Together or apart, Price and O'Meara seek their first Champions trophy

text size

SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Between the pair of them, Mark O'Meara and Nick Price have collected some major hardware. A Green Jacket, two Wanamaker trophies, two Claret Jugs. Their twosome is one U.S. Open short of a Grand Slam.

Nick Price believes his game has turned around. (Condon/PGA TOUR/WireImage)

But there's another piece of metal they are missing -- a trophy from the Champions Tour. Both turned 50 and debuted on the circuit last season. Based on their PGA TOUR history, many pundits and fellow pros expected them to win right away.

"Eventually we will win individually. We have had nice careers but it has been frustrating up to this point," O'Meara said. "Last year I played reasonably well and this year I haven't played as well. Nick didn't get off to a great start last year but he's playing better now."

"I have played very poorly the last two and a half years, up until the beginning of this year," Price admitted. "My game has now turned around and it's getting stronger and stronger. It's still not where I want it to be but I think if I keep doing what I have been doing it's going to get better."

"It just goes to show you how good the guys are on the Champions Tour and how deep some of the fields are," O'Meara continued. "There are still some players who can shoot some low scores."

Low scores came in abundance during Friday's first round of the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, where O'Meara and Price partnered up for the team event. In the two-man competition held at the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa, each golfer plays his own ball but the better score is recorded for each hole. Together they made seven birdies for an opening-round 65.

Sounds like a good score, right? It is, but not when you consider that leaders Tom Watson and Andy North torched the course with a 13-under-par 59.

"We didn't putt as well as we would have liked to have," Price said. "Obviously if we had putted well then we would have shot 10 or 11 under, but 7 under is still pretty good."

"I was battling out there and could have played a little bit better but he stays very positive and I tried not to get in his way," O'Meara said. "I made a few birdies and helped him a little bit but overall ... he was the horse, I was the jockey today."

Price had the hotter hand during their first round but said it all evens out in the end. He remained upbeat and optimistic after their round, finding a silver lining behind their six-strokes-behind cloud.

"We are in a good position to make a few more putts tomorrow," Price cheerfully said. "For us a lot we need a few more putts and get somewhere in the region of about 25 or 26 under.

"We have to really pull our socks up the next few days. I think leading today is 13 under, normally we double that and add 50 percent [to try to determine the final score]."

Mark O'Meara is impressed by the depth of Champions Tour competition. (Laberge/WireImage)

Born only 15 days but half a world apart -- O'Meara is from Goldsboro, N.C. and Price was born in Durban, South Africa but moved in Zimbabwe at a young age -- the two wound up with virtually identical careers.

O'Meara captured two major championships and 16 total PGA TOUR wins, including his first TOUR victory in 1984.

Though Price is the younger of the two, he won first at the 1983 World Series of Golf. He eventually earned 18 titles and has three majors to his credit plus a spot in the World Golf Hall of Fame.

When the tournament announced their return to a couples-only format, O'Meara called up Price, his former teammate from the Merrill Lynch Shootout in 2005, to draft him as a partner in birdie-making crime. Price said the two have comparable playing styles and games, so the fit was natural.

"I asked Nick because I think he's is an incredible person. He's obviously had a great career and I've played with him before in some other team events. He's a very steady player, a very solid player," O'Meara said. "He's been playing better this year and has been really motivated. I was glad he took my offer to come and play with me."

"He said, 'Let's play' and I said 'Absolutely, I'd be happy to'," Price added. "Our games are very similar, they are kind of suited to each other.

"...Mark's put in a lot of good finishes [over the past two years] with a lot of top 10s. Once you start doing that, it's only a matter of time before you really kick into gear [and win]."

O'Meara debuted on the Champions Tour last February and notched four runner-ups and seven top-10 finishes in his maiden season. This year, though, he hasn't finished better than a tie for 20th.

Price, on the other hand, took an opposite approach. He shook off the rust last year, finding the top-10 only a trio of times, but has already bettered that with four top-10s this season.

Since this week's event counts as an official win, both agree it would be a confidence boost to earn win No. 1 together.

"For both of us this would be a really good start," Price said. "...It's been a while since either of us won so it would be really nice."