WIN
A PLACE IN THE EMIRATES AUSTRALIAN OPEN PRO-AM
OCTOBER 2014 ISSUE #308
EXCLUSIVE INSTRUCTION
HIT HOT HYBRIDS BY
ERNIE ELS
BASICS MASTERCLASS
THE ULTIMATE SWING FUNDAMENTALS CHECKLIST
PERTH INTERNATIONAL OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS FOR EMERGING STARS
WESTERN FORCE THE BEST COURSES YOU CAN PLAY IN W.A
HAVE YOU GOT SOLE?
2014 SHOE BUYER’S GUIDE
COUNTDOWN
PRESIDENTS CUP INTERNATIONAL TEAM SKIPPER NICK PRICE BELIEVES THE FUTURE OF THE TEAM EVENT RESTS IN THE HANDS OF A FIRING AUSSIE CONTINGENT.
EXCLUSIVE BY JAMES HENDERSON
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hey say if you shake a tree Down Under a batsman, a bowler or a golfer falls out,” laughs Nick Price, the skipper angling for an Australian intervention at the 2015 Presidents Cup. Speaking among the tropical islands hosting the inaugural Fiji International tournament, the affable Zimbabwean endorses the importance of Team Australia in 12 months’ time, citing a sea of Green and Gold victories across the Pacific Ocean this season. With seven PGA Tour triumphs since Adam Scott and Jason Day combined to clinch the World Cup of Golf at Royal Melbourne in November 2013, the bottomless pit of Australian talent is “absolutely phenomenal” in the eyes of the three-time major champion, who understands the catalyst for such success among countrymen. “It’s exactly the same as the South African guys,” he says. “When one wins the others think, ‘Hey I’ve beaten this guy so if he can do it then I can.’ And they feed off each other’s success. “Just take a look at Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel.” But with the promise of success on Tour comes expectation … expectation that prompted a frustrated Scott to question the longterm viability of the Presidents Cup format before last year’s defeat at Muirfield Village in Ohio. “I’m getting tired of getting killed out there,” lamented Scott before Tiger Woods delivered the winning putt, thus clinching America’s fifth consecutive victory and a record that now reads an alarming 8-1-1. Even Price, renowned for his enthusiasm towards the biennial tournament since its inception in 1994, accepts that for the Presidents Cup to rise in stature like the Ryder Cup, it needs to be less of an exhibition and more of a competition. “In order for the Presidents Cup to really go to the next level, it’s got to become more consistently competitive,” admits Price, who has the distinction of being the captain with the most Presidents Cup experience
PHOTOGRAPHY: GETTY IMAGES
as a player, compiling an 8-11-4 record. “Until such time as that happens, I don’t want to say it’s going to flounder but it’s not going to get to the next level. And everything needs to get to the next level to survive – that’s what is lacking.” Despite spending most of its 20-year existence battling against notions of irrelevance and triviality, PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem’s ongoing refusal to align the competition’s point structure alongside that of the Ryder Cup continues to concern Price, as he enters his third decade of dedicated Presidents Cup service. In 2013, the final three players to make the International team, Angel Cabrera, Marc Leishman and Brendon de Jonge, placed 51st, 61st and 63rd, respectively, in the Official World Golf Rankings. This was in stark contrast to Team US, which had Zach Johnson, Webb Simpson and Jordan Spieth as tailenders, ranked 11th, 24th and 21st in comparison. “We play for 34 points yet the Ryder Cup only contests 28, and those extra six points favour the stronger team,” explains Price, who will pit his wits against Jay Haas as US team captain in Korea next October. “The more games, the better chance the stronger team has of winning.” An infant compared to the Ryder Cup, Price’s fondest Presidents Cup memories spanning two decades have been peppered with heavy Australian influence, with the 57-year-old playing under multiple major-winning captains David Graham and Peter Thomson, as well as partnering ten Aussies during his five stints as a player. “The initial guys like myself, Greg [Norman] and Ernie [Els] wanted to be a part of the Ryder Cup-type format and then the Presidents Cup came along and that was fantastic,” recalls Price, who is returning to the International team as skipper for the second consecutive time. “The first couple were pretty exciting, but as we have seen in the past decade, since 2003, they just have not been as competitive as we would like.” With no trophy engraving since a Thomson-led International side golf australia
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clockwise from left: Nick
Price holed the winning putt on Sunday at the 1998 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne; Price sees a quiet confidence in Marc Leishman; Jason Day has majors in him, according to Price; Winning the Presidents Cup next October hinges on an eclectic group of top players.
