Golf Psychology Quotes

Obviously, in a sport like golf, we see Tiger Woods fall off. There's not really too much damage he can take from that, although when you watch him and he sucks, and you're like, 'God, you used to be so good but you suck now,' it's disconcerting as a fan.

I think most amateurs dread playing a 180-plus-yard par 3 even more than a hard par 4. Part of it is psychological: You think you should be getting a breather, distance-wise, and instead, you get hit with a long iron or hybrid shot over trouble.

No-one will ever have golf under his thumb. No round ever will be so good it could not have been better. Perhaps this is why golf is the greatest of games. You are not playing a human adversary; you a playing a game. You are playing old man par.

Golf is difficult to get your personality over because you are such a bottle of concentration.

It's important for me to understand more about my swing and my game, no matter who I end up working with.

Golf is the Great Mystery. Like some capricous goddess, it bestows its favours with what would appear an almost fat-headed lack of method and discrimination. On every side we see big two-fisted he-men floundering round in three figures, stopping every few minutes to let through little shrimps with knock-knees and hollow cheeks, who are tearing up snappy seventy-fours.

As my followers know, I'm always looking for ways to improve my game and have a little more fun on the course.

I mean I don't want to feel inferior to any other golfer in the world. You know if you do that, then you know you're giving them an advantage, you know, right off the - you know, right from the start.

Addressing a golf ball would seem to be a simple matter; that is, to the uninitiated who cannot appreciate that a golf ball can hold more terrors than a spacious auditorium packed with people.

Track and field is tougher physically, but golf is tougher mentally.

Golf is deceptively simple, endlessly complicated. A child can play it well and a grown man can never master it. It is almost a science, yet it is a puzzle with no answer.

To play well you must feel tranquil and at peace. I have never been troubled by nerves in golf because I felt I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I don't think you would have missed that putt, but in these circumstances, I would never give you the opportunity.

Bad putting is due more to the effect the green has upon the player than it has upon the action of the ball.

Golfers are the greatest worriers in the world of sport.

The golf ball has no sense at all, which is why it has to be given stern lectures constantly, especially during the act of putting.

Golf is the greatest sport of all to see if you can handle pressure.

Second guesses in putting are fatal.

I'd say that golf is about 75% mental. If your state of mind gets out of kilter, you're worse off than a tomcat floating on a log.

The hardest thing in golf is trying to two-putt when you have to, because your brain isn't wired that way. You're accustomed to trying to make putts, and when you change that mind-set, your brain short-circuits, especially under pressure.

Bets lengthen putts and shorten drives.

I'm one of a few guys on the PGA Tour who doesn't work with an instructor. I'm not saying mechanics don't matter. But I play my best when I focus on staying in a good place mentally and keep the technique simple.

You have to be optimistic about golf. I mean it's physically demanding, particularly if you're on one leg. But it's psychologically demanding regardless of your physical infirmities. I mean, it's a tough sport. You've got to be disciplined and optimistic. And if you have a bad hole, you've got to be optimistic that you'll do well on the next hole.

I've studied golf for almost 50 years now and know a hell of a lot about nothing.

Does anyone actually think I'm going to call Tiger Woods and tell him what to do with his swing one day, and he's going to go out and do it, simple as that? It doesn't work like that.