Notah 18th at New Mexico Open - Tuesday, September 11, 2007

MESCALERO, N.M. -- It wasn't quite the position in which he had envisioned himself, but Notah Begay III made up ground over the final round at last week's New Mexico Open to move up the leaderboard and finish in a tie for 18th place. "Being 12 shots out of the lead heading into the final round is certainly not an ideal position," Notah said. "It's very difficult to see yourself winning the event being so far behind, but I try not to rule out the impossible. "After making the turn at 5-under par, I thought that a back-nine 29 would take me a long way. Standing on the tee of my 14th hole, I was 8-under for the day with some very easy holes left to play. I wanted to post a low number to build up some confidence and was in a great position to do it, but some untimely bogeys thwarted those ambitions. "I played the last five holes at 1-over par and finished with a final round of 65. It's one of my lowest scores of the season and, after making 17 birdies and two eagles for the week, I've certainly built some momentum." Following his solid 3-round performance at the New Mexico Open, Notah is looking forward to keeping it rolling in the right direction at the PGA Tour's upcoming Turning Stone Resort Championship, Sept. 20-23. "I've got one week to prepare for Turning Stone and make some minor adjustments," Notah said. "I'm looking forward to my week at the Atunyote Golf Club." Be sure to check back with Notah.com to follow NB3 in his quest to earn a fifth PGA Tour victory.