Well, I think that Augusta is not the same golf course that I grew up on. Bobby Jones' philosophy was giving you space off the tee; if you put it in the right side of the fairway, you ended up getting the right angle to the green.
— Jack Nicklaus
Well, the biggest rival I had in my career was me.
Success depends almost entirely on how effectively you learn to manage the game's two ultimate adversaries: the course and yourself.
The longer you play, the better chance the better player has of winning.
This is a game. That's all it is. It's not a war.
The game is meant to be fun.
Don't be too proud to take lessons. I'm not.
Resolve never to quit, never to give up, no matter what the situation.
I'm a firm believer that in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at something you don't enjoy.
It's hard not to play golf that's up to Jack Nicklaus standards when you are Jack Nicklaus.
There isn't a flaw in his golf or his makeup. He will win more majors than Arnold Palmer and me combined. Somebody is going to dust my records. It might as well be Tiger, because he's such a great kid.
But if I played well and prepared myself properly, then all I had to do was control myself and put myself in a position to win.
Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You've got to believe you can play a shot instead of wondering where your next bad shot is coming from.
Through the years of experience I have found that air offers less resistance than dirt.
There are no maladies in my golf game. My golf game stinks.
When I want a long ball, I spin my hips faster.
A perfectly straight shot with a big club is a fluke.
I think I fail a bit less than everyone else.
Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.
Focus on remedies, not faults.
He's going to be around a long, long time, if his body holds up. That's always a concern with a lot of players because of how much they play. A lot of guys can't handle it. But it looks like he can.
Professional golf is the only sport where, if you win 20% of the time, you're the best.
I couldn't control Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson or Lee Trevino. The only person I could control was me. The only person I could prepare for events was me. And if I didn't play well, I didn't play well, and I wasn't going to compete.
The older you get the stronger the wind gets and it's always in your face.
A kid grows up a lot faster on the golf course. Golf teaches you how to behave.
I like trying to win. That's what golf is all about.
Golf is a better game played downhill.
Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety.
He had a lot of talent, but didn't have much dedication, wasn't organized, didn't know how to learn, didn't know how to comprehend what he was doing, didn't try to learn how to get better.
My ability to concentrate and work toward that goal has been my greatest asset.
How people keep correcting us when we are young! There is always some bad habit or other they tell us we ought to get over. Yet most bad habits are tools to help us through life.
He has the finest, fundamentally sound golf swing I've ever seen.
