Harvey Penick Quotes

In golf, advice is not a big thing. If you don't have the ability, you won't get anywhere no matter how much advice you get. The only thing people can suggest that matters is, be a good person and treat people respectfully. But advice on your game doesn't mean much to me.

I'm about five inches from being an outstanding golfer. That's the distance my left ear is from my right.

Golf is a puzzle without an answer. I've played the game for 40 years and I still haven't the slightest idea how to play.

Practice, work out, proper nutrition, lots of work on my short game. In golf, that's really where the strokes come off the scorecard.

Golf doesn't really have many big guys.

The only thing you should force in a golf swing is the club back in the bag.

A lot more variables in golf. But the biggest thing is like just routine. Like I think that's the biggest correlation between golfers and basketball players, is for me I really rely on my routine every single day when I get ready for games and how I prepare.

I didn't really get into golf until I was about 14. My mom and dad were taking lessons from a pro an hour and a half from our farm in Cohuna, Australia. When they got home, I'd ask my mom to explain everything they learned - drills and all.

Check the card before you play. If you have a couple of long par 3s, put an extra hybrid in your bag. You'll be glad you did.

Tiger's a horrible golf teacher.

Look at the putt from behind the hole. Everyday players almost never do this. They should! Your eyes will take in more information about the slope. Sometimes you'll find that your initial read was incorrect.

My grandson Sam Saunders has been playing golf since he could hold a club and I spent a lot of time with him over the years. Like my father taught me, I showed him the fundamentals of the game and helped him make adjustments as he and his game matured over the years.

I think when I was about 12 or 13, my dad started taking me out to the local golf course, and that's the first time I ever hit a golf ball. I picked it up pretty quickly, just kind of monkey-see, monkey-do. But when I was 12, golf was so slow to me. For me, it was basketball, girls and music.

My putting strategy is simple: If you're not making putts, don't be afraid to change your technique.

Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly complicated.

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.

I don't hit it very far; I don't overpower a golf course, but I think I'm a pretty decent putter. At Augusta National, putting is premium.

Whenever I dream of playing a perfect round of golf, which I rarely do more than a dozen times a day, I picture myself on one of my favorite British Open-style links, and in particular the great courses of the west of Ireland, whose holes flow through naturally bunkered dunesland never far from the sight or sound of surf.

I have been an avid reader of 'Golf Digest' ever since I started playing this great game.

I used to read every golf magazine front to back; I was addicted to Golf Channel, read Rotella, read every golf book.

I started playing in '98, but I got hooked by playing celebrity golf tournaments. Tiger had a lot to do with it - his passion, the way that he plays. He's unique and different, and he inspired a lot of my passion. It's a sport you can't master. If you're an athlete, you can do almost anything, but golf is not like that.

You should never get set over the ball and then aim your putter face. If you do it in that order, you can easily lose sight of your intended line. Instead, aim the face down your line first, then settle your body into position.

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

I think every part of your game, on this golf course, needs to be good. You've got to hit every club in the bag. You need to drive it well, hit your irons well, and always, if you want to have a chance to win a Major, then you've got to putt it well.

I've got a good game plan... keep things simple with my golf swing.