Years of perseverance finally pay off for true believer Price

text size

BRIDGEPORT, West Va. -- Let's hear it for a true believer, a journeyman who refused to give up, who kept chasing the dream until he finally caught it over the course of four pressure-packed days and 73 holes in north-central West Virginia.

Rick Price came into this week feeling confident. (Condon/PGA TOUR)

Inside the Numbers

Price's Final Stats

Category Total Rank Eagles 2 T2 Birdies 19 T13 Pars 43 T35 Bogeys 8 T47 Double Bogeys 0 N/A Other 0 N/A Driving Accuracy 82.1% T47 Driving Distance 272.9 yds. 59 Greens in Regulation 79.2 T3 Putts per Round 28.5 T7 Putts per GIR 1.667 T6 Sand Saves 0 N/A

So give kudos to Rick Price, 40, a former assistant club professional who persevered for what seemed like an eternity on the Nationwide Tour waiting for his time to arrive. It came during an afternoon rain shower following a bogey on the first playoff hole against Chris Anderson.

It won't take long for those items to get lost in the details of what Price achieved. He's headed to a professional golfer's Disneyland, the PGA TOUR, in 2009, bypassing his 20th trip to the Qualifying Tournament while collecting $180,000, the biggest first-place check in Tour history in this inaugural Nationwide Tour Players Cup, the first to offer prize money of $1 million.

And just to put Price's long, strange trip into perspective, that $180,000 is more than he made in any of his previous eight seasons on this Tour.

"I'm really excited,'' were the only words an emotional Price could squeeze out said while choking back tears seconds after Anderson's 20-foot bogey putt slid by on the low side on the playoff hole, the 470-yard, par-4 18th.

The words would flow later though for Price, who became only the third player to win a Nationwide Tour event with a bogey in a playoff, which was set up when Price also bogeyed the 72nd. But bogeys be darned.

"I got it right enough,'' the relieved champion said.

He sure did. And with $249,283 in earnings and third spot on the money list, he finally got that PGA TOUR thing right, too.

"Now I've got money in the bank and the opportunity to play the best Tour in the world against the best players in the world,'' he said. "That has been my dream for 19 years.''

At times the dream was a nightmare. It got scary enough a few years ago that his father Rich, who along with wife Linda walked all 72 holes at the Pete Dye Club this week, thought it was time for a heart-to-heart.

"I thought it was time for him to hang them up,'' said Rich, who drove down from his home in Blandon, Pa., about five hours away. "He had paid his dues and it didn't seem like it was happening.''

Rick Price, smiling now at the memory, said the father-son talk got a little intense.

"He was just looking out for what he thought was best for me,'' he said. "I was at a crossroads. We just had different opinions.''

Good thing, too. Price would win for the first time in Rochester, N.Y., in 2005, salvaging what otherwise would have been a disastrous year. And for those who love a little serendipity, Rich and Linda, who see two tournaments a year, were there as well, just as stressed as they were Sunday.

"It was tough to watch,'' Linda said.

"I was a nervous wreck,'' Rich admitted.

But all's well that ends well. Their son's patience and stick-to-it attitude have been rewarded at long last. Price didn't necessarily predict his victory this week, but he knew he was coming in well rested and playing at a golf course that suited his game and fit his eye.

He even mentioned that to several friends back in Jupiter, Fla., where he lives with his wife Melinda, a former player on the LPGA Tour, and their children, Cody and Taylor. Price belongs to a club there, the Dye Preserve, which also was designed by the famed architect. The Pete Dye Golf Club has similar sight lines to Price's home club.

"I like both places,'' he said.

So it seemed quite natural that Price came in feeling confident, despite the fact that he had missed his last four cuts and hadn't finished better in a tournament than a tie for 44th since March. A harmonic convergence of solid ball-striking, deft putting and precise game management did the trick as he hit 82 percent of the fairways and finished tied for third in greens in regulation and tied for seventh in putts per round.

What's more, Price holed out his second shot from 106 yards for an eagle-2 on his first hole. So someone was trying to tell him something along the lines of this may be his time to finally make the dream come true.

If it hadn't happened this week, though, Price, the true believer, said he would have kept on trying.

"I don't feel like I'm 40,'' he said, smiling contentedly. "I feel like I'm one of those guys who has enough game, but just hadn't gotten out there (the PGA TOUR) yet. I guess this was how it was supposed to work for me.''