Nick Price - Part 3 (The Major Championships)

Intro Music 0:06

It's straight down the middle. It went straight down the middle. Then it started to float.

Mike Gonzalez 0:15

Well, Nick, you've led us right into a major championship starting with the Masters, which uh is the first that comes chronologically in the year. So let's just talk a little bit about your experience there. Twenty starts for Nick Price, 13 cuts made. You had one top five, four top tens, and eleven top twenty-fives, with your best finish being uh uh fifth uh to Nicholas in 1986, where uh you'd mentioned earlier you'd opened up with a 63.

Nick Price 0:42

Yeah, that was the third round. I shot 63 out of 1. I scratched my way around um the first two rounds. Um but uh yeah, you know, Augusta's, like I say, one of the most beautiful, beautiful places to play golf. I mean, uh I always try and tell my friends it's like playing golf in a botanical garden. You know, you just have these flowers which are blooming at the perfect time, the course is manicured to perfection. I mean, it's just uh it's such a place to go, and the traditions and everything that they have there. Uh and you know, it's the only major that goes back to the same venue. So they've done a phenomenal job, uh uh an amazing job of just improving the whole experience there for not only the the players, but also for uh the patrons who have been, you know, it's such a treat to go there. The issue that I had at at Augusta, which was tough for me, I w I was generally a low ball striker. I hit the ball a little lower in back when I was playing well, there was there there wasn't uh no rough to speak of. There's a little bit of rough now, but you could basically drive the ball all over the place. It was a second-shot golf course, and and you know, the greens were so fast and so fiery, um, you had to have a phenomenal short game. And I always seemed to do best when the greens were under 13. You know, if they were 13 or less, I was fine. When they got over 13 on the stip meter, I battled. And that even when I was playing my best, you know, uh I battled. And it's no coincidence when you look, you know, I won two PGAs, which were both in August, and then the British Open on Lynx course with the Greens are never that fast. So I didn't feel like I was as effective in fast greens, and also the amount of break that they had. It was it was it was a tough place, it was frustrating for me. I never, you know, I never putted on green. I think I grew up on greens that were probably around about eight on the stint meter. Maybe the fast ones were maybe ten, you know. But um those green, I just even today, I mean I'm much better obviously now than I was when I first came over here. But if you had a ten footer with six footer break, I I I was clueless, you know. I mean um and and there were a lot of guys who were frustrated with the golf course. Um, you know, you ended up hitting good iron shots and all these greens, or the greens they have plateaus and little pockets or um elevated areas where the ball, where they put the pin in the ball would run off and you'd end up with a 35-40 footer. And you know, that's uh what what you get a lot, and you end up hitting the 35-footer, five feet, six feet, whatever it is, and you end up with a lot of four, five, six footers, which you know they catch up with you. But uh I loved playing there, but it was frustrating for me. And you know, I got shot 63 the one day, and you know, uh I was off early, there was no wind. Um the greens may have been a little softer, but uh it's probably the best I ever putted in 18 holes in my life.

Mike Gonzalez 3:56

Well, you mentioned uh being good buddies with Hal Sutton when we had Hal on uh and talked about Augusta. He was he was uh he freely admitted, he said, you know, I never went into Augusta with the right mindset looking back on it.

Nick Price 4:08

I think there, you know, there were a few of us that were sort of I think as you progressed and you went further, you know, as you played more and more, it was more f even more frustrating because you know it was you knew what you had to do. And um but you know, uh there were there were guys there who just I mean absolutely loved that course, obviously, you know, Tiger, Jack. Uh there were so many guys who who just that was like Nirvana for them going there. And I felt a little bit like that going to TPC at Solgrass. You know, that was a golf golf course that I loved. Um but you know, you know, you certainly had to hit the ball, have hit high iron shots at into Augusta to really play well there.

Mike Gonzalez 4:49

Nick, back in 1986, uh with that 63 in the third round, I think you came off of 54 holes. Uh I think you were in second by one, if I recall correctly. Um what do you recall about that Sunday? Because obviously that was a famous win for Jack. That was his uh his his last win there. He he shoot 65 in the final round. Where were you on the golf course relative to him? And what do you remember about the the buzz at Augusta compared to any other year?

Nick Price 5:17

Well, Greg Norman and I played too we were paired together, and uh, you know, we were very good friends. And uh uh I I I think it was probably the greatest Sunday for atmosphere, for buzz excitement that I've ever been a part of. And I and I almost include, I could uh almost include the win, my winning of any of them, my major wins. But uh there were so many guys in contention, the atmosphere on the back nine was just it was it may it still make my hair stand up on my arms because the uh you had Sevi, you had uh obviously Jack coming in, you had Greg making a charge at the end, you had Tom Kite, you had Corey Paven, you had all these guys. Um and the the roars and the noise was just amazing. And uh, you know, we were walking, Greg and I were walking off 15T, we were the last group out, we were walking off 15T, and 17 Green was to the right of us, and Jack was putting. And that was the loudest roar I've ever heard in my life on a golf course. When that putt went in, I mean, you know, on the back of the ticket, they say, you know, please refrain from running and there shall be no whatever. I'm telling you what, there were people running everywhere that day. They were running top 18 Fairway, they were running, Jack's made another birdie. I mean, it was so loud, and uh, you know, it was just uh I mean just a wonderful thing. And I I guess a little bit in awe of what was there, but I I I I'd made up, I I'd used up all my putts the day before because I actually hit the ball pretty well. Uh and then, you know, Jack posted the number, and then Greg, who basically, you know, was playing much the same as I did, was we were waiting for something to happen instead of I guess making something happen. We got onto 13T and we looked back down the fairway, and normally there's this you know mass of people just turning the dog leg there. And there were like 30 people watching us, they'd all gone because and I remember saying to Greg, I said, Come on, Greg, we've got to get we've got to make something happen now, you know. And uh and he did pull back. He did. I mean, he went on a tear there and hit probably one of the best shots I ever saw uh at the time, the second second shot on 17. He slipped with his T-shot and pulled it left by the seventh green and then ran this, I think it was a three-iron, either a two or three-iron, up to about eight feet from the hole, which is just it was a miraculous, uh, incredible shot. Um, because he had the trees and he had to go through this narrow gap and hit it up there eight feet and then makes a putt for four. And and then right on top of it hit one of the worst shots I've ever seen him hit on eighteen for his second shot. So um it was it was it was tough for him, you know. But uh Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 8:09

