PREVIEW: Open de Portugal - Wednesday, March 28, 2007

ESTORIL, Portugal -- Although his weekend rounds were not up to his expectations, Notah Begay III turned in his best finish of the 2007 European Tour season last week with a 37th-place finish at the Madeira Islands Open BPI.

Notah fought through cold and rainy conditions to finish the 2nd Round in a tie for 5th place, but played the final two rounds at 5-over-par.

"The weekend was an exercise in survival," Notah said. "I played some good golf and followed it up with some very 'sloppy' golf. It's been quite some time since I've put myself in such a good position heading into a weekend and needless to say I didn't perform like expected.

"That's not to say that I didn't do some very good things and I will use the 19 birdies I made last week as motivation for this week's event. Professional golf has always been a game of 'what have you done for me lately' which I translate into 'last week you finished...and, what are you going to do this week?'"

True. So, what about this week?

"This week's golf course is situated along the coast of Portugal in the city of Estoril," Notah said of the site of this week's Estoril Open de Portugal. "The conditions can get windy and cold so last week's weather will prove to be great preparation for this week."

Notah will tee-off at 8:50 am local time (3:50 am Eastern Time) for Thursday's first round with playing partners David Drysdale of England and Denmark's Søren Kjeldsen.

Be sure to check back with Notah.com to follow NB3 in his quest to earn a fifth Tour victory.



THIS WEEK'S BREAKDOWN

Notah's History at the Estoril Open de Portugal (0-0 vs. the cut)
This is Notah's first appearance at the Estoril Open de Portugal.

Course
Quinta da Marinha, Oitavos Golfe, Estoril, Portugal

Notah's Group (Rounds 1 & 2)
David Drysdale (Cockburnspath, Scotland)
Søren Kjeldsen (Denmark)

Notah's Tee Times (local time 5 hours ahead of ET)
Th - 8:50 am (8th tee)
Fr - 1:50 pm (1st tee)

TV Times (ET)
Thu 10:00 am - 1:00 pm (Golf Channel)
Fri 10:00 am - 1:00 pm (Golf Channel)
Sat 9:00 am - 12:00 pm (Golf Channel)
Sun 9:00 am - 12:00 pm (Golf Channel)