“A shot that goes in the cup is pure luck, but a shot to within two feet of the flag is skill.”

You hear stories about me beating my brains out practising, but the truth is, I was enjoying myself. I couldn’t wait to get up in the morning, so I could hit balls. When I’m hitting the ball where I want, hard and crisply, it’s a joy that very few people experience.

I have found the game to be, in all factualness, a universal language wherever I traveled at home or abroad.

Certainly, if you can’t manage your game, you can’t play tournament golf.

The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight.

You only hit a straight ball by accident. The ball is going to move right or left every time you hit it, so you had better make it go one way or the other.

Good golf begins with a good grip.

All other things being equal, greens break to the west.

You continually have to ask yourself what club to play, where to aim it, whether to accept a safe par or to try to go for a birdie. You can’t play every hole the same way. I never could.

Jesus Christ can’t hit a golf ball straight. It’s virtually impossible – at best it’s an accident.

Selecting a stroke is like selecting a wife. To each his own.

Your name is the most important thing you own. Don’t ever do anything to disgrace or cheapen it.

Golf is 20 percent talent and 80 percent management.

I don’t believe there is anything like a natural golf swing. A golf swing is an unnatural thing, and it has to be developed.

The most important shot in golf is the next one.

Shoot a lower score than everybody else.

I play golf with friends sometimes, but there are never friendly games.

There are three ways of learning golf: by study, which is the most wearisome; by imitation, which is the most fallacious; and by experience, which is the most bitter.

I love to play golf, and that’s my arena. And you can characterize it and describe it however you want, but I have a love and a passion for getting that ball in the hole and beating those guys.

Never beat yourself up, because there are plenty of people that will do it for you.

I didn’t have many ups and downs, and I just tried to par every hole.

I think the hardest part about Golf is being committed to your wife.

Achievements on the golf course are not what matters, decency and honesty are what matter.

Golf is something I do selfishly for myself.

One of the things that my parents have taught me is never listen to other people’s expectations. You should live your own life and live up to your own expectations, and those are the only things I really care about it.