“I’m going to leave y’all with one thought. I’m a big believer in fate. I have a good feeling about this.”

I have felt terribly from the beginning when I saw the problems and recognized that they would be ongoing. We were hired to put back the contours of the greens as closely as possible to George Thomas’s designs and were real proud of what we did. It’s a sad situation now.

It’s Star Wars golf. This place was designed by Darth Vader.

The game embarrasses you until you feel inadequate.

I don’t have any big secret about putting. Just hit at it. It’s either going to miss or go in.

I was horrified. Absolutely heart sick. All I could think of was that after 23 years together, I’d lost my faithful ally. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t get the loss out of my mind. It was like discovering that someone in my family had died.

I had a 15th club in my bag.

You learn to accept defeat graciously in golf. Unlike other sports, the game itself is a constant opponent. It never stops. A golfer is fortunate to win a few times. We spend our whole lives trying to conquer something, and we lose a lot more than we win.

I feel like I’ve won the tournament.

I’m about five inches from being an outstanding golfer. That’s the distance my left ear is from my right.

I do not think I could go on living unless I felt that one day I might win the Open Championship at St. Andrews.

It’s emotional for every champion who decides to step down, it’s a tough decision. It’s probably easier for some, like me. But I’m just going to try to take it in stride. It’s part of life.

A good golf course makes you want to play so badly that you hardly have the time to change your shoes.

Hitting a shorter club to these greens means a great, great deal. Younger players are so much more capable length-wise.

Hale Irwin is the exception. He just does everything so well.

This is happening all over the world. It’s not just this golf course. Hopefully, if it stays dry, it will let a few more people in (contention). If it gets wet, though, there’s only a few people where it’s attainable.

As a golfer, you feel like you’re perpetually on the rack [in foursomes]. Mentally, it’s very difficult.

Vision connects you. But it also separates you. In my work, and my life, I feel a desire to merge. Not in terms of losing my own identity… but theres a feeling that life is interconnected, that theres life in stones and rocks and trees and dirt, like there is in us.

If you are burdened with depressing feelings of guilt or disappointment, of failure or shame, there is a cure.

True courage is the willingness to fully experience whatever you are feeling at the moment. You can attempt to run from your emotions, but eventually they will catch up with you. They will chase you, haunt you, until finally you give up the chase.

I can write the stuff and play it myself and have something in my head, but the best feeling is when somebody else plays it and they’re hearing something other than what I’m hearing.

I spent a good portion of my life being unable to honor my feelings. When I started the process of having real friendships it was a huge change. I still struggle with it because it is not familiar ground.

If you sit back & spend too much time feeling good about what you did in the past, you’re going to come up short next time

As you age, feelings do diminish.

If you’re hanging around with nothing to do and the zoo is closed, come over to the Senate. You’ll get the same kind of feeling and you won’t have to pay.