Top 239 Quotes & Sayings by Jack Nicklaus - Page 3

Through years of experience I have found that air offers less resistance than dirt.

It's difficult to excel at something you don't truly 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.

You can win tournaments when you're mechanical, but golf is a game of emotion and adjustment. If you're not aware of what's happening to your mind and your body when you're playing, you'll never be able to be the very best you can be.

I never thought about being No. 1. I just kept trying to be No. 1.

Johnny Miller is a very honest guy. That may have been to his detriment sometimes. On television, he's too honest. We talk about it a lot. Do you really need to be that honest? You know what I mean? But he's a good man. He's a good family man. He's got good values, and we're delighted to have him as our honoree.

The importance of my legacy is not the golf course, it's what my life is, and what my life is intended to be. The game of golf is a game. My family is my life.

I don't really have a problem saying good-bye to things. All things come to an end.

If I had only one more round to play, I would choose to play it at Pebble Beach. I've loved this course from the first time I saw it. It's possibly the best in the world.

There's a guy who won't be in contention. There's another one I don't have to worry about.

Jones is the greatest golfer who ever lived and probably ever will live. That's my goal. Bobby Jones. It's the only goal.

Golf really excites me only when the course is difficult and challenging. I love competing. The pressure of competition against fine holes and fine players makes me feel very much alive.

We're not perfect every time. We make mistakes just like everybody else. But, we stay on top of it, and we stay with it, and we make sure we get it right.

Confidence is when you stand over a shot and know you're going to make it because you've done it time and time again.

Nobody ever remembers who finished second at anything.

I'm tired of giving my best and not having it be good enough.

The one strongest, most important part of my game is that I want to be the best. I won't accept anything less that that. My ability to concentrate and work toward hat goal has been my greatest asset.

Golf is a game of precision, not strength.

People only do their best at things they truly enjoy

You're always struggling because you're not playing on a 53-and-a-third by a 120-yard field. You're not playing on a baseball diamond. With golf, every field is different and every atmosphere is different. The grass is different. The weather is different. You're outside. You're not in a stadium. There are so many different variables, so you never master golf. So, I think good athletes like a challenge.

Before every shot, I go to the movies

Golf is a nice game, but that's all. It's never going to be an exciting game to watch on TV. It's not a circus and never will be one. The audience for golf is not going to change significantly. It's always going to be people who play it, understand it, and love it.

The most difficult thing for me is keeping yourself focused on what you're doing. As you go play, you try to get your focus and desire. You don't do it to the level you would do it if you wanted to win. You have to work at it and be on top of your game.

A big part of managing a golf course is managing your swing on the course.

Every putt is different. Your feet dictate the stroke by how they feel on the green. I just never used the same stroke on every putt.

I couldn't care less who I'm paired with. There's nobody I've ever played better or worse with, thank goodness. You don't want any factor to be outside your control. What if Arnie's Army had bothered me? What id I'd said, "Oh geez, I'm paired with Palmer," I'd never had beaten him.

I don't care how old your children get, you're always a dad.

I knew that if I kept the pressure on and didn't do anything stupid I would probably win.

Over the first three rounds you're playing the course. In the final round, if you're in contention, you're playing the man.

He's going to be around a long, long time, if his body holds up. That's always a concern with a lot of players because of how much they play. A lot of guys can't handle it. But it looks like Tiger Woods can.

We don't play golf often [with kids] because they don't play that much anymore - because their kids don't play. It's like anything else - fathers these days end up in the parks on the weekends and they have their kids into lacrosse or soccer or whatever it might be.

One of the worst mistakes you can make in golf is trying to force the game.

When you lip out several putts in a row, you should never think that means that you're putting well. When you're putting well, the only question is what part of the hole it's going to fall in, not if it's going in.

I understand golf is a game, and I've never treated it as anything else. Family is something that's very special, and so they all contributed to the room. They all contributed to what my life was, my career was.

There are interesting times. The game is more fun when you are experimenting. One day yuor great, the next day scatterlog. But your learning. No that's not right. I probably have forgotten more about golf than I will ever learn. What you do is remember some of the things you thought you would never forget.

If you'd asked me at 30 where I'd be during the Masters when I was 46, I'd have pictured myself on a boat fishing, smoking a cigar, drinking a mint julep and watching it on television.

There are always new places to go fishing. For any fisherman, there's always a new place, always a new horizon

The US Open flag eliminates a lot of players. Some players just weren't meant to win the US Open. Quite often, they know it.

Essentially, he has been retired since he was 21.

1960, I was 20 years old, and I was leading the U.S. Open. Now, I wasn't leading by several strokes, but I was leading the U.S. Open and playing with Ben Hogan, had a very good chance to win, nine holes to go, I was leading. I was still leading with six holes to play.

We called [my son] Gary "Little Herschel" when he was in middle school - but then he didn't grow any taller. He ended up playing golf and being a really nice golfer.

I always practice as I intend to play.

To sink a six-foot putt with thirty million people looking over your shoulder, convince yourself that, if you miss it, you will be embarrassed and poor.

Temper is the one thing you can't get rid of by losing it.

You have to watch your handicap. My son Steve says, "Never make a putt you don't have to."

I was never satisfied if I didn't win a major. I mean, not that year or any major I played, I wasn't satisfied unless I won it. But that's what our goals are. I'm sure that these guys' goals are the same as mine. They want to win every time they play. If you don't win, then you're not happy, obviously.

If you're going to be a player people will remember, you have to win the Open at St. Andrews.

Grand Haven will challenge the skilled player yet, because of some width to the holes, it also will be a fun course that the average player can enjoy.

I think we have more good players today [2016] than we've ever had in the game of golf. And I think that's saying a lot because we had a lot of good players when I played. I think you had a bit of a lag in there for a while, that Tiger was just so much better than everybody else that he really didn't put anybody in with him.

I don't think you ever will yourself to win. I think you prepare yourself the best you can, get yourself in the best mindset you can get in, and go after it.

Who in the world remembers who won the 1975 Westchester Classic or the 1978 Western Open? Basically, the majors are the only comparison over time . . . played on the same courses for generations. All the best players are always there.

That "I don't give a darn" attitude is probably why I've shot so many good final rounds over the years when I started the day a few shots behind with nothing to lose. . . and maybe that's why I've shot so many bad last rounds when I was ahead and knew I couldn't afford a mistake.

My workout was playing other sports and I always played tennis, football, basketball, threw a baseball - I was always doing something to keep me active. That's how I kept my body going.

The golf course is always in good shape. Paul Latshaw does a reasonable job.

Augusta National is a young man's golf course, and you really need a young man's nerves to play on it.

Golf was my vehicle to competition and I can't play if I can't compete.

As long as I'm prepared, I always expect to win.

I've always tried to play golf with a golf club. I have a hard time driving with my rifle. I mean, 18 is really narrow ... I have no problem with the course, except for the tee shot on 18.

Athletes today get into a single-minded, one sport routine. I can't stand it.

Reflection is a scene that I will cherish forever.