Nick Price knows exactly why he’s failed to finish atop the leaderboard this season: consistency.
“That’s it more than anything,” he said. “Not knowing week to week how I will play, which I really need to address. If I start to play better, that’s where it will come from. I’ll drive well one day but not the next, and putt well one day and not the next.”
Price has failed to win a title this season, but he’s been one of the Champions Tour’s most consistent players — even if he doesn’t acknowledge it. He’s notched a pair of seconds and nine, top-10 finishes in 15 tournaments. The 51-year-old native of South Africa has played in just half of the tour’s events this season as he transitions from the PGA Tour to the senior circuit for players at least 50-years-old.
But Price still is 18th on the Champions Tour money list with more than $883,000 in limited action. He’s also 12th in the race for the Charles Schwab Cup — awarded to the Champions Tour’s overall winner. He hopes to use this weekend’s Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship as a boost toward a late season run similar to what Loren Roberts did to claim the title last season.
“The one thing that is nice about four rounds is unlike a three-round event, you can afford to have a mediocre round,” he said. “On a major, you can sort of put in an even par there and get away with it. It’s more of a paced event and not a sprint to the finish line.”
Price has 18 career victories on the PGA Tour and plenty of experience in pressure situations. He’s claimed three majors — the 1992 and 1994 PGA Championships and the 1994 British Open.
“When you play well you put it all together, and for a period of four, five years I put it all together,” Price said. “I’m trying to do that again.”At last year’s Senior Players Championship, Price was among the leaders after shooting an opening-round 68. But he struggled the rest of the weekend to finish tied for 39th at plus-4, which was 17 shots off Loren Roberts’ winning 13-under par.
If Price finds a way to maintain his early momentum this weekend, his experience in major tournaments could give him an advantage.
“You still get butterflies,” he said with a laugh, “but you learn how to control those.”
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