Football-mad Begay starting anew - Wednesday, January 03, 2007

It has been a long trawl through purgatory, but there is light at the end of the tunnel for the only golfer who can mix tales of Tiger Woods with those of genocide and Second World War windtalkers. After the chronic back injury, the jail sentence and the football- induced renaissance, Notah Begay III is fit and preparing to play on the European Tour. Surprise at seeing Begay move from the United States at the age of 34 comes couched in caveats about his idiosyncrasies. Famed for putting left and right-handed, he used to daub red clay under his eyes before tournaments and has a deep love of football inspired by Northern Ireland’s 1986 World Cup finals squad. As a Native American and registered member of the Navajo nation, Begay is aware that he is different from the average golfer and if his presence on the European Tour raises awareness of the problems facing his people, that will be a happy by-product. “More Indians were killed by the federal government than the number of people murdered in the Holocaust (albeit over a far longer period of time),” he said. “Now there are problems on the reservations. Diabetes and alcoholism are rife. There is also a perception that every reservation has a casino. I’m not an ambassador or preacher, but I like to help.” Begay, who will make his full European debut in the Abu Dhabi Championship two weeks tomorrow, is doing his bit to refute stereotypes. He stopped using the red clay, realising that he was perpetuating a Hollywood myth. Instead he talks of his grandfather, who worked as a windtalker, a network of Navajos recruited by the US Marines to transmit messages in their native tongue to defy Japanese code-breakers during the Second World War. Begay also has a football school on a reservation near Albuquerque, New Mexico. “I won’t put a grass pitch in because I read Pelé’s autobiography and how he played on the streets with no shoes,” he said. “I want them to play on dirt. I want them to realise it’s what you have inside that counts. More heart, less flair.” Begay has had to drag his heart for hope during a lightning rise and laboured fall. By 1999 he had won four events in two years on the PGA Tour in the US. “Only Tiger and Phil Mickelson have started that well,” he said. A nascent celebrity, he partnered Woods in the Presidents Cup, turned down a game with Bill Clinton and had a hole in one at the 2000 Masters. And then he tore a disc in his back while training and his world fell apart. “When I play in Abu Dhabi it will be the first time in six years that I’ve been 100 per cent fit,” he said. “I was in excruciating pain. I could not take a plane because I could only sit down for 20 minutes and I’d sleep for two hours a night. That led to my confidence going and that led to depression.” Never a big drinker, he was arrested for driving under the influence in 2000. He then owned up to a second conviction from five years earlier, earning himself a week in jail. In November last year he finally crawled from the wreckage and through the European Tour’s Qualifying School in Spain. It means that he and his wife will be moving to London, where he plans to consummate his long-distance love affair with Britain’s national game. “I like football first and golf second,” he said. “I like the team ethic, I’m interested in why the Europe Ryder Cup team is so good. When I was a boy, the Northern Ireland (football) team stopped off at my high school in New Mexico on their way to the World Cup. I couldn’t understand what they were saying and I knew they weren’t the favourites, but I was stunned by their skill. “Then I watched Diego Maradona and I was intrigued by how one man could dominate a whole tournament, how he could affect the mood of a country. Now my support goes with Barcelona and I’m still looking for an English team that fits my personality.” The days when he was tipped to rival Woods, a friend since their Stanford University days, are sepia memories. “We became close mainly because we knew we were different,” Begay said. “When I started playing golf I was very aware that there were no brown or dark people. I knew Tiger was special, but I still made him carry my bag.” The twin pioneers have taken disparate paths, but Begay betrays no bitterness. His background has swathed him in perspective. He could have been a golfing giant, but his ancestors were slaughtered. Golf is only a game and it is not even his favourite one.