While his best playing days are behind him, Nick Price is a champion who can look back on an impressive string of victories all within a relatively short period of time. He played with the right attitude as he searched for swing perfection. “Excellence is like a process, you know?” said Price. “No matter where you are, you just keep trying to refine.” He remains one of Golf’s truly special players.
Hole 1
Price dominated the 90’s by winning 15 tournaments on the PGA Tour and 12 more internationally. His 15 Tour wins was more than any other player in this decade. He has a total of 18 PGA Tour and 24 International victories.
Hole 2
Born in Durban, South Africa, Price grew up in Zimbabwe (formerly Rhodesia), Africa. He served in the Rhodesian army during the civil war from which Zimbabwe emerged.
Hole 3
The first win he notched on the PGA Tour was over Jack Nicklaus at the 1983 World Series of Golf. He didn’t win again for eight years but has since vindicated himself winning a total of three majors: the PGA Championship in 1992 and the British Open and PGA Championship in 1994.
Hole 4
Leading swing instructor David Leadbetter walked Price through a major swing overhaul which led to Price’s impressive string of victories in the 90’s.
Hole 5
In 2004 he was 188th in driving distance (272.8) but first in holes per eagle (90.0). And I thought being long of the tee led to more eagles!
Hole 6
This year, at age 48, he placed 125th on the money list to retain his PGA Tour Card for 2006. Briny Baird (126th) is none too happy about that.
Hole 7
In 1993 and 1994 Price was the PGA Tour Player of the Year notching an impressive ten wins in that period.
Hole 8
His mantra, “Longer, slower, lower” produced wonderful results with his putter in hand and counteracted an otherwise quick tempo. David Leadbetter said in a Golf Digest article, “He has worked hard on the tempo of his stroke–slowing it down, smoothing it out and keeping the putter low to the ground.”
Hole 9
Price once said, “The swing is like a block of wood, and your goal is to shape that block into the most perfect circle you can. You can get it to a circle pretty quickly, but after you get the general shape right, you then have to refine constantly and go from a hammer and a chisel, to 50-grit sandpaper, to steel wool, to polish.”
Photo Credits: © BBC