Nick Price

Nick Price
Born	28 January 1957(1957-01-28) Durban, Natal Province, Union of South Africa
Residence	Jupiter, Florida, U.S.
Nationality	Zimbabwe
Height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight	190 lb (86 kg; 14 st)

Nicholas Raymond Leige Price (born 28 January 1957) is a Zimbabwean professional golfer who has won three major championships in his career: the PGA Championship twice (in 1992 and 1994) and The Open Championship in 1994. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Ranking. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.

Background

Price is a citizen of Zimbabwe, but was born in Durban, Union of South Africa. His parents were originally British and his early life was spent in Zimbabwe (which was then called Rhodesia). He attended Prince Edward School in Salisbury (now Harare), where he captained the golf team. After his schooling he served in the Rhodesian Air Force during that country's Bush War. He began his professional golf career in 1977 on the Southern Africa Tour, before moving to the European Tour and finally the PGA Tour in 1983. Price now lives in Hobe Sound, Florida. Price's nephew Ray Price is a national cricketer for Zimbabwe.

Early professional years

Price won his first tournament outside of South Africa at the 1980 Swiss Open. He was still relatively unknown when he finished tied for second with Peter Oosterhuis one shot behind Tom Watson at the 1982 Open Championship after having a two-shot lead with six holes to go. In 1983, Price won his first PGA Tour event with a wire to wire four-shot triumph over Jack Nicklaus at the World Series of Golf.

After that win, it would be another eight years almost before Price won again on the PGA Tour. In the interim, Price shot an Augusta National Golf Club course record 63 at the 1986 Masters Tournament and finished second at the 1988 Open Championship to Seve Ballesteros.

Career peak

By the mid-nineties, Price was regarded as the best player in the world, and in 1994 he won two majors back-to-back, The Open and the PGA Championship, adding to his first major, the 1992 PGA Championship. He topped the PGA Tour money list in 1993 and 1994, setting a new earnings record each time, and spent 43 weeks at number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.

Price won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit for the 1982/83 season and would have won again in 1996/97 if he had met the minimum number of tournaments. In 1993 and 1997, Price was awarded the Vardon Trophy; which is given annually by the PGA of America to the player with the lowest adjusted scoring average with a minimum of 60 rounds.

In 2003, Price was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame. In 2005, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honour given by the USGA in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. Price received the 2011 Old Tom Morris Award, the highest honour given by the GCSAA to an individual who "through a continuing lifetime commitment to the game of golf has helped to mold the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris."

Playing style

During his early career and peak, Price was one of the best ball strikers in the game along with his good friend and contemporary Greg Norman (who in 1996 tied Price's Augusta National course record of 63.)

Price was able to drive the ball long and exceptionally straight. With his irons he had the ability to manipulate the direction and flight of his shots unlike many other players. Price will be known in history as one of the greatest strikers of the ball.^{[citation needed]}

Like fellow African Gary Player, Price has expressed his distaste for the Ryder Cup, saying of the event, "If you like root canals and hemorrhoids, you'd love it there.", but he has played five times as a member of the Presidents Cup.

Although Price continues to play professionally, he has expanded into golf design with his own company operating out of Florida, and he has his own line of signature golf apparel. He is widely regarded by fans, media and his fellow players as one of the most personable golfers on the PGA Tour. He won his first Champions Tour event at the 2009 Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am where he had three double bogeys in his final round, but he hung on to win by one stroke over Larry Nelson.

Price would write three words in his diary before each season: "Persistence, persistence, persistence".