Well it was a Sunday for the ages. Uh your your your your mention of uh of Greg's T shot on seven or the the the shot second shot on seventeen reminds me of a story that Charles Cootie related to us, uh which you might have heard. But when he won the Masters in 1971 uh on his uh 71st hole, he hit a shot that must have hit something, according to a friend of his who saw it, jumped straight left. He ended up in the right front bunker of seven green.

unknown 8:37

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 8:38

So you can appreciate what kind of shot he had into seven green. Right, right. He describes it as the greatest shot he ever hit. He knocked it about 15 feet right of the green, pitched up and made his par, and he said that was that was the difference for me.

Bruce Devlin 8:50

Yeah.

Mike Gonzalez 8:53

Uh anyway, uh let's move on to the U.S. Open. Uh 20 starts for Nick Price, 15 cuts made. Nick had three top fives, five top tens, twelve top twenty-fives. Um best finishes, uh uh a few of them. Um let's start with 92, which was the famous one. Uh Bruce was in that deal. Uh Nicholas was in that deal. Bucky Rogers was in that deal. This was the Pebble Beach uh oh, I'm sorry, sorry, I'm I'm 10 years hence. This was uh this was this was the one that Tom Craig uh uh won ten years later, nineteen ninety-two. But you finished fourth. Uh I'll never forget uh what Gil Morgan did in that tournament. I'm sure you can remember that very, very well.

Nick Price 9:35

First guy to get to double digits in a US Open. I think he birdied eight uh to get to double digits. Um well I wasn't really playing really that very well that week, and uh I got I don't know where I was, I was like 35th or 36th going in the mid-30s going into the last round. And uh I got through seven holes, six holes, and then the wind started blowing. And so I think I was one under through those six holes, and the wind started howling. Um and I just put I put a 71 on the board. I mean, uh and I went from you know the outhouse or to the penthouse almost. I mean, it was uh I was sitting there and I had a couple of buddies of mine from Zimbabwe over, and we were sitting there and we were I'd finished and we were having a couple of beers, you know, and uh I was at third page of the leaderboard, then fourth page, uh sorry, then second page, and then first page. And so I backed my way into a fourth place. And at one stage my buddy said, You better stop drinking, you know, uh you might have a playoff. And I said, No, it's an 18-hole playoff tomorrow. I knew, you know, but uh uh I I didn't think I had much of a chance. But uh so that was that when I sort of backed into that fourth, but um, you know, great last round, really, really good round. It was probably like shooting, you know, 64-65, you know, under you know, sort of benign conditions.

Mike Gonzalez 11:04

Yeah, yeah. You uh tied fourth uh uh by five uh when Lee Jansen won at Olympic in 1998.

Nick Price 11:11

That was probably been my best open. Um you know uh uh I I I just was in such command of my ball striking that, and I putted abysmally. That one and also the one in Balter's role in '93, I think it was. Um I I just I put it so poorly. Um and in fact, Mark Rolfing, who who walked with me those last two rounds, or maybe the three rounds, because I was up and around the lead the whole time. You know, he he still every time I see him, he says, I still can't believe he didn't win that US Open at Olympic. So that was one that I definitely let slip through my fingers.

Mike Gonzalez 11:52

Uh you didn't do bad at uh at Olympia Fields, although it was, you know, you were you were eight behind Fuhrer when he won there um um uh in uh 2003.

Nick Price 12:02

You know, Olympia Fields when we got there on Monday, Tuesday, and in the practice rounds we had, it was perfect. They had set a course up absolutely perfect. The rough was thick enough, uh the fairways were not extremely narrow. There was a lot of run on the ball. Um, and um it's it was just almost like playing at uh at Cog Hill again, you know, same conditions, June, July, you know, uh up in the Chicago area. The ball was running, and then it rained. It rained on Wednesday afternoon and all Wednesday night, and the course got soft. Um and uh uh that was the only thing that I sort of I needed the run on the ball. I think all of a lot of us did, but uh great win for Jim Fuhrick. And uh uh it was a wonderful test of golf that week. If it had stayed firm and fast, it would have probably been one of the best U.S. Open uh tests uh I'd ever played in.

