Attaining the venerable age of 40 seems as good a time as any to take stock of life, and Phillip Price did exactly that last autumn when he left his thirties behind with renewed commitment to the game of golf. The Welshman became a father for the second time, switched coaches and resumed a full-time career on The European Tour. An early indication of a successful rehab came at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship when a second round 65 swept him into the halfway lead.
Price achieved worldwide fame in 2002 when he beat Phil Mickelson in the Ryder Cup singles at The De Vere Belfry and savoured the celebrations of a European victory over the United States. However, after winning a five year exemption in the 2003 Smurfit Kappa European Open, Price decided to test himself on the US PGA Tour.
It was not the happiest of experiences, and now Price is right back on track at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, where he leads by a shot from Ireland’s Padraig Harrington (68-67) with a ten under par total of 134 with India’s Shiv Kapur, Australian Nick O’Hern, Italian Alessandro Tadini and Miguel Angel Jiménez of Spain all a further shot behind on 136.
Price completed a superb seven under par scorecard in the second round with a beautifully controlled sand wedge from 97 yards to a couple of inches for an eighth birdie of the day at the 18th. That carried him ahead of Harrington, who bogeyed the last for a round of 67 which leaves the Dubliner well in contention for the weekend.
The man from Pontypridd enjoyed the experience of being back on top of the leaderboard and admitted: “I can’t remember when that last happened. Probably when I won the Smurfit back in 2003.”
Price won his US PGA Tour card at the Qualifying School at the end of 2004 but explained; “I felt I did all the groundwork but then didn’t get a chance to reap the rewards because I lost my card. I knew it was going to be difficult going over there with two suitcases and not knowing where I was going to be in the following weeks.
“It was only five weeks between getting my card and going to play in the first tournament so there was no time to get a house. I took my two suitcases and spent seven weeks in California, three of them at Disneyland and I got sick of it by the end.”
Price turned to Scots coach Gary Nicol towards the end of last year, finished third in Madrid in September and celebrated his 40th birthday in October before putting up the shutters for the winter.
He added; “My old coach, Dennis Sheehy, is based in America and I was e mailing my swing to him over there. I had met Gary in Qatar last year talked to him for an hour and we started working together in Switzerland in September. We’ve been working together ever since. I drove the ball fantastic today and putted well.”
Harrington went to the turn in 31 blows to join first round leader Phillip Archer at nine under par. But as Archer faded from the scene during a blustery afternoon, Harrington came home with a steady 36 for a round of 67 to lead briefly before being overtaken by Price.
Most years, Harrington would take nine or ten weeks off to re-charge the batteries, but the qualify of the ‘Gulf Swing’ has tempted European’s Number One back into the fray after a four week winter break.
“It’s interesting” he conceded. “Because I’ve only been away from golf for four weeks I don’t feel as detached from the game as I would be after nine weeks away. A few mental errors crept in, which is to be expected, but it looks like it might be a better plan to take a shorter break.”
He continued: “I am happy with the score. If you offered me five under going out, I would have taken it. I can’t complain about being in this position going into the weekend.”
Kapur, the 24 year old from New Delhi, shot 66 in the second round for the second year running. But whereas the talented young Indian finished 45th in 2006, he has designs on the title this time around. Kapur made his score on the front nine, turning in 31 with five birdies, but was unable to convert the birdie opportunities on the homeward trip of 35.
Like Price, a change of coach has worked wonders for Kapur. He has turned to American based Australian coach, Peter Murphy and explained: “he came over for the Indian Open and I felt I needed to sort out my swing. I saw him for four or five days in Dallas over Christmas and it made some changes. They seem to be working.”
Defending champion, Chris DiMarco of America, fired a two under par total of 70 for a five under par total of 139, the same mark as European Tour Golfer of the Year, Paul Casey, who made a progressive move with a 68. Sergio Garcia of Spain and Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie were in the group of players on 140, four under par.
A total of 75 players made the halfway cut on a score of 143, one under par.
