SPORTS
UNIVERSITY DAILY KA'N SAN
Thursday, April 6, 1995
3B
Price eager for green jacket
38-year-old feels age creeping up on him
The Associated Press
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Nick Price is not one to revel in his success.
There he was Tuesday, the top golfer in the world two years running, fretting that his window of opportunity to win the Masters was running out.
Heck, he began thinking that way three years go, when his great run of success was about to begin.
"When you start getting into your mid-30s to late 30s, it is different," the 38-year-old Price said. "When you are 25, you've got 15 years left. When you are 35, you basically know that you don't have a whole lot of time left. Not everyone is a Jack Nicklaus that can win at 46.
"Ive only got five years left ... maybe six more chances to win here. And each year it goes by, it gets harder and harder."
No one else puts Price on the down side of his career. He's been the hottest thing in golf over the past 2 1/2 years, beginning with his breakthrough victory in the 1992 PGA Championship.
That was the beginning of an amazing streak that carried him to 17 titles around the world, including his first British Open and second PGA Championship in 1994.
"Last year was an exceptional year by
anybody's standards, and particularly for me," he said. "I really can't see myself doing that again. I am not saying that I won't be able to, but it would be very unusual for me if I had another year like that."
Compared to the gaudy standard he set over the past two years, Price has struggled so far in 1995. His best showing in three tournaments is a tie for 13th at the Honda Classic, and he's managed to crack the 60s in only two of 12 rounds.
Two weeks ago, he struggled to a 37thplace finish at The Players Championship, a tournament he won two years earlier.
"I am just trying to get my game into the similar shape that it was of last year," he said. "I certainly have got the determina
The Price Is Right
Professional golfer Nick Price, despite all of his accomplishments, has yet to win the green jacket of the Masters.
tion and the drive, and I still have the eagerness to participate and win.
■ Price has won 17 titles since his victory in
1992 at the PGA Championship.
He won both his first British Open and his second GCMA championship last year.
■ Price's performance has been failling so far this year. In three tournaments, Price's highest place has been 13th.
"It is just a question of getting everything together, which, you know, sometimes that happens in different times of the year."
Price placed 37th in The Players Championship two weeks ago.
Price has no trouble narrowing down where his problem lies since he's one of the top players on the Tour when it comes to staying on the fairway and reaching the green in the fewest shots.
"I think it sort of indicates that my short game is not in as good a shape as it was toward the tail end of last year," he said. "It is not far off."
Now, though, Price comes to a course that has proven to be most bedeviling over the years, with its bathtub-like greens playing havoc with his aggressive putting style.
For all his troubles, ironically, Price holds the course record of 63, set in the third round of the 1986 Masters. He finished with a 6-under-par 282 to wind up fifth — still his best showing at Augusta National.
It was a wildly up-and-down tournament that Price would rather not duplicate. He shot a 79 in the first round, followed up by a 69 that marked the first time he broke par on the course.
Price would prefer not to look back this year, either. He dismisses talk about his chances of winning a third straight major, saying his primary concern is taking home a new piece of clothing, a green jacket.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — For a few minutes yesterday, it looked like Tiger Woods' debut at
Young,injured golfer still to play in Masters
The Associated Press
the Masters was going to end before it ever began.
But it turned out the 19-year-old Stanford phenom was only suffering back spasms when he cut short a practice round.
"I'm OK." Woods said after being treated for the injury, which didn't stop him from taking part in a par-3 tournament later in the day. "I've done it before. It's no big deal."
Woods, who qualified for his first Masters by winning the 1994 U.S. Amateur, winced after
and, after talding with tournament officials and one of his playing partners, Nick Price, hopped in a van to be taken for treatment on the eve of the biggest tournament of his
Source: The Associated Press
hitting his tee shot on No. 5 during a practice round, then grabbed his back in pain after hitting the second shot.
Earl Woods father of pro golfer Tiger Woods
He walked to the green, picked up his ball.
life.
"It's always been my biggest fear, keeping him physically fit for tournaments," said his father, Earl Woods. "He's not physically mature yet."
"Mentally, he's 10 going on 30. But physically, he's a teen-ager about ready to go into adulthood.
"Till he fills out his muscle structure and there's full support for full adulthood functions, I'll worry."
brush with pain. He spent about an hour in the PGA fitness van, where the back was treated with electrical stimulation and ice packs.
But the younger Woods brushed off his
Vernon Maxwell not 'mad' about image
TV SPORTSWATCH
Live, same-day and delayed national TV sports coverage for Thursday. All times Central
USA — PGA Golf, The Masters Tournament, first round, at Augusta,
Ga.
6:30 p.m.
ESPN2 — NHL Hockey, Tampa Bay at Philadelphia
7 p.m.
TBS - NBA Basketball, Seattle at Denver
10:35 p.m.
CBS — PGA Golf, The Masters Tournament, same-day highlights of
first round, at Augusta, Ga.
The Associated Press
HOUSTON — He's known as Mad Max around the NBA. Others say he's simply mad. Vernon Maxwell says that he's no psycho and that he's not about to change his waves.
sion against him in February for punching a fan in the jaw during a game at Portland. The fan filed a lawsuit against Maxwell and the defending NBA champion Rockets for $4.5 million last week.
The Houston Rockets' guard has been arrested for waving a gun at a motorist in a cafeteria parking lot and refusing to obey a police officer. He's been ticketed for cranking music in his Porsche.
The NBA levied a 10-game suspen
"I know I'm a bad guy," Maxwell joked recently. "Or a lot of people look at me as being that way."
Maxwell, who has sat out of the last four games since being diagnosed with iron-deficiency anemia, admits he's "been through a lot of stuff." But he says he feels he hasn't
been promoted properly.
"I don't have a bone in my body as far as really wanting to hurt anybody," he said.
Portland fan Steve George would disagree. Maxwell says George provoked him by taunting him about his stillborn daughter.
"He may not have known what he was talking about when he was doing it," Maxwell said. "But if it ever happened again, I feel like I would do the same thing."
George denies Maxwell's accusations, saying the remarks prompted him to file the suit.
Maxwell doesn't want to spark any more controversy, though. For that reason, he did not argue when Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich broke the news that Clyde Drexler would replace him in the lineup.
"In the back of my mind, I was frustrated," Maxwell said. "But I don't want to cause any more turmoil at this time. I just want to finish up the season and then just get out of here.
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