Biography
Nick Price was born in Durban, South Africa and, at a young age moved to Zimbabwe where he grew up. He was introduced to golf by his older brother, Tim, who gave him his first club, a left-handed 5-iron. On his first trip to the United States as a 17-year-old, Price won the Junior World Championship in San Diego, defeating the strongest field of the year. He turned pro in 1977 and established himself as a promising newcomer first on the Southern African Tour and European PGA Tour where he won four tournaments through 1982. That same year he disappointingly finished second in the Open Championship to Tom Watson after leading in the third round. Price graduated to the PGA TOUR in 1983 when he went wire-to-wire to defeat Jack Nicklaus by two strokes at the World Series of Golf for his first TOUR victory.
Read More
He suffered through a dry spell, winning only twice, in South Africa and Europe, while he rebuilt his swing with instructor David Leadbetter. It was a slow, upward battle, an internal fight fueled by his intense desire to become the game’s number one player.
Having crafted one of the most fundamentally sound golf swings in the game, Price was rewarded for his hard work. In 1991 he won the Byron Nelson Classic and the Canadian Open. Then, from his breakthrough victory at the 1992 PGA Championship through the 1994 season, Nick Price dominated international golf.
In 1993, Price won four PGA TOUR events, including THE PLAYERS Championship, and was named PGA TOUR Player of the Year. He won the Vardon Trophy (lowest scoring average) and the Arnold Palmer Award as the PGA Tour’s leading money winner.
Price then turned in one of golf’s great seasons in 1994, winning six times, including the British Open and PGA Championship. He again led the money list and was named Player of the Year for the second year running. In August 1994 Price was ranked the world’s No. 1 golfer, a position he held for 43 consecutive weeks, a stretch that since then, has only been bettered by Tiger Woods.
No one won more PGA Tour tournaments, fifteen, in the 90’s than Nick Price. He also won an additional 12 international events in that decade. Price is one of only three players in the 1990s to win two major titles in the same season, joining Nick Faldo in 1990 and Mark O’Meara in 1998. He is one of only seven players since 1945 to capture consecutive majors (Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Lee Trevino, Tom Watson and Tiger Woods). Winning three major tournaments in two years was a feat not matched since Nicklaus did it in 1980, Palmer in 1962 and Hogan in 1953.
The Zimbabwean has been a dominant force worldwide and is commonly regarded as one of the kindest and most personable people in the game. The loss of his longtime caddie and friend Jeff “Squeeky” Medlin in 1997, was powerfully felt by Price and others in golf.
In 1998 Price won the FedEx St.Jude and then in 2002, Price won his last PGA Tour event, the Mastercard Colonial. At the end of the year, he had won more than $2 million in a season for the first time in his career, while finishing fifth in scoring average. He was ranked in the top 10 in the world at the age of 45.
Price has tallied 18 PGA TOUR victories and 24 International wins. He finished in the top 50 on the money list for 17 consecutive seasons and was ranked in the Top 50 in the world for 17 and a half years.
After turning 50 in January 2007, Price joined the Champions Tour. He won the Outback Steakhouse Pro-Am in 2009 and won twice in 2010 – the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf and the Principal Charity Classic. He continued his good form into 2011 by winning the Toshiba Classic.
Price has represented Zimbabwe twice at the World Cup in 1978 and 1993; Played eight times in the Dunhill Cup, 1993 through 2000; and five times for the International Team in The Presidents Cup, 1994 through 2003.
In 2002, Price was the first recipient of the ASAP Sports/Jim Murray Award, given to a professional player for his cooperation, quotability and accommodation to the media, and for reflecting the most positive aspects of the working relationship between athlete and journalist.
That same year, Price was also presented with the Payne Stewart Award, given annually to a player sharing Stewart’s respect for the traditions of the game, his commitment to uphold the game’s heritage of charitable support and his professional and meticulous presentation of himself and the sport through his dress and conduct.
On October 20, 2003 Price was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame at a ceremony in St. Augustine. He became its 99th member.
