Tour season at Q-school.

Begay has been featured in the top 20 of the Official World Golf Rankings. He successfully utilized a unique putting method. Using a putter with playing faces on both the front and back of the head, he putted right-to-left-breaking putts right-handed, and left-to-right-breaking putts left-handed. Begay is the first top player to use such a technique and putter.

Personal life

On January 19, 2000, Begay was arrested for what he admitted, in court, was actually his second DUI incident. He was sentenced later that month to 364 days in jail with all but seven days suspended.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/26/sports/plus-golf-begay-sentenced-for-driving-drunk.html?pagewanted=1 |title=Begay Sentenced For Driving Drunk |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=January 26, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304095115/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/26/sports/plus-golf-begay-sentenced-for-driving-drunk.html?pagewanted=1 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/29/sports/plus-golf-begay-begins-serving-sentence.html?pagewanted=1 |title=Begay Begins Serving Sentence |newspaper=The New York Times |agency=Associated Press |date=February 29, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303214451/https://www.nytimes.com/2000/02/29/sports/plus-golf-begay-begins-serving-sentence.html?pagewanted=1 |archive-date=2016-03-03 |url-status=live}}

Begay suffered a heart attack in 2014, while practicing on the putting green at Dallas National Golf Club. He was quickly taken by ambulance to Dallas' Methodist Hospital and a stent was placed in his right coronary artery.

Begay is the uncle of Madison Hammond, who in 2020 became the first Native American soccer player to play in the National Women's Soccer League. Hammond cited Begay as one of her inspirations.{{cite press release |url=https://www.nwslsoccer.com/news/following-her-milestone-madison-hammond-wants-to-inspire-the-next-generation-of-native-american-athletes |title=Following Her Milestone, Madison Hammond Wants to Inspire the Next Generation of Native American Athletes |date=October 22, 2020 |access-date=December 8, 2021 |first=Steven |last=Hamlin |publisher=National Women's Soccer League}}{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/may/16/angel-city-hbo-sports-docuseries-natalie-portman |title='We have to be more than athletes': inside the women's US soccer league |date=May 17, 2023 |access-date=May 17, 2023 |newspaper=The Guardian |first=Andrew |last=Lawrence}}

Businesses and Organizations

= NB3 Consulting =

In 2002, Begay founded NB3 Consulting, which consults with tribal communities looking to build golf courses for the purpose of economic development. Notable courses the company has built includes Sequoyah National, Firekeeper Golf Course, and Sewailo Golf Club.{{Cite web |url=https://www.nb3consulting.com/about-us |title=About us |website=nb3-genevacreative |access-date=2020-04-27}}

=Notah Begay III Foundation=

In 2005, Begay established the non-profit Notah Begay III Foundation. The immediate goal of the foundation was to provide health and wellness education to Native American youth in the form of soccer and golf programs. The broader purpose of the foundation was to stand as a catalyst for change in the Native American community. On August 26, 2008, the foundation hosted the first Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino, a skins golf match to raise money for the foundation. The five players for the tournament were Begay, Stewart Cink, Vijay Singh, Camilo Villegas and Mike Weir. On August 24, 2009, the foundation hosted its second annual Notah Begay III Foundation Challenge at the Turning Stone Resort & Casino.

= KivaSun Foods =

In 2010, Begay founded KivaSun Foods, selling various bison-based products. In 2015, the company won a contract to have 520,000 pounds of bison distributed through the Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations.{{Cite news |url=https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/2016-hot-list-native-businesses-BCjpBfcYqkuYn9cvFrYStw |title=2016 Hot List: Native Businesses |newspaper=Ict News |access-date=2020-04-27}}

Awards and honors

Begay was named one of Golf Magazine's Innovators of the Year in 2009
He has also been named one of the Top 100 Sports Educators in the world by the Institute for International Sport{{citation needed|date=November 2023}}

Amateur wins (1)

this list may be incomplete

1995 Northeast Amateur

Professional wins (5)

