Notah pushover anymore - Thursday, February 01, 2007

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Tiger Woods yesterday predicted great things for close friend Notah Begay III, the only full-blooded Native American on the Tour. Notah, who roomed with Woods at Stanford, had been having a tough time with injuries and illness, practiced with the World No. 1 at his home before heading to the UAE for the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and the Dubai Desert Classic beginning today. "He came down home right before he left for Abu Dhabi. He's been through a lot, with the injuries he's had to battle through," said Woods yesterday. "He's finally feeling healthy after six years. Notah has a lot of talent in the world and he's one of the best putters I've seen. "Just give him a chance to play healthy for a year and I know he's going to have success." Notah, who graduated in economics from Stanford, is known for his ambidexterity which he uses to deadly effect depending on the break of the putt. He won four US PGA titles seven years ago using that tactic, but after that chronic back problems and subsequent depression curtailed his appearances in tournament play before earning his 2007 European Tour playing privileges at the Qualifying School Final Stage last November in Spain. His 69th position at Abu Dhabi seems to have spurred him into thinking ahead positively. "Yes, indeed. I played great (at Abu Dhabi)," said Notah. "I hadn't played for eight weeks and coming out and playing like this. It's tremendous. I have no regrets," said Notah. "When I played in Abu Dhabi it was the first time in six years that I had been 100-percent fit," he said. "Before that 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 affected my confidence going and led me to depression." Notah has won four PGA Tour tournaments and is only the third player in the history of the game to shoot 59 in a professional event at the Nike Dominion Open. A registered member of the Navajo nation, Notah is aware that he is different from the average golfer and believes his presence on the European Tour will raise awareness of the problems facing his people. Born and raised in New Mexico, Notah leads the fight against diabetes by encouraging Native communities to pursue healthier lifestyles. "We have created a lot of programmes on diabetes awareness since diabetes is killing us three times more than the national average," he said. "In addition, we launched an initiative called Notah's Vision Inc (NVI) in 2005, aimed at getting today's youth active through soccer and golf programmes," said Notah. Notah said he felt close to Woods because of their similarities. "We became close mainly because we knew we were different," he said. "When I started playing golf I was aware that there were no brown or dark people. I knew Tiger was special," said.