MICHELOB CHAMPIONSHIP AT KINGSMILL

October 8, 1999

Notah Begay III

NOTAH BEGAY: Definitely. Just happy to be in position. Obviously would like to have finished a little stronger, but things happen and that was an awfully tough hole, and for good reason.

NOTAH BEGAY: I just pulled it. I wasn't real clean today. And I guess subconsciously I got over it, and I said if I'm going to miss it, I'm going to miss it left. And just got an unlucky kick off the trees and kicked backwards, and was literally about eight inches from the base of the tree. And I had no shot. So I tried to pitch it in the bunker, and tried to make four. And I misjudged the firmness of the green and hit it about 18 feet past the pin, just on the fringe. And I was actually lucky to make five.

NOTAH BEGAY: I hit a 6-iron.

NOTAH BEGAY: Yeah, I knew. I mean this is a tough course, it's playing real hard this time of year, with the swirling conditions, I knew that if I just shot one or 2-under I'd probably be right there, either in the lead, tied for the lead or one back. And that was basically what I set out to do, and unfortunately I got it to three under and slipped upcoming in, and ended up shooting one under. The course is playing hard, and it's going to be interesting to see how everyone plays this weekend.

NOTAH BEGAY: I hit a drive right down the middle, popped it up just a little bit, had about 252 to the flag, and just hit a smooth 3-wood and caught the right fringe about 18 feet and just rolled it in.

NOTAH BEGAY: 3 was driver, 4-iron and I pulled it left down the bottom of the hill, pitched up in the first cut of the rough and then chipped it in.

NOTAH BEGAY: 30 feet.

NOTAH BEGAY: 13 I had a 6-iron there about 8 feet just left of the hole pin-high, and knocked it in. 15, driver, 3-iron to the first cut of rough and then I hit a 3-wood about six feet and made it.

NOTAH BEGAY: 9 I hit it in the first cut of rough, and I just misjudged how much the ball was going to -- how much the rough was going to take off the distance of the flight. And then on top of that it got hung up in the wind and really had no chance of getting there.

NOTAH BEGAY: I hit a 6-iron. And unfortunately I missed about a 10-footer for par. And then 10 was just -- the reason I made bogey there was I made a poor second shot. I had a perfect lie in the bunker, only 175 yards to the front and just hit it heavy, and I made a great bogey there because I hit it heavy out -- on my second shot and it goes into the other bunker about 50 yards from the green, and I don't know how many guys who practice that shot or even like it. And I hit a fairly decent shot and over the back in the first cut and chipped up about four feet and made it. So I was very fortunate to come away with just bogey there.

NOTAH BEGAY: I putted well today, very comfortable on the greens. They're a little chewed up this afternoon, but you've got to expect that. They're going to be chewed up tomorrow. And those are just some of the things you have to overcome when you're in contention.

NOTAH BEGAY: No, it goes on a feel basis. If I struggle one week or a day, one day I'll go out and work on those putts and vice-versa. Mostly I really don't practice my putting all that much, to be honest.

NOTAH BEGAY: Right.

NOTAH BEGAY: Oh, definitely. I mean I don't know how many scores -- there was only 23 scores under par yesterday, correct? And of those I don't know how many were in the morning. You guys would probably know that better than I would. Guys were asking me if I played the same course. Obviously -- because I had a very good -- I missed a 4-footer for par to shoot 66, and in those conditions it was just phenomenal.

NOTAH BEGAY: You mean like on a daily basis?

NOTAH BEGAY: I would say right around 10-under you're going to have a good shot. But you've got guys like Duvals right there, a lot of Faldos playing good, you've got some experienced players right at the top of the leaderboard, on any given day they can just shoot six or seven under. And it's going to put them right up near the top.

NOTAH BEGAY: That's great. Mike is a great player. He's having a great year. I think he's really found his game this year. This is his second year and it seems he's just much more comfortable out here and a lot more confident, especially -- he was having a great year, even before he won. And that was just kind of -- it was something that was waiting to happen with him to win. It was just tremendous for him to have that victory, not only on a Tour, but in Canada, because he's their guy. He's the main man in Canada, he's their best player right now. So it didn't surprise me.

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