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Nicholas Raymond Leige Price (born 28 January 1957) is a professional golfer fromZimbabwe and an inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990s, Price reached number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Background
Price is a citizen of Zimbabwe, but was born in Durban, South Africa. His parents were originally English and his early life was spent in Zimbabwe (then called Rhodesia). He attended Prince Edward School in Salisbury, where he captained the golf team. After his schooling he spent some time in the army during that country's civil 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.
[edit]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.[1] The next year, was when Price won his first PGA Tour event. A wire to wire four-shot triumph over Jack Nicklaus at the World Series of Golf.[2]
After that win, it would be another eight years almost before Price won again on the PGA Tour. In the interim, Price shot a Augusta National Golf Club course record 63 at the 1986 Masters Tournament and finished second at the 1988 Open Championship to Seve Ballesteros.
[edit]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 theOfficial World Golf Rankings. Price was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.
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 2005, he was voted the Bob Jones Award, the highest honor given by the USGA in recognition of distinguished sportsmanship in golf. Price received the 2011 Old Tom Morris Award, the highest honor 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."
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."[3]
Price holds the course record (jointly with Greg Norman) at Augusta National which hosts the Masters Tournament after a round of 63 in the third round of the 1986 tournament.
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".
[edit]Professional wins (48)
[edit]PGA Tour wins (18)
|
| 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 | -16 (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 |
[edit]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.
[edit]Japan Golf Tour wins (1)
- 1999 Suntory Open
[edit]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
[edit]Other wins (14)
- 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
- 2006 CVS/pharmacy Charity Classic (with Tim Clark; unofficial event)
- 2009 CVS Caremark Charity Classic (with David Toms; unofficial event)
[edit]Champions Tour wins (3)
| 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 |
[edit]Major championships
[edit]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 |
[edit]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.
CUT = missed the half way cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place.
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.
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