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Extra effort at the Michelob Notah Begay beats Tom Byrum in two-hole playoff
Posted: Thursday October 14, 1999 06:36 PM
WILLIAMSBURG, Virginia (AP) -- Notah Begay made up two strokes on two others over the last two holes in spectacular fashion Sunday, then won the Michelob Championship with a 1.2-meter (4-foot) par putt on the second hole of a playoff with Tom Byrum. "I just want to know when they are going to schedule some more events in Virginia," Begay said. Last year, he shot a Nike Tour-record 59 in Richmond. "I told my caddie on the second hole in the playoff I felt like I was suffocating with the rain and the cloud cover and the situation. There were a lot of things going through my head." Begay, the only American Indian on the U.S. PGA Tour, won for the second time in his rookie season when Byrum drove left on the 16th hole at Kingsmill, had to chip it back into the fairway and left his 4.5-meter (15-foot) par putt short. Begay, whose drive was down the middle, left his approach just short, but chipped out of the deep, tangled rough to about 1.2 meters (4 feet) and made the putt, capping a comeback that started on the 71st hole with him trailing Byrum and Canada's Mike Weir. Begay, two shots down heading to the par-3 17th, closed within one when he made a 12-meter (40-foot) birdie putt while Weir and Byrum both two-putted for pars. On No. 18, Begay's drive stopped close to a lake on the left side of the fairway, but gave him a flat lie and perfect angle at the pin, set on a tier on the back right of the green. He again drew roars when he hit it to six meters (20 feet). Weir, whose drive was well right, had no choice but to lay up, then hit his approach to about 4.5 meters (15 feet). Byrum's second shot, from a green-side bunker, went about three meters (10 feet) past the hole, giving him the shortest of the three putts. Begay, who putts from both sides depending on the slope of the green, stood over his right-handed, rolled it, waited and pumped his fist as it dropped for a 68. Weir, who had held or at least shared the lead throughout the final round, then missed his to the left, drawing groans from the gallery and ending his bid with a 70. Byrum, seeking his first victory since the 1989 Kemper Open, read his putt from the behind the hole, on the right and behind the ball, then made it for a 68. That sent both back to the 18th tee with 10-under 274 totals. On the first playoff hole, Begay's drive came to rest on a sleep uphill slope that left him no choice but to hit it back into play. He did, and after Byrum's second failed to hold the back tier of the green, Begay's shot did he same. Byrum had a chance to win, but his first left-to-right effort up the hill reached the slope, rolled along the edge and back down near Begay's ball. "I thought I took a fairly safe route," said Byrum, who earned $270,000 to Begay's $450,000. "I just didn't hit it hard enough." Both then two-putted, sending them to the par-4 16th.
Barry Cheesman closed with a 67 and finished alone in fourth at
276, with English star Nick Faldo (67), Jay Don Blake (66) and Tom
Scherrer (69) another shot back.
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