Mike Gonzalez 13:01

And our our listeners might recall, but uh Tom Watson opened up with a fine round his first round. Of course, that was probably the last U.S. Open with his caddy Bruce Edwards special weekend. Yeah, yeah. Let's move on to the Open Championship for Nick Price. He had 27 starts, 20 cuts made, including three top fives, five top tens, and nine top twenty-fives. As an international player, was this sort of number one for you as the majors go?

Nick Price 13:31

Absolutely. For me, it was uh I think the epitome of uh golf at its purest level. Um you know, uh golf prone to the climate, the climate changes that you have. You can have a sunny day starting out, playing six, seven holes, suddenly it starts raining, the wind's howling, you didn't bring your waterproofs, you know. I mean, i it it's just such a test, you know, drive the ball down the middle of the fairway, there you are on a divot. You know, um there were there were lots of things that were um there were so many factors that were involved, but most of them were were climate, you know, uh factors. Um but uh I just loved the old golf courses. I think that was the thing that yeah, that from that first time that I played St. Andrews in 1975, trying to qualify for the for the British Open. Um it was it I just absolutely loved playing on those courses. And then uh you know, going to uh I don't know, just I I loved them all. I loved all of those golf courses. And so they they they didn't need a lot of rough. In fact, a lot of those um courses, uh Lynx courses, if they had no rough and they were dry and fast, they're actually harder then to play because it's so hard to control the ball and get it close to the hole. Whereas now we've seen in recent years there's that's a lot greener. Um they pour more water on the golf course, it looks a lot greener, the the greens are a little more receptive. But you know, when I first went over there, and Bruce, you probably remember there were there was no irrigation on those courses. Back in 75 when I qualified at St. Andrews, I don't think they had, I know they didn't have irrigation on the fairways, they had irrigation on the greens. So they were susceptible to you know dry drought conditions. And I remember hitting a three-wood in the practice round over the 18th grid at St. Andrews in 1975 when I was 18. And there would be a puff of dust every time the ball hit the fairway, you'd see this puff of dust come up. Um so it's changed a lot, and uh, you know, I I I don't think it's a bad thing, but it's it's just totally different. You know, you could hit a four-iron 240 yards out downwind, pitch it 180 yards, and it would run 60 yards. You know, uh you just don't see that as much anymore.

Bruce Devlin 16:04

Except the guys today hit six irons and forty yards.

Nick Price 16:09

Without any wind behind.

Bruce Devlin 16:11

Without any wind.

Mike Gonzalez 16:12

In the air. Well, before we talk about uh Turnberry 1994, I think it's important uh to sort of build our way up there. And and one of your best finishes, of course, was uh in 1982. We visited with Tom Watson recently, and I'm not sure if there was a guy on the planet that felt worse for you than Tom Watson did that year.

Nick Price 16:34

Well, I uh I made a huge mistake um that year. Um I, you know, having been a good front runner, and every time I sort of poked my nose in front, uh I never faltered. And and I remember that last day on Sunday at Trune, I'd played myself into a wonderful position. I was leading uh playing number nine, which I bogeied, and and then Watson uh had then birdied, I think, two out of three holes to go three ahead. Or or two ahead, I think it was. And I made the turn going on to ten. I said to my caddy, I had a friend of mine caddy for me, always became a really good caddy in the time, Kevin Woodward, I said, Woody. I said, if we're gonna win this, we're gonna have to make some birdies. And I birdied ten, eleven, and twelve. And uh I I f suddenly went into the lead, and then when I got on to twelve, uh after I'd made the putt on twelve, I looked up and Watson had made uh I think a bogey, um, and I'd gone into a I had a three-shot lead. And walking up six deploys, uh walking up onto 13 T and I said to him, you know, very quietly, I said, That's it. We've got this thing now. We're gonna win this thing. And of course, I never said that again after what happened. And uh I I then bogeyed, yeah, I then bogeied uh you know, 24, 25 years old, you know. I mean, I was just like full of uh full of beans, and I thought this is it, you know, especially you know, so pumped up after burning 10, 11, 12. And then I bogeied 13, which was no big deal, and then 14 I par then 15, I got a really, really shitty break. Um hooked the T-shot into the left, got a good break, you know, was out in in the where the uh gallery had been walking, so I had a nice tight line coming up the left side of this uh really tough path four. And I had about, I think it was 185 to the front edge, maybe a little bit further, but there was a long, a big downslope just before you get to the green, and you could run the ball down the slope onto the green. There was a pot bunker to the right, which was about 30 yards short, wasn't really even in play from the angle I was coming from. Just in front of me, about I don't know, eight feet, nine, three yards, there was a little ridge which was only four or five inches high. It was just this little ridge which went off at an angle across diagonally across uh my intended line. And I pulled out this four-iron and I absolutely flushed it. I mean, I hit this thing right out the middle and it was solid, and it hit the top of this little uh ridge and it careened off uh at about, I don't know, 30 degrees to my angle where I was hitting, and went in that pot bunker, which was death. And I mean, I still think had that ball cleared, I obviously hit it so well it didn't get up, it was driven hard and low off a tight line. And I often think if that thing had got onto the green, I I you know uh definitely would have made par, but I I probably would have won. Anyway, it gets in this bunker now I've got to hack out sideways, chip it on the green, make double. So, you know, that's now I'm now I'm on the back foot, as we say in cricket. You know, I'm I'm uh I'm on the defensive. Pass 16 and then 17, hit a pretty solid two iron in there, pitched just short of the green and just stopped. I'm still thinking about winning. I know I don't want to go into a playoff with Tom Watson. Anyway, just hit a beautiful chip, just a little hard, nearly goes in, runs by about three and a half, maybe four feet, and I watched the ball go past the hole, and it broke a little bit to the to the right going past the hole. So I knew it was going to break back, you know, from right to left coming back. Hung it out over the right edge. The ball didn't break. So I don't know if it was something maybe I cut the chip or whatever, but anyway, now I'm one behind. And uh I'm reeling now. Anyway, bogey the power of the last hole and and lose by a shot. Great, great lesson. So many great lessons I learned that day. Um first one was, you know, obviously don't uh count your chickens before they hatch. Uh and uh and the second one that I learned, which is probably the most important one, was that I now had the ability to win a major championship, which at 25, Bruce will tell you, you don't really know if you ever have the ability to win a major championship. So now I knew that I had the uh you know the golf game, and if I had just played my cards right and done a few things right, I could win a uh uh an open championship. So uh, you know, I tried to I took a lot of positives out of that week. But uh and I and I honestly think that had I won at that age, uh I don't know if my career would have been the same. You know, I I don't know. Um, you know, there was a lot of money in those days for winning the open championship, and uh, you know, I I'm pretty sure that I would have carried on. But uh the 1988 is the one that hurt the most. That one really stung um because I played as as well as I could, and um Sevy just had that and he just made a couple more putts than I did, and that was the end of it. But but you know, that's the game.

