Tiger Woods has delivered a heartfelt tribute to Notah Begay at the Payne Stewart Award Ceremony.
Begay, who was named the 2026 recipient of the award in July, was in attendance at the ceremony on Tuesday evening in Atlanta.
There, he received the honor in recognition of his character, sportsmanship and commitment to charitable giving.
Woods, who played college golf alongside Begay at Stanford, appeared via video to congratulate his longtime friend and began by reminiscing about their first meeting.
He said: “Hey Notah. It’s been an unbelievable ride with you. You first came into my life when I was 11 years old playing in a Junior World and you came over to watch me play and our friendship has started there and it’s never ended.”
As well as his success on the course, where he won four times on the PGA Tour between 1999 and 2000, Begay, who is one of the few Native Americans to play golf professionally, is known for his philanthropic work within Native American communities.
That includes founding the non-profit Notah Begay III Foundation, whose goal is to provide health and wellness education to Native American youths via soccer and golf programs.
Woods paid tribute to that work, adding: “To see what you’ve done off the golf course… I know you’ve won four times on the tour, playing in the Presidents Cup.
"Actually, we played together in the Presidents Cup, but to see what you’ve done off the course and for your local native American communities.
"You helped over 80,000 youths and their families, which is absolutely incredible. What an amazing job – the sports complex in San Felipe.
“You’ve done an amazing job, and I just think that more… more people need to know what you’ve done and how you’ve served and you’ve given back to the tribal lands and what you have done.
“Because there are so many people out there who are struggling in those communities and you’re trying to raise the bar to allow them to go ahead and achieve a lot more in life and have the successes that I think they deserve and you feel like they deserve.”
Woods, who was a teammate of Begay at the 2000 Presidents Cup, concluded: “But again, thank you for coming to see me play. Thank you for getting our friendship started, and I love you, dude.”
