Harvey Penick Quotes

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

The game itself, I think, plays into the strength of my game, which has always been tee to green, hitting the ball consistently in play and managing my game. Putting has always been the one thing that's been a bit more erratic.

I will fall in love with any golf course that you have to drive the ball straight. You understand what I'm saying? That's my advantage. My advantage wasn't putting. In fact, I wasn't even a great putter or a good putter.

Play the shot you've got the best chance of playing well.

There isn't a hole out there [Augusta] that can't be birdied if you just think. But there isn't one that can't be double-bogeyed if you stop thinking.

The most important shot in golf is the next one.

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

My first years on tour, I tried to be super professional by considering the yardages to every feature and hazard. Over time my caddie and I noticed I play better when we keep it simple. Think about the distance you want the ball to fly, and only that number.

I felt like, by the end of the week in the U.S. Amateur, I was never aiming at a flag; I was just hitting it at slopes and just letting the natural contours take over.

I've always said, the harder the golf course, the better I play.

I don't want to rest on my laurels. I still feel like I'm learning a lot about the golf game and the swing. There are so many different little facets of golf that there is always something to learn.

It is nothing new or original to say that golf is played one stroke at a time. But it took me many years to realize it.

He started pushing to make birdies and you don't do that when you're down.

At the U.S. Open, you're going to make bogeys.

But I'd say that probably 70 percent of the bunkering is more to give you an idea of the direction that you want to go or to save your ball from going into worse places.

You have to know how to read your lie and take a calculated risk when you hit out of the rough.

The game of golf doesn't come rushing back to you. Last week I made a couple of fundamental mistakes that I probably wouldn't have made in the heat of the battle back when I was in my heyday, and those things have got to come back.

Anybody who plays golf will tell you that you play against yourself.

I'm a pretty low-stress guy. I take what the golf course gives me. Some days, when I'm in full control, I'm able to fire at pins with 5-irons. Other days, I'm looking more toward the middle of the green.

It is never easy to win but it is a lot easier to win when you play well. The key is winning golf tournaments when you are not playing so well. Managing your game is something that I feel that I am still learning to do.

I've had the luxury of playing golf around the world, and I've spent a lot of time evaluating how to play all kinds of courses.

I'd say 230 yards off the tee is my average. Short game is a strength. I don't three-putt often. Actually, I'd say my mental game is probably the best. I'm very good at staying positive and focused on my game.

For amateur golfers, I think one of the biggest mistakes is to model their play on professionals.

My golf game is lacking big time.

Golf doesn't really have many big guys.