Mike Gonzalez 22:11

This was at Litham, uh you led by two, I think, uh after 50 or four holes, and uh Yeah. That was it. It was all in the greens, huh?

Nick Price 22:20

Yeah, I played so well T to green that week. Um, you know, another one of those weeks where I I just felt that I had good really good control of my uh of my golf swing. And uh uh you know my ball flight was good and it was windy there. Well, Lithom's a really tough golf course because you there's more crosswind holes at Lithum than on any of the other um Lynx courses we play.

Bruce Devlin 22:42

Um I think a lot of bunkers.

Nick Price 22:45

A lot of bunkers, yeah. Yeah, a lot of bunkers. And uh but uh I think a really good test of golf. And uh, you know, Sevi and I were playing with Feldo the last round, and after six holes, we'd basically one of us was gonna win. We'd left the field behind. And uh we we had a back nine there from from like seven onwards, where it was just punch and counter punch, and it was great fun. You know, I mean I'd always wanted to be involved in something like that, but obviously win. But uh, you know, I came I came second and uh to probably one of the one of the greatest final rounds, I think, in sort of modern open history that he played. He hit one of the prettiest, prettiest shots, a little 9-9 on 16, um from I don't know, maybe 125, 130 yards into a little breeze. Just the most perfect shot at the time, and nearly holed it. I mean he hit it inches from the hole. Uh how it didn't go in, I don't know. Uh, but I was standing right next to him, and uh I just uh you know you did the you you expected that from him, you know. Um but what a what a great what a great champion he was. And also one of my I liked the you know, one of my really good friends. Um we were basically the same, we were the same age, uh born the same year. We've had different paths to winning majors, but there with that guy, he made the European tour what it is today, is no doubt. Absolutely. He did what Arnold Palmer, I think, in the modern game, uh did for the US tour, uh, and Jack, uh uh, but Sevy. When we were playing in Europe, there would be 5,000 people on the golf course on Sunday, and 4,995 were watching him. The other five were players' wives. They were watching their husbands, you know.

Mike Gonzalez 24:43

Oh, well, he took the Writer Cup to another level too, didn't he?

Nick Price 24:46

Oh, yeah. Such a competitive guy. I mean, uh uh but uh also he just had the you know, he had everything, Sevi. You know, he had the movie star looks, he had a fantastic, this dashing this fantastic smile. He played golf with a panache that I mean, I mean, I always said, you know, for most of us, we can shoot 64, you know, probably about 20, 30 different ways. Uh Sevy had 1,500 ways of shooting 64, you know, he had three greens in regulation and chip in eight times, or you know, uh, I mean, the guy was amazing. He'd make 12 birdies and bogey four holes, uh, or whatever it was, you know. I mean the guy uh it was so exciting to watch, you know. He was terrifying, uh not terrifying, but I mean he was very hard to play match play against because the guy could he believed he could get the ball up and down out of anything. And um, you know, stroke play was a little different because you know uh you know you he didn't want to make double bogeys and that, but you know, match play he he was brutal to play against.

Mike Gonzalez 25:52

Yeah. Well, as a Spaniard and a Spanish citizen myself, he was always one of my favorites.

Nick Price 25:58

Yeah, and mine too. Just privileged that I got to play as much golf with him as I did. And um, you know, he beat me at the world match play in in uh I think it was 1989, and uh he beat me 3-2, and he was 14 under for the day. And just played magnificently. And I said to him, I said, why when you play with against me? You play like this, you know, you play like this against me at the British Open and now at the match play. So he got a big kick out of that.

Mike Gonzalez 26:31

Well, all this early open experience, I guess, you're just building up scar tissue and preparing you for uh you know what you were going to do in the in the in the early 90s, and then uh you know, with the finally with the breakthrough, at least uh at Bell Reva 92, but also at Turnbury 94. Let's talk about a little bit about that Turnbury win.