In 2005, the USGA presented the 2005 Bob Jones Award to Price in recognition of his distinguished sportsmanship in golf. The award recognizes a person who emulates Jones’ spirit, his personal qualities and his attitude toward the game and its players.
The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America presented their most prestigious award, the Old Tom Morris Award, to Price in 2011. The award is presented 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.
Nick Price was named the 2011 Ambassador of Golf by Northern Ohio Golf Charities. The Ambassador of Golf Award is presented annually to a person or persons who have fostered the ideals of the game on an international level and whose concern for others extends beyond the golf course.
Nick Price was named captain of the International Team for the 2013, 2015 and 2017 Presidents Cup.
Since the early nineties, Price has collaborated on the design of golf courses with several architects including Tom Fazio. He has worked on his own through his company, Nick Price Golf Course Design, on projects in the United States, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Notable projects are Quail Valley in Vero Beach, McArthur in Hobe Sound and the acclaimed Soleta Golf Club in Sarasota.
Nick is married to Sue and has three children Gregory (8/9/91), Robyn Frances (8/5/93), Kimberly Rae (9/9/96). They live in Hobe Sound Florida.
Tournament Wins
1983:
WORLD SERIES OF GOLF
1991:
GTE BYRON NELSON GOLF CLASSIC
CANADIAN OPEN
1992:
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
H.E.B. TEXAS OPEN
1993:
PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP
CANON GREATER HARTFORD OPEN
SPRINT WESTERN OPEN
FEDERAL EXPRESS ST. JUDE CLASSIC
1994:
HONDA CLASSIC
SOUTHWESTERN BELL COLONIAL
MOTOROLA WESTERN OPEN
BRITISH OPEN
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
BELL CANADIAN OPEN
1997:
MCI CLASSIC
1998:
FEDEX ST. JUDE CLASSIC
2002:
MASTERCARD COLONIAL
1979:
ASSENG INVITATIONAL
1980:
CANON EUROPEAN MASTERS
1981:
SAN RENO MASTERS
SOUTH AFRICAN MASTERS
1982:
VAALS REEF OPEN
1985:
TROPHEE LANCOME
ICL INTERNATIONAL
1989:
WEST END SOUTH AUSTRALIAN OPEN
1992:
AIR NEW ZEALAND/SHELL OPEN
1993:
ICL INTERNATIONAL
SUN CITY CHALLENGE
1994:
ICL INTERNATIONAL
1995:
ALFRED DUNHILL CHALLENGE
HASSAN II GOLF TROPHY
ZIMBABWE OPEN
1997:
DIMENSION DATA PRO-AM
ALFRED DUNHILL SOUTH AFRICAN PGA
ZIMBABWE OPEN
MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE
1998:
DIMENSION DATA PRO-AM
ZIMBABWE OPEN
MILLION DOLLAR CHALLENGE
1999:
SUNTORY OPEN
2010:
LIBERTY MUTUAL LEGENDS OF GOLF
PRINCIPAL CHARITY CLASSIC
2011:
TOSHIBA CLASSIC
1992:
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
1994:
BRITISH OPEN
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP
National Teams
PRESIDENTS CUP: 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2003
DUNHILL CUP: 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000
Other Achievements
1993 AND 1994 PGA TOUR LEADING MONEY WINNER
1993 AND 1994 PGA TOUR PLAYER OF THE YEAR
1997 VARDON TROPHY WINNER
2002 PAYNE STEWART AWARD
Awarded by the PGA Tour to a professional golfer who exemplifies the late Payne Stewart’s values of character, charity, and sportsmanship
2002 JIM MURRAY AWARD
First recipient of award. Awarded for cooperation, quotability, and accommodation to the media.
2003 INDUCTEE INTO WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME
2005 USGA BOBBY JONES AWARD
Presented annually since 1955, the Bob Jones Award is the USGA’s highest honor. The award recognizes an individual who demonstrates the spirit, personal character and respect for the game exhibited by Jones, winner of nine USGA championships.
2011 OLD TOM MORRIS AWARD
The Old Tom Morris Award is presented by the Golf Course Superintendents Association 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.
