Notah Begay aiming for PGA Tour Champions debut in October

Notah Begay played the APGA Tour’s tournament at TPC Scottsdale last week. Turns out it was a tune-up for bigger things.

Begay tells pgatour.com that he intends to compete on the PGA Tour Champions starting in October after he turns 50. His first event is scheduled to be the Furyk & Friends at Timuquana Country Club in Jacksonville. The event is hosted by Jim Furyk.

The longtime on-course reporter and analyst for Golf Channel and NBC made a detour to Ping when he was in Phoenix for that APGA event so he get fitted. He shot 72-74 at the Champions Course, next door to the Stadium Course used for the WM Phoenix Open.

1st tournament rd in quite some time! Great to play with @williemack3 & Tim O’Neal! Thx @APGA_Tour & @tpcscottsdale @PGATOUR ! pic.twitter.com/9mpDqxIYDW

— Notah Begay III (@NotahBegay3) April 18, 2022

Begay was teammates with Tiger Woods at Stanford in the mid-90s. He once shot a 59 on the Korn Ferry Tour. His PGA Tour resume includes four victories and he was a member of the 2000 Presidents Cup team.

In September, he’ll captain the U.S. Junior Presidents Cup team in Charlotte, a lead-up event for the Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow.

His thoughts of playing the senior circuit started a few years ago during a dinner with fellow Golf Channel/NBC analyst and former pro Arron Oberholser.

“Arron said, ‘The guys that do well out there come out sharp, and the guys that have struggled go out and expect to find it or recapture it while they’re playing,’” Begay told pgatour.com. “What he imparted is don’t take it for granted that it’s just going to show up for you. You’ve got to earn it back.

“That’s why I flew (to Scottsdale) the week after a stretch of television where I wasn’t home for seven weeks and I’m down here playing in a two-day APGA event. I need competition, and there are some very good players here.”

Begay indicated he will likely play an event in his home state of New Mexico and perhaps the APGA stop in San Antonio. He is signed up for U.S. Open local qualifying at the New Mexico State University course in Las Cruces.

“If I’m lucky, I’ll get to sectionals, 36 holes of competition, which is so valuable to me,” he said.