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.

Such is putting! 2% technique, 98% inspiration or confidence or touch...the only thing great putters have in common is touch and that is the critical ingredient...none of them found it through mechanizing a stroke, nor do I believe they could maintain it that way.

I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head.

[My son] Michael came along and he played a little bit of everything. He went to Georgia Tech on a golf scholarship.

Nobody - but nobody - has ever become really proficient at golf without practice, without doing a lot of thinking and then hitting a lot of shots. It isn't so much a lack of talent; it's a lack of being able to repeat good shots consistently that frustrates most players. And the only answer to that is practice.

You're not going to tell me that you're going to find a person who's not a very good athlete and he or she is going to be a great player. But anyone can play the game. That's the nice thing about the game. You don't really have to be a world-class athlete to play the sport [golf] and have fun because of handicap systems.

This is a game. That's all it is. It's not a war.