DUBLIN, Ohio -- He will be 50 in January so he is feeling a bit nostalgic as he feels his oats. What Nick Price is not feeling is regret.

“I’ve paid my dues out here. I’ve had my time,” said Price, winner of 18 PGA TOUR titles, including three major championships. “I’ve had a great time, to be honest with you.”

Price hasn’t won a tournament since the 2002 Bank of America Colonial, but the good times haven’t completely stopped for the native of Zimbabwe. His steady 3-under-par 69 Thursday in the opening round of the Memorial Tournament put him squarely in the mix of contention on a day when Muirfield Village Golf Club, replete with U.S. Open-style rough and furrows in the bunkers not quite as deep as those etched on competitors’ foreheads, was a taxing little bear trap.

Granted an exemption to the 31st Memorial “out of the blue,” Price couldn’t have been more pleased with the red in his round given the limitations that come with age and his less than glossy resume at the tournament hosted by golf legend Jack Nicklaus. Price is making just his ninth start at Muirfield Village and his second since 1995. The 69, which placed him in a huge fourth-place logjam, tied his third-lowest score in 26 rounds.

“I’m ecstatic with my score. I didn’t leave too many shots out there,” said Price, who often skipped the Memorial Tournament in his prime competitive years because the often soggy conditions weren’t conducive to success. “I may have left a few putts on the golf course, but I kept the ball in play nicely. Basically, I did everything well.”

Once the No. 1 player in the world, Price has no choice but to do everything well to have a chance in this era of power golf. His has always been a game predicated on precision, but his margin for error shrinks as golf courses inevitably expand to stand up to stronger players hitting state-of-the-art golf balls longer distances.

“It’s bloody hard (trying to compete),” Price said with a laugh. “Out here, someone like myself, to have a chance to win I have to play almost mistake-free golf on most courses. I’ve got to play near perfect golf to compete against these guys.”

Thursday’s round, highlighted by four birdies against one bogey, wasn’t perfect, but it was an anomaly for Price this season. He has missed five of eight cuts this year, though he is coming off a season-best tie for 16th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Partly responsible for his struggles is a back injury he sustained at the Wachovia Championship attempting to play a game with which he is neither familiar nor properly constructed. In short, he hurt himself trying to hit the ball longer.

“It’s hard to do when your get to 49, trying to hit the ball farther,” he admitted. “I was the king of Advil there for awhile.”

Soon he may be the new sheriff on the Champions Tour. He’ll have no trouble transitioning to the circuit and admits that this year is, in essence, a farewell tour for him on the PGA TOUR. He’d like to go out with another victory, but he is satisfied to simply try and do the best he can with what game he has left in his tank.

“I’m enjoying my golf now for the amount I’m playing and working at it,” said Price, who has cut back his summer playing schedule in recent years -- and has even skipped the PGA Championship, which he’s won twice -- to spend more time with his school-age children. “I think going on the Champions Tour and being more competitive is going to be more fun for me.”