I’m not much for sitting around and thinking about the past or talking about the past. What does that accomplish?
What separates great players from the good ones is not so much ability as brain power and emotional equilibrium.
Success in golf depends less on strength of body than upon strength of mind and character.
If you can concentrate on what you’re doing and have the desire to do the things you have to do to win, you’ll succeed.
I was national amateur champion. I was 24 years old. My father was there, and I couldn’t wait to see him, and my mother. I went up and was waiting for all the accolades, and my mom was teary and happy and my dad looked at me and said, “Well, boy, you did good,” and that was it.
Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated; it satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening – and it is without a doubt the greatest game mankind has ever invented.
Sam Snead will fly anywhere in my plane with me. Sam’s not as worried about the danger as he is about saving money.
I can’t afford the luxury of music while I’m flying an airplane. I have to pay attention to what I’m doing.
I have a tip that can take 5 strokes off anyone’s golf game. It’s called an eraser.
What other people may find in poetry or art museums, I find in the flight of a good drive.
Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated.
In my early days of flying, if you flew on instruments, you were inevitably going to fly in thunderstorms. That was just a part of the business of flying.
Establish a system you have confidence in and rely on it when you get into tough situations.
Every day I play golf, that’s my goal. To break 70 the other way. To shoot 70 or better.
I am against making golf courses obsolete, going to the national Open and playing half the holes with a one-iron.
The secret of concentration is the secret of self-discovery. You reach inside yourself to discover your personal resources, and what it takes to match them to the challenge.
Trouble is bad to get into but fun to get out of. If you’re in trouble, eighty percent of the time there’s a way out. If you can see the ball, you can probably hit it; and if you can hit it, you can move it; and if you can move it, you might be able to knock it in the hole. At least it’s fun to try.
Putting is like wisdom – partly a natural gift and partly the accumulation of experience.
Had I not become a professional golfer, I think I would have pursued some type of career in aviation.
I never felt that I didn’t have a chance to win.