Begay finding form

Notah Begay III, trying to revive a once-promising career, carded a five-under-par 67 to gain a share of the lead with David Peoples after the second round of the Honda Classic at Mirasol.

Winless since capturing the St Jude Classic and Greater Hartford Open in 2000 for two of his four career titles, Begay completed 36 holes at 14-under 130.

The second round was suspended due to darkness with 14 players still on the course.

Begay’s demise over the past two years began in 2001, when he hurt his back, an injury that led to an eventual loss of confidence.

A former team-mate of Tiger Woods at Stanford, Begay ranked just 108th on the money list last year with only three top-10 finishes and had continued to struggle this year prior to his first two rounds here.

He missed the cut in two of his first six starts and his best finish of the year came last week, when he tied for 44th at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson.

Begay matched a course record with a nine-under 63 on Thursday.

Peoples, a journeyman who has not won since capturing the Anheuser-Busch Classic in 1992, signed for his second straight 65 to tie Begay. Peoples began the round tied for seventh.

David Love III, who won last month at Pebble Beach, had the early lead after carding a 64, but finished the day tied for third with Tom Byrum and Esteban Toledo.