=PGA Tour wins (4)=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Date!!Tournament!!Winning score!!Margin of
victory!!Runner(s)-up

align=center|1

|align=right|Aug 29, 1999

|Reno–Tahoe Open

|−14 (70-69-63-72=274)

|3 strokes

|{{flagicon|USA}} Chris Perry, {{flagicon|USA}} David Toms

align=center|2

|align=right|Oct 10, 1999

|Michelob Championship at Kingsmill

|−10 (67-70-69-68=274)

|Playoff

|{{flagicon|USA}} Tom Byrum

align=center|3

|align=right|Jun 25, 2000

|FedEx St. Jude Classic

|−13 (66-69-67-69=271)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|USA}} Chris DiMarco, {{flagicon|USA}} Bob May

align=center|4

|align=right|Jul 2, 2000

|Canon Greater Hartford Open

|−20 (64-65-67-64=260)

|1 stroke

|{{flagicon|USA}} Mark Calcavecchia

PGA Tour playoff record (1–0)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result

style="background:#D0F0C0;"

|align=center|1

|1999

|Michelob Championship at Kingsmill

|{{flagicon|USA}} Tom Byrum

|Won with par on second extra hole

=Other wins (1)=

1998 New Mexico Open

Playoff record

Nike Tour playoff record (0–1)

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;"

!No.!!Year!!Tournament!!Opponent!!Result

style="background:#F2C1D1;"

|align=center|1

|1998

|Nike Lehigh Valley Open

|{{flagicon|USA}} Eric Booker

|Lost to birdie on ninth extra hole

Results in major championships

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!1999

!2000

!2001

align=left|Masters Tournament

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T37

|CUT

align=left|U.S. Open

|CUT

|22

|CUT

align=left|The Open Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T20

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align=left|PGA Championship

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|style="background:yellow;"|8

|CUT

CUT = missed the half-way cut

"T" = tied

=Summary=

Totals	0	0	0	0	1	3	8	4
class=wikitable style=text-align:center !Tournament !! Wins !! 2nd !! 3rd !! Top-5 !! Top-10 !! Top-25 !! Events !! Cuts made
align=left\|Masters Tournament	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	1
align=left\|U.S. Open	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	1
align=left\|The Open Championship	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	1
align=left\|PGA Championship	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	1

Most consecutive cuts made – 4 (2000 Masters – 2000 PGA)
Longest streak of top-10s – 1

Results in The Players Championship

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;text-align:center;"

!Tournament

!2000!!2001!!2002!!2003!!2004

align=left|The Players Championship

|CUT

|T56

|CUT

CUT = missed the halfway cut

"T" indicates a tie for a place

Results in World Golf Championships

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

!Tournament!!1999!!2000!!2001!!2002

align="left"|Match Play

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align="left"|Championship

|T46

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|NT¹

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

align="left"|Invitational

|style="background:#eeeeee;"|

|T17

|T31

|T52

¹Cancelled due to 9/11

"T" = Tied

NT = No tournament

U.S. national team appearances

Amateur

Walker Cup: 1995

Professional

Presidents Cup: 2000 (winners)
Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing PGA Tour): 2000 (winners)

References

External links

{{PGATour player|20029}}
{{EuroTour player|30251}}
{{OWGR|6302}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930023450/http://www.notah.com/index.php?page=news&id=329 Interview with The Times (UK)]
[http://www.nb3challenge.com Notah Begay III Challenge]

Category:American male golfers

Category:Stanford Cardinal men's golfers

Category:PGA Tour golfers

Category:European Tour golfers

Category:PGA Tour Champions golfers

Category:Presidents Cup competitors for the United States

Category:Korn Ferry Tour graduates

Category:American golf commentators

Category:Golfers from Albuquerque, New Mexico

Category:Navajo sportspeople

Category:Pueblo of Isleta people

Category:Albuquerque Academy alumni