Aron Price reckons he should have watched YouTube. Not for tips on taming the renovated The Australian he looked all at ease with on Thursday, but rather surviving the childbirth experience.
"Through the whole birth process the nurse had a smile on her face which helped me ... I don't know, maybe I should have watched some YouTube videos," the new dad laughed. "Everyone says you can't explain what's about to happen and I was like, 'Sure', trying to be the tough guy."
What happened was Price's wife Lucy had their first child six weeks ago on Friday called Gibson – "that was her nomination and I didn't have a better one" – without any drugs. Gibson was the maiden name of Lucy, who played college golf in America.
Price will enjoy the Skype hook-up to his wife in Jacksonville after his Australian Open first round put him in Stonehaven Cup contention. "I guess you can't explain to someone who doesn't have kids what it's like," Price said after carding an impressive three-under 68 on Thursday. "It's taught me a little about my golf in terms of patience. Trying to stop a little baby crying for no reason ... it puts perspective on hitting a shot left or right."
The 32-year-old fired five birdies to offset a couple of dropped shots in windy conditions at Rosebery. Price, who hails from the Shire, has been slogging away on the second-tier Web.com tour in the US after previously holding his US PGA card for three years.
The Australian wasn't completely foreign territory for Price, schooled by Gary Barter who is based at the historic course.
A feature of Price's opening round was his flawless short-iron play. And he said a quick session with Barter after returning to Australia made all the difference.
"Sometimes you get lessons and it takes a while to click in and other times it makes sense straight away," said Price, who will skip the NSW PGA next week because of a lingering back injury. "My short irons I have been struggling with, not hitting them terrible, but to 15 and 20 foot.
"The lesson we had it sharpened it right up and I have been hitting a lot of wedges close. Today I had three tap-ins and another par five I got up and down. Four of my five birdies were just real short putts. That helps when you can have four tap-ins."