Nick Price 26:52

Yeah, Turnbury was uh there were a lot of things that were coming together at that time. But uh I worked really hard. I always felt like uh I didn't really want to go and play in Ireland or Scotland or somewhere else the week before, because I felt that I could practice really well under good conditions here, and I knew what was coming. So, you know, practicing a lot of knockdown shots and and um and bump and runs and that around the green, um, you know, I could do that over here in Florida before I went. But if you went over there to Scotland or Ireland the week before and you had bad weather, you know, you'd blow your swing out. So I never really did that, and I I missed not doing it because Payne and a few of the boys, Omira and that used to go over quite a lot, and they always used to say, you know, come with and that, and I said, nah, I'm gonna stay here and whatever. But anyway, I got to uh Turnbury and I I really for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, I didn't have very good practice rounds. I I was out. Um, you know, I just wasn't hitting the ball like I had. I don't know if it was uh I don't know what it was, but uh somewhere coming over in that uh on the plane from the uh over the Atlantic, my swing kind of got befuddled. But anyway, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I played really solid. Um I didn't make many mistakes, kept myself in a position, you know, to to have a chance to win on Sunday. And uh Sunday I didn't have a very good warm-up session at all. Um and I I just I I couldn't find the middle of the clip. I and I knew I was gonna scratch it the day around, you know. And I would if you'd asked me then if I had a chance of winning, I would have said, well, yes, but it's not as strong as, you know, uh, but I there was a slight chance. And then yes, but Ponovic came out of the box, man. You know, he came out of the stalls and just played beautifully. And he he was the man that was going, we would have to beat. I mean, he set the pace, he got, I think, three ahead of me through he'd played 11, I was like on eight or maybe seven, and and I was really, I just really wasn't playing. I was chip and putting for pars and you know, running the ball off the slopes of the greens and whatever, and uh and eventually I I made a really good par on 10. I hit my second shot over the green out of the rough because I didn't drive it in the fairway, knocked it up there about 15 feet, I think it was, and made the putt for par. And that was a huge, that was the biggest putt I'd made of the day, and it kind of got my tail in the air, and then I birdied 13, and I just started hitting the ball a little better for some reason. I don't know what it was I was working on, but I hit it 15 feet on 12 the par three, and 13 I made birdie, and that was something that turned my day around because now I felt like I had a chance, but I was still like two back, I think, going in there, and then both uh 14 uh sorry, fifth 13, hang on, I got I got it wrong. 12 I birdied, I beg your pardon. Uh 13 and 14, I missed both those greens. I hit it over the back or 13, used my 60 degree, wedged up there about four feet, made that, hit it over the back on uh 14, um, and and this was all because I wasn't driving the ball in the fairway. I was heading to the first cutter rough, and I was getting these flyers, headed over the back of 15, had a phenomenal little bump and run up there to about three feet, made that, and then hit a good T-shot on 15 and didn't make birdie, and then 16 was the real turning point for me. Because Squeak and I that day, we would be that week had been hitting one-nine off 16, and then going in with like a nine-on. Um, and uh the pin was cut front left, just over. There's a huge big uh false front that goes into the creek, into the burn. And I said, Squeak, we've got to get a 60 on this. And so I just pulled out the driver and smoked it down there, got up there, had like 89 yards to the flag, perfect, perfect uh 60 degree downwind. And I you know, obviously he was aware that if it's short, it's gonna come back in the water. There was a little slope to the left of the green, and I aimed for that to back the ball off that to bring it closer to the hole, and I hit it right on the money, pitched one hop, got up the slope, came back down 14, maybe 12, 14 feet, left to right, foot of break, pulled it right in the middle. That was that that that just made me feel I played the hole as well as I possibly could, and I got close to Ponvec. I now had a par five in hand, and you know, potentially an Eagle, but obviously I'm thinking Birdie. And if I if I finish Birdie uh par, I think I have a chance. Good drive down eight, down 17. In between clubs, took the longer one, put the ball in the back of the green, and uh had uh just read the putt perfectly. Um hit the putting.

Mike Gonzalez 31:44

50 footer, would you say?

Nick Price 31:45

Sorry?

Mike Gonzalez 31:46

50 foot.

Nick Price 31:47

Yeah, they measured it, they said it was 54 feet. So uh 54 um you know, I just hit this putting and it uh there was a spot that I was putting to on the top. There was a a uh a ridge, uh tear that went down, ran it right over that spot, and now the pole starts breaking. And I mean, I'm starting to walk to the side because I'm uh this thing's going in. I'm I'm following it in about three feet from the hole, it hits the spike mark. And a spike mark knocks it offline, and it dives in the right hand corner of the hole. I mean, it was dead set cut, and it but if you ever watch the video, you'll see when the thing hits the spike mark, bobbles, it still goes in the hole. And I tell you what, now I'm running around the green like there's no tomorrow, and I'm high-fiving squeak. And anyway, I I don't even know. And I look up at the leaderboard and I see part of it's bogied 18. So I got a one-shot lead. So I end up, you know, now I've got my heartbeats 250 beats a minute. I've now got to go and play 18, calm down, and I'd bogied 18 the day before. Anyway, I got up there, just hit this three-in right down the pipe, went about 260 downwind, hard fairways, little draw, seven-in in the middle of the green, two putts, and it was all over. I mean, um, you know, I played the last, I don't know, I I played that back nine as well as the way I was hitting the ball as well as I possibly could. So I think there was just like you said, Mike, you know, you drew I drew on all the experiences, all the past um uh times that uh I never gave up. And I guess that's you it would have it wouldn't have it wouldn't have been a day to give up, but you would have, you know, maybe in time's gone by I would have said, well, you know, I'm just gonna play um you know safe and make sure I get my top three or top four. Because I wasn't playing well. I had to take but you know, anyway.

