GOLF ROUNDUP : Price Plays One at Time to Lead by 2

Nick Price used an old-fashioned recipe as the formula for a record-setting score Friday at the halfway point of the Players Championship at Ponte Vedra, Fla.

“I found the recipe in my mistakes from the past,” the PGA champion from Zimbabwe said.

“I’d get ahead of myself,” he said, recalling the 1982 British Open that he let slip away.

“I’ve gotten away from that. That’s the reason I’ve been so successful in the last 18 months,” he said. “I’ve been so disciplined in concentrating on the shot at hand. I know it sounds boring, but it works.”

Keeping his thoughts in the present--even when the present included seven holes played in showers and drizzle--Price shot an admittedly cautious four-under-par 68 and reached the 36-hole mark in 132.

That’s 12 under par on the TPC at Sawgrass, one better than the old two-round record set by Mark O’Meara and Steve Jones in 1987.

Even the record score, however, was not enough to put appreciable distance between himself and the field that continued to punish a once-feared course with extremely low scores.

Among those taking advantage were Doug Tewell, Dave Rummells and former Masters champion Bernhard Langer of Germany, tied for second at 134, two off the pace.

Rummells moved up with a 65, Tewell shot 67 and Langer 69.

Joel Edwards was next at 69-135 with Greg Norman, Brad Fabel, Joey Sindelar and Ronnie Black tied at 136.

Tom Kite shot 72-144 and missed the cut, ending a string of 26 tournaments--longest on the PGA Tour--in which he had qualified for weekend play.

Jim Albus made eight birdies, including five on the back nine, to post a six-under 66 and grab a two-shot lead after the first round of the Doug Sanders Celebrity Classic at Kingwood, Tex.

Bob Murphy and Larry Mowry were at 68, two shots back, followed by Miller Barber, Bob Charles and DeWitt Weaver at 69.

Two-time defending champion Mike Hill was in a group at 70.