Professional wins (50)

PGA Tour wins (18)

Legend

Major championships (3)

Regular PGA Tour (15)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	28 Aug 1983	World Series of Golf	−10 (66-68-69-67=270)	4 strokes	Jack Nicklaus
2	5 May 1991	GTE Byron Nelson Classic	−18 (68-64-70-68=270)	1 stroke	Craig Stadler
3	8 Sep 1991	Canadian Open	−15 (69-68-65-69=273)	2 strokes	Greg Norman
4	16 Aug 1992	PGA Championship	−6 (70-70-68-70=278)	3 strokes	John Cook, Nick Faldo, Jim Gallagher, Jr., Gene Sauers
5	25 Oct 1992	H.E.B. Texas Open	−25 (67-62-66-68=263)	Playoff	Steve Elkington
6	28 Mar 1993	The Players Championship	−18 (64-68-71-67=270)	5 strokes	Bernhard Langer
7	27 Jun 1993	Canon Greater Hartford Open	−17 (65-70-69-65=271)	1 stroke	Roger Maltbie, Dan Forsman
8	4 Jul 1993	Sprint Western Open	−19 (66-71-67-67=269)	5 strokes	Greg Norman
9	1 Aug 1993	Federal Express St. Jude Classic	−22 (69-65-66-66=266)	3 strokes	Jeff Maggert, Rick Fehr
10	13 Mar 1994	Honda Classic	−12 (70-67-73-66=276)	1 stroke	Craig Parry
11	29 May 1994	Southwestern Bell Colonial	−14 (65-70-67-64=266)	Playoff	Scott Simpson
12	1 Jul 1994	Motorola Western Open	−11 (67-67-72-71=277)	1 stroke	Greg Kraft
13	17 Jul 1994	The Open Championship	−12 (69-66-67-66=268)	1 stroke	Jesper Parnevik
14	14 Aug 1994	PGA Championship	−19 (67-65-70-67=269)	6 strokes	Corey Pavin
15	11 Sep 1994	Bell Canadian Open	−13 (67-72-68-68=275)	1 stroke	Mark Calcavecchia
16	20 Apr 1997	MCI Classic	−19 (65-69-69-66=269)	6 strokes	Jesper Parnevik
17	2 Aug 1998	FedEx St. Jude Classic	−20 (65-67-70-66=268)	Playoff	Jeff Sluman
18	19 May 2002	MasterCard Colonial	−13 (69-65-66-67=267)	5 strokes	Kenny Perry, David Toms

Nick Price with Canadian Open trophy

PGA Tour playoff record (3–3)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	1986	Western Open	Fred Couples, David Frost, Tom Kite	Kite won with birdie on first extra hole
2	1992	H.E.B. Texas Open	Steve Elkington	Won with par on second extra hole
3	1994	Southwestern Bell Colonial	Scott Simpson	Won with birdie on first extra hole
4	1995	NEC World Series of Golf	Billy Mayfair, Greg Norman	Norman won with birdie on first extra hole
5	1998	FedEx St. Jude Classic	Jeff Sluman	Won with birdie on second extra hole
6	2000	Advil Western Open	Robert Allenby	Lost to par on first extra hole

European Tour wins (5)

• 1980 Swiss Open
• 1985 Lancome Trophy
• 1994 The Open Championship
• 1997 Dimension Data Pro-Am, Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship (both co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour)

Major championships are shown in bold.

Japan Golf Tour wins (1)

• 1999 Suntory Open

Sunshine Tour wins (10)

• 1979 Asseng TV Challenge Series
• 1981 SAB South African Masters
• 1982 Sigma Vaals Reef Open
• 1985 ICL International
• 1993 ICL International
• 1994 ICL International
• 1995 Alfred Dunhill Challenge
• 1997 Dimension Data Pro-Am, Alfred Dunhill South African PGA Championship (both co-sanctioned with the European Tour)
• 1998 Dimension Data Pro-Am

Other wins (15)

• 1981 San Remo Masters (Italy – not a European Tour event)
• 1989 West End South Australian Open
• 1992 Air New Zealand/Shell Open, PGA Grand Slam of Golf
• 1993 Nedbank Golf Challenge
• 1995 Hassan II Golf Trophy (Morocco), Zimbabwe Open
• 1997 Zimbabwe Open, Nedbank Golf Challenge, Gillette Tour Challenge Championship (with Jim Colbert and Kelly Robbins)
• 1998 Zimbabwe Open, Nedbank Golf Challenge
• 2001 CVS Charity Classic (with Mark Calcavecchia)
• 2006 CVS/pharmacy Charity Classic (with Tim Clark; unofficial event)
• 2009 CVS Caremark Charity Classic (with David Toms; unofficial event)