Mike Gonzalez 33:41

And and this time, unlike 82, you had both hands on the trophy. Yeah. So what was it? What what was the feeling? Champion golf for the year?

Nick Price 33:52

Well, you know, uh having those two close shaves. Um and then you look at that, you know, the carrot jug, and you just look at the names on there, and when you see your name on it, I mean it brought a tear to my eye. And um, you know, uh and I I can remember my dad, as I said, it passed when I was really young, and I was ten years old, and and uh, you know, I wish he had been there to share that day. That would have been really special. Um, you know, and my family. Uh anyway, I went down, my brother and my eldest brother and my mom were living in England at the time, so I went down there the next day and uh spent the day with them and uh with the trophy. So it was a very special time, you know, for me. And I think, you know, from 82, you know, it was that it took 12 years, you know, but um, and there was a lot of water under the bridge and a lot of shots hit, and uh, but I was very grateful to win that.

Mike Gonzalez 34:47

What was the craziest stuff you ever drank out of the declared jug?

Nick Price 34:51

Drank a lot of beer and uh, you know, the black velvet we call, you know, the champagne, champagne, and uh champagne and uh Guinness milk stout. But the one funniest thing, I used to play with these old guys at Royal Harari who every Friday, and I went back at the end of the year, and you know, the one that the open with the claret jug is the is the traveler, the one we get. So I took it with me back to Zimbabwe and I played with these guys, and they had no idea I had the trophy. And I'd been playing with these old guys um for I don't know how many years, probably since I was about 15 or 16. And uh I put it in, I put it in, I put it in. We used to drink in the locker room after we'd played. And uh I I put the uh I put the jug in the manager's office in the safe, and then when they were finished, we ordered first round, we sit in there, we're about to get in the showers, and you know, so we sit in there with our socks and shoes off and whatever. And uh I quickly ran to the thing and and uh grabbed the thing and then walked into where the guys were sitting. And while they were talking, I put it on the table in front of them. Oh boy and I'll tell you what, that was like it was like I said, boys, here, we're gonna drink out of this tonight. Oh and it was one of the one of the nicest, uh, greatest uh I don't know, joys of my life. So these guys had been so supportive of me, you know, through my career and everything. And and uh it was so funny. We drank a lot out of it that day.

Mike Gonzalez 36:24

Yeah. Yeah, but just to be able to share it with these guys that were characters from your past had to be a real joy.

Nick Price 36:30

I think that's the beauty of any time, you know. That's why team golf and team sports are so great, because when you win, you share with your teammates. It's different in golf a little bit because you know you're basically going to share it with your wife and your caddy, and maybe if there's a friend still around, you know, if you've got a buddy of yours that's still around, most of them have left and gone to the yeah, gone to the next tournament. So um, but when you have team team golf, I mean, uh it's it's there's nothing better than winning. I mean, that's why the Ryder Cup so guys are so passionate about it, and the President's Cup.

Mike Gonzalez 37:03

Yeah, yeah. Well, we've got a couple of other major championships to talk about. We'll forward uh ahead to the PGA championship where Nick had 20 starts, including 16 cuts made. He had five top fives, seven top tens, and nine top twenty-fives. Of course, uh best finishes were his wins uh first in '92 at Bel Reeve down St. Louis, and then in 1994, uh winning at Southern Hills. So uh let's let's go to St. Louis.

Nick Price 37:28

Well, you know, I got there and I'd never played that course before. And uh I just looked at this golf course and and I said, you know, perfect, perfect golf course for a good driver of the golf ball. You drove the ball well there, the rough was up. Um fairways were pretty generous, um, Zuzia fairways, which I loved. Um everything was there, big greens. So, you know, you could be you you you you didn't have to be aggressive with your iron play. Um there were about four, four or five really key holes. The tough one, I think, was it's number six, it's a par three. It's either five or six, um, where you got the water in front of the green, and you have this uh kidney-shaped green that wraps around the water, and very, very difficult hole. It was four iron, five iron, but this was a hole that you could potentially make a triple on. So I played it very cautiously the whole week. Um and in fact, the whole week I just played as strategically and sound as I possibly could without taking any chances. And you know, I was in a position to win come Sunday. And uh again, that Sunday uh I played so well on the back nine. I made some really good putts, I had some very, very good golf shots. Um and I think I shot one under the back nine to win. Uh, but it was a tough back nine, and I ended up winning, I think, by four, three or four in the end. Um, but uh you know, I got a monkey off my back that day um because I'd been so close. And and I mean this was the culmination again. I go back to this work that Squeak and I had done together, and you know, obviously David Ledbetter had been so huge in my uh life also, you know, help by coaching and help me with my goals. And we'd fine-tune my swing and whatever, and and then obviously Barbara Teller, and and then my wife as well. You know, my wife had been so supportive of everything, and you know, you you have to have a good a good partner when you when you're going through stuff like this, because it's very self-centered that lifestyle when you're playing well. And she was she'd been so so supportive of that. And then you know, that win, that win just it took so much pressure off me. And and I think that's you know, when you look from that time, which was uh you know, August, until the end of maybe the middle of ninety-five, that was when I was at my my absolute peak. And I and I, you know, uh one of the things that I'm most proud of, Bruce, when I look back on this, is that you know how hard it is to elongate that that stretch. It it really is hard. You know, you can have it for two or three months and then it might go away or whatever. But I I was I grabbed that the way I was playing with both hands, and I didn't want to let go. And that's what was so so much fun for me. I mean, it really was. And um, so yeah, yeah, but that was to me, that was the real, real kicker for me uh for the what I would say would be the second half of my career. The first half was the learning curve and whatever. And then you know the only sad thing was I was 35. I wish it had happened in in 88 when I was 30 31. You know, then I would have maybe had a little bit longer in there because but but hey, listen, I'm not complaining. Don't don't get me wrong.

