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two players who persevered despite obstacles, who suc- ceeded when there were plenty of reasons not to. In many ways, Begay and Mar- tin were more meaningful to the Stanford program than Tiger Woods himself. After all, when Tiger arrived on campus, he had the pressure of doing something Begay and Martin already had done—winning a national team championship. A national champion-

ship wasn’t what Goodwin had in mind when he first heard the story of Notah Begay. He merely wanted to learn more about an intriguing young player from Albuquerque who boasted 100 percent Native

American blood—half Navajo, half Pueblo. To say it was odd to recruit a Native American golfer from New Mexico was an understatement. Only one Native American had ever won an event in the history of the PGA Tour, and that was Rod Curl in 1974. Curl was a Wintu Indian from Redding, California, and he won the Colonial National Invitational in Fort Worth, clipping the great Jack Nicklaus by 1 stroke. Other than that, Native Ameri- cans and organized golf, especially college golf, were not a common mix. Begay knew that growing up in New Mexico, witnessing the hardships of Native Ameri-

can life in the United States. There was precious little time for golf, he observed, when living on a reservation that he at times likened to living in the Third World. But Begay came from a

family of athletes. His fa- ther, also named Notah, was an ex-Marine who played some college basketball and made time for golf as an adult. When Begay got good enough in golf, and when Goodwin heard he had a chance to recruit him, he flew to New Mexico in the winter of 1990, to watch Begay play basketball. Goodwin loved basketball and felt he could assess an athlete’s mind from watch- ing him play. It was a cold

night in Albuquerque when Goodwin got there, but when he entered the gym he felt the familiar heat of a prep basketball game under bright lights. He saw Begay, only five foot ten, hustling on both ends, his mullet soaked with sweat, making his free throws and playing the team game. Within five minutes Goodwin knew he had his man. It wasn’t just Begay’s inspiring story of overcoming an underprivi- leged background; it was that he was a “Wally Kid,” all heart and determination and fire. Goodwin had nev- er seen him play golf, but he told himself, I’ve got to have him on my team and offered Begay a scholarship

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