2013 INTERNATIONAL TEAM CAPTAIN, PRESIDENTS CUP
2015 INTERNATIONAL TEAM, CAPTAIN, PRESIDENT’S CUP
Golf Hall Of Fame
By Bob Verdi
Golf World
It is imperative that an athlete have the numbers for induction to a hall of fame in any sport. The bonus occurs when the man or woman so honored also is blessed with hall of fame credentials. Nick Price brings an abundance of tangibles and intangibles to the podium, which might explain why due process could have happened sooner. “There’s no better guy out here than Nick,” says Davis Love III. “But he’s such a great person that might overshadow what a great player he is.” Whatever, when Price enters the World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., Monday, don’t expect him to say it’s about time, or even that it’s about me.
Read More
Players with lesser résumés than Price’s — 41 victories worldwide, including three majors — have preceded him, but if he feels the occasion is on the tardy side, rest assured he will get over it, just as he does when he posts a bad score. Price’s infrequent periods of ill-humor last about three minutes, after which he resumes his role as golf’s goodwill ambassador extraordinaire.
That’s where you delve into this area we referred to as credentials. Price’s body of work outside the ropes is as profound, if not as quantifiable, as his collection of trophies. Somewhere along the way, Price determined that there is more to being a professional than exhibiting an ability to smack a little white ball toward that cup way off in the distance with a stick of choice. Being a professional to Price means carrying oneself accordingly,communicating properly with peers and public, respecting the game and all its trappings. Acting the part of a professional does not accurately portray his disposition, however, because nothing about Price is staged. He requires no cue cards. He is as decent and genuine to little old ladies in the parking lot when the TV cameras are nowhere near as he is when he’s attempting to close the deal late on a Sunday afternoon before thick galleries.
Among lodge brothers Price is an absolute treat. I have tried to find a fellow golfer with an unkind word to say about him, and I have failed. Instead, there are kids such as Charles Howell III coming on the scene, at once looking for paydays and mentoring, who say simply, “I love Nick Price.” And there are grizzled veterans such as Hal Sutton, searching for magic on a parboiled practice range, then receiving a swing tip from a friend, who say, “Nicky didn’t have to do that.” Price is so beloved and such a mentor that he must catch himself every so often. Recently, he has huddled with Ernie Els, gently suggesting it might be time for the Big Easy to taper off his global gallivanting and concentrate on the only four weeks that matter every season: the Masters, U.S. Open, British Open and PGA Championship. “But I must be careful,” says Price. “I don’t want to force myself on Ernie.” On the contrary, the golf community will rue the day when Price isn’t lighting up locker rooms with his wit and wisdom.
Price’s life hasn’t been all strawberries and ice cream. He lost his dad when he was a child, saw buddies die in a civil war and still agonizes daily about what transpires in his native land of Zimbabwe, formerly Rhodesia. Since 1980 that country has been in the chokehold of Robert Mugabe, a dictator without conscience. But Price still has family there, as does his wife, Sue, so he bites his tongue for fear of reprisals. “Besides,” Price says, “have you ever tried to tell your brother to pick up and leave home?”
Proud of his heritage, Price also is thoroughly Americanized. He enjoys all the toys and joys of this nation, but before he became this rich and this famous, he was only a younger Nick Price, not a different Nick Price. When he dominated the PGA Tour in the early ’90s, he was the same guy who went winless for seven years, only busier. You don’t get where he is without earning it, and you aren’t spoiled if you appreciate it. The test will be whether Price can make it through Monday’s speech without a cigarette. He will quit, again, soon. Sure he will. But that’s all the smoke he’ll ever blow. Starting Tuesday Nick Price won’t be a better person, but the World Golf Hall of Fame will be a better place.
October 17, 2003
and all its trappings.
Nicholas Raymond
Leige Price
Nick Price was born in Durban, South Africa and, at a young age moved to Zimbabwe where he grew up. He was introduced to golf by his older brother, Tim, who gave him his first club, a left-handed 5-iron.