Mike Gonzalez 40:59

You won that tournament by three over Nick Faldo, John Cook, Gene Sowers, and Jim Gallagher Jr. Uh Gene Sowers was actually um in front by two, I think. You were two back after three rounds, but he had a tough Sunday.

Nick Price 41:13

Yes, he did. Um and uh, you know, that was that was uh just all about strategy that day. You know, not going if I had a long line or a medium iron, I just hit in the middle of the green, you know, would leave myself a 20, 25 foot instead of going at flags and making bogies early. I got off to a really solid start. And you know, when you when you get under the pressure on a Sunday, you want to make every birdie you uh count. And the way you make the birdies count is not by making uh stupid mistakes and making bogeys. Something that Tiger, let me tell you, was the best at, I think. Tiger you used to grind on those 20-footers for power harder than anyone I ever saw. Or uh, you know, I know Jack was really good, but Tiger hated bogeys.

Mike Gonzalez 41:59

So uh Bell Reeve uh with some great history, uh they hosted a more recent PGA championship, but uh that was the site of the 1965 U.S. Open that Gary Player won in a playoff against Kel Nagel. And and uh Bruce, I I believe it was uh Jack Nicholas when we were talking to him that uh told us that uh it took him a while, but he finally convinced Gary Player to go to the major championship venue a few days in advance, yeah, like he was doing.

Bruce Devlin 42:29

Correct, absolutely.

Mike Gonzalez 42:30

And he finally did that and won.

Bruce Devlin 42:32

Yeah, yeah. Remarkable in it, how how little things happen like that. That, oh no, I'm not gonna go, and Jack finally talked him into it, and he ends up winning.

Mike Gonzalez 42:43

Yeah. Two years later you go to Southern Hills, and uh uh you must have been uh well, I don't know, you you tell me how comfortable were you on the Sunday, and and when did you get comfortable after winning by six over Corey Paven?

Nick Price 42:58

Well, I took a week off after the open, which was uh what was there, a month in between? I think they were three weeks, two weeks in between. Uh anyway, I went I took a week off afterwards, and because I was drained after that open, and then went to see lead. And I said, Led, you know, what what's going on here? What had happened? And we looked at some footage and whatever and figured the few things out. And then I went to Memphis in between, um, and I think I missed the playoff by a shot. I ended up finishing fourth there. Um, and I played so well from T to Green. And uh one of the significant things about Memphis was that uh I was on the putting green and uh Bobby Grace had the fat lady out, and I was hitting it uh hitting some putts with it on Tuesday in the afternoon Tuesday afternoon, and I just loved the feel of this putter. And I previously I'd been using that uh zebra um which Ram made, that was who I had my contract with, but Anyway, I won the British Open with that. And I didn't putt very well on Friday, Thursday and Friday. And I was, I don't know, 20th back in there. And so I said to Squeak, let's try that putter. You know, and anyway, I just putted so beautifully on Saturday and Sunday, nearly won. And then went back home, putted with that putter for a long, worked on my game a little bit more with lead, got to Bellreef, and from Monday to Sunday, I I had arguably one of the best ball-striking weeks of my life. It was like it was TPS, when I won a TPC in 93, it was that kind of uh week. And and then you couple that with the way I was putting with this putter, and it was this was it was bombs away. And it was it was so much fun. Because every time, you know, I'd hit sort of like a weak iron shot, you know, where before I'd be trying to lag up or whatever. I'm standing over this 25, 30 footer trying to make it.

SPEAKER_03 44:59

Yeah.

Nick Price 45:00

And I made a few of them, you know, uh, and uh, and that was that was just uh a great week for me. And uh one of the one of the things I'll never forget was on the 17th hole, um, I'm walking up there, it's a short part four. I hit an iron off the T, and now I've got a wedge on the green, and it had my name up there. And it had the on the leaderboard, it had uh uh Corey underneath, Corey Paven who was chasing, and then underneath it had Hogan, Nicholas, uh, you know, Jones. They put all these great names up there with with mine, you know, and it was such a wonderful thing for those guys to do. I never forgot that. Um and then the Walk Up 18, you know, uh there was the one time where I've now got so much of a lead that I can actually enjoy the last two holes. So uh uh you know that that was on top of the world, I guess. That was it, because I did. I went from you know second on the world ranking. I couldn't kick Greg Norman off the off that plinth of his, you know, that he was up there the whole time uh for so many weeks, and uh and eventually, you know, it took me two majors to dethrone him, which anyway, he was very happy for it.

