| Begay
joined Al Geiberger and Chip Beck, both of whom did it on the
PGA Tour, with his 59, which included a hole-in-one on the third,
his 12th hole of the day. He was 11-under on his final 11 holes
and had two eagles and nine birdies on the 7,020-yard, par-72
Dominion Club course.
"I
was very much under control today. If you disrespect the game
of golf, it will put you in your place. I tried to keep myself
grounded.''
While
Begay, a native American -- he is half Navajo and half Pueblo
-- had two feet on the ground, his shots were soaring close
to the pin on nearly every hole.
"I
fell into a groove,'' said Begay, who opened with a 70 on
Thursday and holds a four-stroke lead heading into the third
round.
He opened
with a birdie on the 10th and also birdied the 15th, 17th
and 18th to turn in 32.
The 25-year-old
Begay, who played with Woods and Martin at Stanford, then
really heated up. He holed a 112-yard wedge shot at No. 1
for a deuce. He birdied the second, then put a 5-iron into
the cup for his ace at No. 3.
"After
the hole-in-one, 59 came into my mind ... an understanding,
an enlightenment. No one's going to care if I shot 60-61,''
he said.
Begay
also made birdies on the fifth, sixth and eighth. He came
to the 182-yard, par-3 ninth needing a birdie for the magic
59.
He put
his 6-iron just 8 feet from the hole.
"Very
few people can say they have had a putt at 59,'' said Begay,
who began playing golf when he was 6 years old and also was
a starting guard on a state high school championship basketball
team in Albuquerque. "Even fewer have made 59. I just
told myself, 'Go for it.' ''
He did,
and when the putt dropped, Begay had played the final 11 holes
in 11-under par.
Begay
tied Geiberger (Memphis Classic in 1977) and Beck (1991 Las
Vegas Invitational) by shooting a 27 on his back nine, which
tied the PGA Tour record, as well.
"The
59 will only go so far,'' he said. "The Nike Dominion
championship will mean more."
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