Phillip Price of Wales, who captured his third title on The European Tour International Schedule by winning the Smurfit European Open, has been named as the Asprey Golfer of the Month for July.
The 36 year old Ryder Cup player from Pontypridd reaped a rich mid-summer harvest by accumulating a remarkable €857,145 (£592,410) over three weeks on The European Tour International Schedule in July in which he finished first, tied second and tied tenth.
Price, who defeated Phil Mickelson in one of the key singles ties in The 34th Ryder Cup Matches at The De Vere Belfry, helping to set up a European victory over the United States last September, won the Smurfit European Open at The K Club, Dublin, with a 16 under par total of 272.
One week later, Price tied with Ireland’’s Darren Clarke for second place behind Ernie Els of South Africa in The Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond while he shared tenth place with four other players in the 132nd Open Golf Championship at Royal St George’’s.
“It is wonderful news that I have been voted Asprey Golfer of the Month for July,” said Price. “It was a great month for me, one of the biggest months of the year with the quality of the fields on The European Tour in July, and to play that well for three weeks was fantastic.
“I’’d been a long time on Tour and I was getting a little irritated by being fairly consistent but not a winner very often. The thing that pleased me most about the victory in Ireland was that everybody teed up. To win in that company was the next stage for me and I was delighted.
“I think the recognition the award brings is another big thing for me. Considering the amount of players who were in the running for it - you are up against all the best players in Europe for a month - to top that is something special.”
Other candidates considered for the July award by the judging panel were Els, who claimed The Barclays Scottish Open title by five shots, Michael Campbell of New Zealand, who won the Nissan Irish Open after a play-off, Australian Adam Scott, the Scandic Carlsberg Scandinavian Masters champion, and Denmark’’s Thomas Björn, who finished runner-up in consecutive weeks in the Open Championship and Nissan Irish Open.
Other winners of the Asprey Golfer of the Month Awards for 2003 are: Ernie Els (January and February), Robert-Jan Derksen (March), Fredrik Jacobson (April), Paul Casey (May) and Philip Golding (June). The award is presented to a European Tour Member each month from January to November for his performances on The European Tour International Schedule and in worldwide competition. At the end of the season, the Panel will select the Asprey Golfer of the Year.
