Price reunites with old friend, hopes to finally win again
By Craig Dolch, PGATOUR.COM Contributor
BOCA RATON, Fla. -- If there was such a thing as an All-Nice team in professional sports, Nick Price would be the captain. Price has a well-deserved reputation as one of the more gentleman athletes, certainly for a guy who rose to the top of his profession in the mid-1990s.
But since joining the Champions Tour two years ago, there have been times when Price's smile has been a little forced. It's not easy, after all, to be such a good guy when you're not playing such good golf.
"Nobody wants to play poorly for an extended period of time," Price said this week. "It's very defeating to your self-worth and to your confidence."
It's not like Price has been hacking his way around the golf course. Last year he finished in the top 10 in two-thirds of the 18 tournaments he entered. But even though he contended often, he didn't win in 2008, meaning he's yet to lift a trophy in 33 career starts on the Champions Tour entering this week's first full-field event of the season, the Allianz Championship.
That's not what many expected of the Hall of Famer who won three majors, 18 PGA TOUR events and 42 titles around the world. Nor is it what he expected. But at least he showed improvement last year over a rookie season that included just three top-10 finishes.
"I'm a lot happier with the way I played last year," Price said. "I gave myself four or five opportunities to win. But I never had the finish in my game that I needed."
| So close, yet so far | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Price's top-5 finishes in 2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Price's search for that missing link brought him back to an old ally, sports psychologist Bob Rotella. The two started working together in the late 1980s, but hadn't spent much time together in the last half-dozen years as Price shifted his focus to his family and not just his career.
When they first met, Rotella helped convince Price he had the talent to win. Now they're trying to add one word: "again."
"Nick's already won a lot of championships, so he knows it's possible," Rotella said. "Now he has the same fears every athlete goes through as they get older -- do I still have it, do I still want it badly enough? The fact he called me in December and said those kinds of things tells me that good things are going to happen for him this year."
Price, 52, insists he's doing more this week than filling out the field by playing a "home game." (He lives 40 minutes from Broken Sound Club, in Hobe Sound). He worked hard during the off-season, buoyed by strong showings in the Wendy's Three-Tour Challenge (he teamed with Jay Haas and Fred Funk to win) and the Merrill Lynch Shootout (he and partner Jeff Sluman tied for fourth).
"I hope I can carry that over into this year," Price said. "I know people say I don't have enough interest in the Champions Tour. Well, I wouldn't have played 30-plus tournaments the last two years if I wasn't interested."
Price realize he's not the only one hoping he'll break through with that first win this year. And not just because of his pleasant personality.
"Make no mistake, if guys like Nick Price and Mark O'Meara come to the Champions Tour and don't win, the Champions Tour is in trouble," said longtime pro Bob Murphy, who spends most of time in golf as an announcer for NBC.
"To be honest, I don't understand why the Tour sets up the courses so long because it makes it harder for guys like Nick and Mark to win," Murphy continued. "I think if we played courses around 6,800 or 6,900 yards -- which is pretty long enough -- their records out here would be much different. When Nick does win, it's going to be incredibly popular among the guys."
Price understands why his fellow pros want to see him do well. "Fans like to see names they're used to seeing at the top," he said. "Maybe I've put more pressure on myself because of that."
It took Price a few blown chances before he learned how to close out tournaments earlier in his career. Now he's in a similar situation, just a little older.
"I know once Nick wins his first tournament out here," Murphy said, "it won't be his last."
And that will have a lot of people smiling.
Shop your favorite brand name golf equipment and accessories at SHOP.PGATOUR.COM
FAN ZONE
PGATOUR.com is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network