Champions Tour wins (4)

No.	Date	Tournament	Winning score	Margin of victory	Runner(s)-up
1	19 Apr 2009	Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am	−9 (66-67-71=204)	2 strokes	Larry Nelson
2	25 Apr 2010	Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Mark O'Meara)	−28 (62-64-62=188)	Playoff	John Cook & Joey Sindelar
3	6 Jun 2010	Principal Charity Classic	−14 (67-65-67=199)	4 strokes	Tommy Armour III
4	13 Mar 2011	Toshiba Classic	−17 (60-68-68=196)	1 stroke	Mark Wiebe

Champions Tour playoff record (1–1)

No.	Year	Tournament	Opponent(s)	Result
1	2009	Principal Charity Classic	Fred Funk, Mark McNulty	McNulty won with birdie on fourth extra hole Price eliminated with birdie on second hole
2	2010	Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf (with Mark O'Meara)	John Cook & Joey Sindelar	Won with par on second extra hole

Major championships

Wins (3)

Year	Championship	54 holes	Winning score	Margin	Runner(s)-up
1992	PGA Championship	2 shot deficit	−6 (70-70-68-70=278)	3 strokes	John Cook, Nick Faldo, Jim Gallagher, Jr., Gene Sauers
1994	The Open Championship	1 shot deficit	−12 (69-66-67-66=268)	1 stroke	Jesper Parnevik
1994	PGA Championship (2)	3 shot lead	−11 (67-65-70-67=269)	6 strokes	Corey Pavin

Results timeline

Tournament	1975	1976	1977	1978	1979
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP
The Open Championship	CUT	DNP	DNP	T39	DNP
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP

Tournament	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989
Masters Tournament	DNP	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT	DNP	5	T22	T14	CUT
U.S. Open	DNP	DNP	DNP	T48	DNP	CUT	DNP	T17	T40	CUT
The Open Championship	T27	T23	T2	CUT	T44	CUT	DNP	T8	2	CUT
PGA Championship	DNP	DNP	DNP	T67	T54	5	CUT	T10	T17	T46

Tournament	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
Masters Tournament	DNP	T49	T6	CUT	T35	CUT	T18	T24	CUT	T6
U.S. Open	DNP	T19	T4	T11	CUT	T13	DNP	T19	4	T23
The Open Championship	T25	T44	T51	T6	1	T40	T45	CUT	T29	T37
PGA Championship	T63	DNP	1	T31	1	T39	T8	T13	T4	5

Tournament	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006
Masters Tournament	T11	CUT	T20	T23	T6	CUT	DNP
U.S. Open	T27	CUT	T8	T5	T24	T9	CUT
The Open Championship	CUT	T27	T14	T28	T30	CUT	DNP
PGA Championship	CUT	T21	CUT	DNP	DNP	DNP	CUT

DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary

Tournament	Wins	2nd	3rd	Top-5	Top-10	Top-25	Events	Cuts made
Masters Tournament	0	0	0	1	4	11	20	13
U.S. Open	0	0	0	3	5	12	20	15
The Open Championship	1	2	0	3	5	8	27	20
PGA Championship	2	0	0	5	7	10	20	16
Totals	3	2	0	12	21	41	87	64

• Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (1989 PGA – 1992 PGA)
• Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (five times)

Team appearances

Amateur

• Eisenhower Trophy (representing Rhodesia): 1976

Professional

• World Cup: 1978 (representing South Africa), 1993 (representing Zimbabwe)
• Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing Zimbabwe): 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
• Presidents Cup (International Team): 1994, 1996, 1998 (winners), 2000, 2003 (tie)

External links

• Official website
• Nick Price at the European Tour official site
• Nick Price at the Sunshine Tour official site
• Nick Price at the PGA Tour official site
• Nick Price at the Japan Golf Tour official site
• Nick Price at the Official World Golf Ranking official site
• Nick Price Profile and stats from About.com