As a kid in Fayetteville, N.C., I played golf all day, every day, a lot of it by myself. I spent hundreds of hours around the greens at Cape Fear Valley, the course my dad owned, hitting every shot I could think of - the one-hop-and-release, the chip that lands dead, the explosion from a bad lie.

Golf is a game, and games are meant to be enjoyed.

Doug Ford was one of the first of the old pros I saw during my first full year on tour, in 1963. To this day he's the best chipper I've ever seen. One thing Doug did was get the ball onto the green and rolling right away, keeping it as low as possible. He never hit his chips higher than was absolutely necessary.

I was from North Carolina, so as a youngster all of my mind games about golf were always, If I make this I win The Masters, if I hole this par putt I win The Masters. So it was a great thrill to play there.

If I play my best, I can win anywhere in the world against anybody.

The game was easy for me as a kid. I had to play a while to find out how hard it is.

I'm used to the golf course playing soft, so tomorrow I'm going to have to pay attention a little bit more.