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An unlikely ex-Cardinal is in the hunt at the Reno-Tahoe Open

Shane Bacon

This week, there is a man in contention at a PGA Tour event that played golf in the mid-'90s at Stanford. He was a three-time All-American, has won multiple times on the PGA Tour, and a lot of people have considered his career over.

And while a lot of those things might suggest we're talking about Tiger Woods, we're not. This is about Notah Begay III, a teammate of Woods back in his Palo Alto days, and also a man that hasn't made a cut on the PGA Tour in exactly two years to the day, missing 12 straight before this week's Reno-Tahoe Open.

And Begay isn't just ahead of the cut line, he's in contention, firing a second-round 67 that has him a shot back of the leaders after two days and very much a conversation piece in all of golf, not just at the B-level event this week. How long has it been since Notah put together that solid of a round? You'd have to go back to May of 2009 to find a better round, where he shot a 65 at the Byron Nelson, and his career has tanked so much, a lot of people have him in the running to be the next caddie for Tiger Woods.

But Begay is playing some golf, and if by some miracle he could keep it going, it would be the fifth win of his career, and give him a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour that would carry him into his 40s and give him a career mulligan of sorts.

And after his 6-under round on Friday, he said that the drought on tour has been in the back of his mind.

"Well, I'm usually going home after the first two rounds. It's been two years. I was conveniently reminded of that yesterday by members of the media that will go unnamed."

Golf is fickle, as we've seen with just about every golfer, from Begay to Woods and everyone in between, but all you have to do is look back two weeks ago to find someone that could fit the mild description of Notah. Darren Clarke wasn't exactly heading into the British Open on top of his game, but if you can find something for four rounds, you could just walk away a winner.

Hopefully, if Begay does that, he will kindly send Mr. Woods a note saying thanks for the job offer, but I'll be locked up for the next two years with something a little more important.