Mike Gonzalez 46:13

Led wire to wire that week uh with a score of 269, which was a new record at the time. You led by five after two rounds, uh your lead was up to seven at one point on Saturday, and uh uh you were also the first to win the open championship in the PGA in the same year in seven decades. The last person to do that would have been Walter Hagan back in 1924. Pretty good stuff.

Nick Price 46:37

There was uh like I say, I it was a very special time for me, and I felt like you know, uh all everything that I'd worked on, everything that I'd done, all had just come to this peak. And you know, to win two majors in in uh in eight weeks or six weeks or whatever it is, is you know, it was it was it was I mean yeah, we were flying back, and I just I just kept saying to my wife, you know, this has been the most amazing thing. And you know, she had been with me through the lean time, so she she could appreciate it. You know, it wasn't like she married me when I was playing well. I mean she we got married in eighty eighty seven, but eighty-five, you know, she went through all of the trials and tribulations with me.

Mike Gonzalez 47:22

So great stuff.

Nick Price 47:25

It was great times.

Mike Gonzalez 47:27

So, Nick, we really appreciate your time today. You've been quite generous, and uh while there's plenty more to talk about with your career, including President's Cup and other things, uh, we can always pick that up at another time. But there are a couple of questions that we typically try to ask our guests, and maybe we'll finish up with those. First would be this if you had one career mulligan, where would you take it?

Nick Price 47:50

You know, I want to say that four-iron at uh at Trun in 1982. But um uh I I think uh boy, that's a good question. Probably that one I think I'd have to take on. That one was significant, you know, uh done. The other one that you know I didn't really go into detail about was uh uh you know that at Lytham in uh uh 70 in 88 when Seb and I were going to head head, he was one shot ahead playing 18, and he came off his t-shot and there was a pot bunker on the right-hand side, and my caddy and I were convinced that he'd hit it in this pot bunker. And I stood up there, he uh he had made Birdie on 16, so he had the honor. And I just rifled this t-shot right down the middle. Got up there, and I'm looking and you know, seeing if he's in the bunker, and his ball had carried the bunker. Not only did he carry the bunker, but he got into a place where he could advance it. And I'm standing there with a six iron and the pin's right in the middle, and I'm thinking, oh my god, this is Nirvana, I'm gonna hit this thing inside of a foot here. I mean, I was so fired up and I rushed it. I just rushed it. I was so excited about hitting the shot, and I pulled it. You know, I pulled it 30 feet left of the hole, dead perfect pin high, perfect club, everything. And uh so that that would be another contender. So funny, both British opens.

Mike Gonzalez 49:12

Yeah, yeah. Okay. And uh if if you knew when you turned professional what you know now, what would you have done differently?

Nick Price 49:27

Uh not a whole lot, I don't think. I probably should have got someone to help me with my swing earlier. I think I was a little stubborn. It wasn't I don't think it was stubborn. I think Bruce, you also come in the same sort of area, I know you're before me, but we didn't really put a lot of trust and faith in coaches. You know what? We've we try to dig it out of uh or or co uh golf golf instructors, we try to dig it out the dirt, and I think most of us were stubborn enough, we thought, I know I'm doing the right thing, I know I'm so uh I probably should have gone to someone or gone to lead better and and trusted him a little bit more earlier. I think that would have helped me a lot.

Mike Gonzalez 50:06

Yeah, finally, uh how would you like to be remembered as a golfer?

Nick Price 50:10

Um more than anything else, a human being, someone who you know, uh like I say, Byron Nelson was one of my all-time heroes, um Jack, the way he conducted himself on the golf course, um you know, all that. But I think deep down inside it's you know what did you do to improve the game while you were around? Uh I encouraged a lot of kids to play. I always felt like um I tried to set the right example. Um, you know, try not to swear when the mics were around. Well, we all swear, you know, but I mean you try not to swear when the mics are around. Um, you know, try not to throw clubs or have you know tantrums on the golf course, because the kids see that. And uh, you know, that was uh that was something that uh I think I'm most proud of. And I think if my dad was looking down all the values that he taught us as kids, uh I I felt like that's what I did through my career. I tried to do not the right thing for myself, but the right thing for the game of golf. And uh because this game of golf has given both Bruce and I so much. I mean, I just uh I never in a million years when I was a teenager did I think that I would have achieved. I mean, it uh yeah, I I just every now and then I have to pinch myself to, you know, to to and and I and I I thank the Lord, you know, for giving me uh uh the opportunity, the health and the opportunity to to do what I did. It was great. It was a great time.

Mike Gonzalez 51:53

Bruce Devlin, 2003 World Golf Hall of Fame Inductee.

Bruce Devlin 51:58

Yeah, how about that? And Nick, you know, uh I know Mike feels the same way as I do. It's been an absolute pleasure to chat with you today. And uh we want to thank you so much for for all your time and uh wish you the best of luck going forward.

Nick Price 52:18

Well, thanks you guys. It's been fun, and I hope I didn't babble on too much.

Mike Gonzalez 52:23

We've really enjoyed it, Nick. We appreciate it. Thanks again for being so generous with your time.

Nick Price 52:28

Okay, guys, take care.

Mike Gonzalez 52:32

Thank you for listening to another episode of For the Good of the Game. And please, wherever you listen to your podcast on Apple and Spotify, if you like what you hear, please subscribe, spread the word, and tell your friends until we tee it up again for the good of the game. So long, everybody.