Boeing Classic notebook: Nick Price gets back in the swing of things

SNOQUALMIE — Nick Price admitted his confidence was low a few months ago, hard to believe for a man who is a Hall of Famer and has won three major championships.

But Price, 52, had not won a golf tournament in seven years and had not had the success he envisioned when he began playing on the Champions Tour in 2007.

That drought ended in April with a two-shot win in Florida, despite three double bogeys in the final round.

"I won that in a roundabout way, but now that I finally got number one [on the Champions Tour], I want number two and number three," he said.

If that win didn't bring back Price's confidence, then this did: He uncovered a secret that has added up to 25 yards to his shots. That helped Price on Friday, when he shot an opening-round 3-under 69 to tie for sixth in the Boeing Classic.

"I was sitting at home by the barbecue after missing the cut in the Senior PGA Championship [in late May], trying to figure out what was different with my game," he said. "And then it was like a penny dropped. I needed more width on my swing. When I went to the range then, I went out with a purpose instead of just hitting the ball around."

Price, who was born in South Africa but raised in Zimbabwe, said it took a period of adjustment to get used to the added length from his wider swing. But the results were immediate. He followed the missed cut with three straight top-10 finishes and lost in a playoff the week after the Senior PGA.

"I think I could have won, but I had neglected my short game [while working on the wider swing ] and that cost me," Price said.

Price hasn't played since July 12, having taken his yearly break to vacation with his family, but said he was able to practice a lot the past two weeks.

"I'm feeling very confident with my long game. I just need my short game and my putting to get to that level," said Price, who has won two PGA Championships and one British Open.

Either way, Price is happy to be playing again while escaping the heat at his home in Hobe Sound, Fla.

"It is so beautiful here, and the weather is incredible," he said. "It must be a 50-degree difference, or at least a 50-degree difference with the humidity."

Notes

• Tim Simpson made the first hole-in-one in the tournament's five-year history when he aced the par-3 sixth hole, which played at 197 yards. Simpson used a 5-iron.

• Jay Haas, who won the seasonlong Schwab Cup in 2008 and was one of the Boeing favorites, withdrew with tendinitis in his elbow. He was replaced by Kirk Hanefield.

• The tournament got off to a fast start when Graham Marsh, playing in the first group of the tournament, made an eagle on No. 1 by holing out from about 100 yards.

• The players' wives and Seahawks wives are leading a 3-kilometer charity walk this morning at 8:30.

• Tom Kite has good reason to also pay attention to the PGA Tour this week. He's the co-designer of Liberty National in Jersey City, N.J., where the PGA Tour is holding The Barclays, the first event in the Tour's playoffs.