claimed its only victory at Royal Melbourne in 1998, Price understands that to be crowned victors at the Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in South Korea, leading figures such as Scott, Day, Cabrera and Japanese youngster Hideki Matsuyama must maintain their PGA Tour winning form. While any notions of peaking for the Presidents Cup still remain one season and four majors down the golfing agenda, Scott’s rise to World No.1 in the rankings, coupled with his Crowne Plaza Invitational victory in May, reassures Price that his commander-in-chief is primed to lead the International assault in Asia. “I could tell Adam changed as a player on the Sunday he won the Masters,” claims Price, who won his first major, the 1992 PGA Championship, aged 35. “I followed his final round and you could just tell how much he wanted to win, not for anybody else but for his own wellbeing, he needed that following his British Open heartache. “The quicker you come back from adversity the better you are as a player and Adam is living proof of that. If you have a car accident then get back in the car and drive straight away, that’s what Adam did at the Masters.” Recalling the scene of his famous duel with Seve Ballesteros at Royal Lytham & St Annes, where Price lost a two-shot lead to surrender the 1988 Open Championship, the former World No.1 answered some cold,
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hard truths about his game. “You’ve got to constantly be in contention and learn from your mistakes,” says Price, who watched the Spanish matador lift his third Claret Jug after slack putting at the last. “I knew after going head-to-head with Seve and losing that if I was to be a big player in majors I had to work on my short game. “And that’s what I did and it paid dividends. You are your own best critic and as Adam no doubt did after the British Open, you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and be honest with yourself. “Those guys who constantly push these thoughts to the side are not facing up to reality. Golf is right there in front of you and you can tell the guys who bullshit about bad breaks and the rest, ‘No chum, you didn’t hit good shots and your short game is weak.’ You need that honesty to be successful.” Squinting upon uttering the cliched tagline, ‘the greatest player to have never won a major tag’, Price believes once weight has been lifted and the scar tissue removed, self-confidence naturally takes its place, allowing players such as Scott to subsequently thrive on the biggest stage. For Scott used to head that dreaded list, published quarterly before each major championship as an alarming reminder to those already battling self-doubt and concern, continuing to plague established Tour stalwarts such as Matt Kuchar, Luke Donald and Sergio Garcia.
COUNTDOWN
left: Nick
Price learned from some of the great leaders in golf and brings those experiences to his own captaincy. above: Adam Scott will play a key role in inspiring the International side in 2015.
And when flicking through the slideshow, the name Jason Day has no hiding place. “Let me tell you about Jason,” presses Price, taking a well-earned swig of Fiji Bitter after an opening-round 73 at Natadola Bay Golf Course. “That boy has got so much game it is just a matter of time.” With a buoyed nod of the head and smile, Price’s unwavering admiration for the Queenslander is not up for question, along with his praise of Marc Leishman, the quiet Victorian who made his Presidents Cup debut as a captain’s pick last year. “Leish is a great team member,” recalls Price, who notably opted for the 30-year-old over South African Tim Clark. “He’s a very supportive person and played a great role within the team. If you want a teammate, then Leish is your man. “Granted he doesn’t say a lot, but when he does it’s always positive and underneath his exterior there’s certainly a quiet confidence about the guy.” Seemingly happy to lurk under the golf radar without mention or fuss, for Leishman to capitalise on his strong major showings, Price says the former PGA Tour Rookie of the Year must step out of the shadows and into the spotlight. “Somewhere along the line he’ll have to get into the radar for sure,” he adds. “He’s a good enough player and I was delighted when he told me he’d found something missing with his putting prior to the British Open.
The 2015 Presidents Cup will be played at the Jack Nicklaus GC, Songdo, South Korea, next October 8 to 11. The top-ten International players will be automatically selected, while Nick Price will have two captain’s picks about five weeks before the event. With 12 months left before the matches against the United States, here’s where the Australian players stand in the rankings for selection: 1. Adam Scott (Qld) 2. Jason Day (Qld) 7. Marc Leishman (Vic) 9. John Senden (Qld) 11. Matt Jones (NSW) 14. Geoff Ogilvy (Vic) 27. Stuart Appleby (Vic) 30. Steven Bowditch (Qld) 41. Brett Rumford (WA)
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9.24 6.79 2.97 2.64 2.39 1.88 1.49 1.38 1.04
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“I always thought putting was Leish’s Achilles Heel, never his ballstriking – that was fantastic. But he’s just struggled to make a lot of putts, which he’s now rectified.” Raised by coach Denis McDade during practice before the British Open, Leishman admitted to feeling “a little jerky” under pressure with his putter, leading to a change that freed up his stroke, and subsequently his ability to challenge once again. “I was pushing my putterhead further down into the ground before the stroke and then occasionally catching it during the stroke,” Leishman revealed at the WGC–Bridgestone Invitational in August. “It meant I was getting jerky and missing a lot of putts I might have made. But I have freed that up, I’m mindful of it.” With the Australian trio seemingly strong contenders for automatic places on the plane bound for South Korea, Price says the 2014 season form of Matt Jones, John Senden and Steven Bowditch has not gone unnoticed – nor has Geoff Ogilvy’s return to winning ways and amateur Oliver Goss taking Augusta by storm at the Masters. “It’s been a great year for the Australians on Tour,” adds Price, who recently named South Korean K.J. Choi as his vice-captain. “I recently met Matt who is going to be a great player, well actually, he already is. “John, Steven and Geoff have all been strong as well and what about Oliver? He is a superb talent for somebody so young.” By enjoying a Presidents Cup career so intrinsically linked to Australia, Price’s biggest praise of golfing expertise Down Under is reserved in its entirety for the five-time British Open champion, a Victorian he regards as his greatest ever skipper. “The best leaders we had, I felt, weren’t in your face telling you to do this and that, rather asking for your input,” recalls Price, who also played under Gary Player during the tied match of 2003. “Peter [Thomson] was a phenomenal captain. He’d say, ‘OK, this is what I think we should do,’ and then ask me what I thought of his decision, which was always spot on. “It didn’t matter if he went with my opinion or not but I always appreciated being asked. “Peter taught me that these guys are individual sportsmen at the top of their game so my job is to bring them together in unison. Of course it will be a tall order to win but the week is about enjoyment and raising morale and if the guys get motivated then the rest takes care of itself. “But of course the players will only start getting up for it around six weeks before – that’s when their focus will start shifting so I don’t want to be beating them over the head too early.” Fitting it should be that for a man who tasted his only success on Australian soil, under Australian guidance, among Australian friends, Nick Price’s place in Presidents Cup folklore may depend on the Australian heavyweights he takes into battle, accompanied by the Rest of the World.