ESPN.com - Golf - US OPEN 2003 Columnist

Wednesday, June 4

Price stumbles in bid for first Open
By Mark Soltau
Golf Digest

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. -- Truth be told, Nick Price can't believe how well he is playing golf. Never mind that he trails leader Jim Furyk by five strokes heading to the final round of the 103rd U.S. Open. Price is thrilled to be in the hunt and hasn't ruled out a comeback on Sunday.


	Mark Soltau is the tour correspondent for Golf Digest.com and wrote this story as part of a U.S. Open partnership with ESPN.com.

"I can't tell you how happy I am I still have the game I have at 46," he said early Saturday evening, after a closing birdie at 18 resulted in a 1-under-par 69 that left him at 5-under 205 for the championship.

It was a wild ride for Price, who tallied six birdies, five bogeys and only seven pars.

"It's not good for 46-year-old nerves, but I was very happy the way I played today," Price said. "I would have taken that (69) at the beginning of the day."

For six holes, Price looked unstoppable. Playing with 53-year-old Tom Watson, the sentimental favorite, he stole the show and the fans' applause by opening with four-consecutive birdies. He made a 20-foot putt at No. 1; a six-footer at No. 2; an 11-footer at No. 3; a seven-footer at No. 4; made a great par save at No. 5; and two-putted for birdie at No. 6 to take the tournament lead at 9-under.

"You dream about starting like that in a major championship," he said. "It was a lot of fun."

Especially for the crowd. The two previous days, they pulled hard for Watson. Saturday, the Price was right.

"I hung in there," Price said. "It was a hard day out there. I tried to play smart coming in, but it wasn't easy."

Appearing in his 17th U.S. Open, the congenial and hard-working man from Zimbabwe had cracked the top 10 three times, most recently last year when he tied for eighth at Bethpage Black in New York. Known for crisp ball-striking and precision iron play, Price has long been considered one of the game's best players, only a balky putter limiting his success.

However, on Saturday he struggled off the tee.

"The big thing that worries me is my driving and it's usually one of my strengths," he said. "I think today I tried to be a little cagey and steer the ball. If I drive it well I've got a chance tomorrow."

Not that he has anything to apologize about. Price owns 18 victories on the PGA Tour and seven European Tour wins. Most notable were triumphs in the 1992 and '94 PGA Championship and 1994 British Open. Earlier this year, Price was selected to the World Golf Hall of Fame.

Price showed signs his game was peaking last month when he finished fifth at the Wachovia Championship, then took solo-second at the EDS Byron Nelson Championship. He followed that by tying for 21st at the Bank of America Colonial.

Despite competing in only 10 tournaments this year, Price has banked $1.3 million in earnings and ranks 15th on the money list. Think the man might have a future on the Champions Tour in two years?

Poor drives led to bogeys at No. 11 and 12, and he was lucky to escape with another at 16 after finding a bunker off the tee. But Price finished strng, making a clutch nine-foot par putt at 17 and then flagging his 8-iron approach to No. 18, the ball stopping 18 inches from the hole.

"The par putt on 17 was huge," he said. "I was leaking oil, no doubt about it."

Mark Soltau is Golf Digest's tour correspondent.