Begay playing without pain; brother as caddy doesn't hurt
By Ann Miller and Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writers
Former University of Hawai'i-Hilo golfer Clint Begay is back on his brother's bag.
Begay is caddying for Notah Begay III this week and plans to stay with him all year. Clint had been working for Dorothy Delasin on the LPGA tour.
Notah played with Tiger Woods at Stanford and won the UH and UH-Hilo tournaments while he was in college. His success continued on the Nationwide Tour and he won two tour events each of his first two years on the PGA Tour (1999 and 2000), with Clint on his bag part-time.
In 2001, Notah played just a dozen events — all in pain, he says now — after injuring his back the previous December while conditioning. He played 26 tournaments last year, missing the first 11 cuts. He closed strong, earning three Top-10 finishes and $624,000, which put him 108th on the money list.
An aggressive rehabilitation program now has Notah to a "point where I feel that I can play to a level that I expect out of myself.
"At the end of last year I was probably 65 to 70 percent," he said. "I have probably gained another 15 to 20 percent. I am pain-free. I can go through a round, put successive rounds together, play 27 holes in a day with just a little tightness here and there."
SMOOTH AND EASY
• Els' wine a hot seller: Ernie Els' inaugural release of South African wine has hit the market and a few bottles made their way to Waialae Country Club.
The first few hundred bottles of Ernie Els 2000 Stellerbosch wine — a blend of predominantly cabernet and merlot grapes — sold out after Els won the Mercedes Championships last week, according to Waialae's Darren Yasui.
Yasui procured a dozen bottles earlier this week and members bought them in five minutes, at $65 each. Another dozen arrived yesterday and Els promised to autograph each.
Between wine-making duties, he has been playing a little golf lately. Els is 56-under par in his last two-plus tournaments, with eight straight rounds in the 60s. He has won his last three starts — Cisco World Match Play, Nedbank Challenge and Mercedes.
Word is, the wine is smooth and possesses a strong finish. No surprise there.
BUCKLE UP
• Wonder from Down Under: Aaron Baddeley, who shot a 4-under 66 for a share of sixth place, has the conversation piece belt buckle.
It is the head from a used 1-iron club.
His cap advertises his website: Badds.com.
He holds dual citizenship in the U.S. and Australia. Baddeley was born in New Hampshire, where his dad was based as the chief mechanic for Mario Andretti's race team. Baddeley moved to Australia when he was 2.
SHORT PUTTS
There are 10 former Hawaiian Open/Sony Open champions playing. Of that group, Corey Pavin (1986 and '87), John Cook (1992) and Jim Furyk (1996) shot the best yesterday, 67. John Huston (1998), Jeff Sluman (1999) and defending champion Jerry Kelly are next at 68, followed by Brad Faxon (2001) at 70, Paul Azinger (2000) and Howard Twitty (1993) at 72 and Gene Sauers (1989) at 74. ... Twitty turned 54 Wednesday. ... Cook, who was second here last year, birdied his final three holes. ... Kelly eagled both the par-5's. ... Pavin married Lisa Nguyen last Wednesday on Maui. The couple honeymooned at Grand Wailea. Pavin and Hubert Green (1978 and '79) were the only golfers to win two Hawaiian Opens.
