“But, if you miss (the supposedly easy pin) by just a little bit, you’re looking at the next putt from 30 feet. The ball just rolls away.”

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.

I’ve always been a good ball-striker, but if you’re not a great putter, you’re not going to win a lot.

I generally mark my ball with a quarter, but sometimes I’ll use a Canadian one-dollar coin.

When your hands are cold, and you’re hitting with old, low-quality irons – my first one was a Merlin model with a green shaft – you learn what to do to hit the ball solid.

Some scenes you juggle two balls, some scenes you juggle three balls, some scenes you can juggle five balls.

He’s passing the ball like Idi Amin.

Everything my mother made had to cook for 80 hours, and when she made matzoh balls she didn’t know fluffy. Everything sank.

Villains are a ball. People have been laughing at me for 50 years, so I love to sit in the back of the theater and listen to them hate me.

The only thing in this world that gives orders is balls.