Woods's School Chum, Beset by Injuries, Tries to Get Back on Course - Wednesday, July 04, 2007

The gallery trailing Tiger Woods kept growing yesterday morning as he played Congressional Country Club's Blue Course. And as throngs of spectators followed the AT&T National's host from tee box to green as though he were the Pied Piper, some wondered who was the other golfer with him.

Woods made his early round with his friend and former Stanford teammate Notah Begay III, who had high hopes after an impressive start to his PGA Tour career in 1999 but has been hampered by back injuries over the past six years.

"Note's one of my best friends and one of my closest friends," Woods said. "To have him here this week and to have him out here playing, especially with all the injuries he's been going through, that's been pretty neat."

Begay, 34, won two PGA Tour events as a rookie in 1999, and in 2000 he became the first full-blooded Native American to play in the Masters. But injuries derailed a promising career. A herniated disk in his back might force Begay to undergo surgery in the fall.

Before receiving a sponsor's exemption to compete in this week's tournament in Bethesda, he played in 10 events on the PGA European Tour this year, with his best finish coming in the Spanish Open, where he tied for 31st.

"Golf has become more of a job for me in the last three or four years than it is fun because I've really dealt with a tremendous amount of just physical discomfort, whether it's in long plane rides or on the golf course,"Begay said.