Jack Nicklaus Quotations

Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one's level of aspiration and expectation.

Golfers have a tendency to be very masochistic. They like to punish themselves for some reason. A lot of them like tough courses.

The best way to cope with trouble is to stay out of it as much as possible.

Well, the biggest rival I had in my career was me.

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

Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You've got to believe you can play a shot instead of wondering where your next bad shot is coming from.

A big part of managing a golf course is managing your swing on the course. A lot of guys can go out and hit a golf ball, but they have no idea how to manage what they do with the ball. I've won as many golf tournaments hitting the ball badly as I have hitting the ball well.

Resolve never to quit, never to give up, no matter what the situation.

If I have a weakness, it's probably ice cream. That's where I get lax, sloppy. I'll sneak into the refrigerator at night and take two or three bites and put it back. Butter pecan. Only two or three bites, but it shows.

People don't want to go to the dump and have a picnic, they want to go out to a beautiful place and enjoy their day. And so I think our job is to try to take the environment, take what the good Lord has given us, and expand upon it or enhance it, without destroying it.

I'm a firm believer that in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at something you don't enjoy.

Success depends almost entirely on how effectively you learn to manage the game's two ultimate adversaries: the course and yourself.

I'd rather be two strokes ahead going into the last day than two strokes behind. Having said that, it's probably easier to win coming from behind. There is no fear in chasing. There is fear in being chased.

There isn't a flaw in his golf or his makeup. He will win more majors than Arnold Palmer and me combined. Somebody is going to dust my records. It might as well be Tiger, because he's such a great kid.

Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.

He has the finest, fundamentally sound golf swing I've ever seen.

The fact is, I diet every day of my life. I have to work at it. But I diet so I can pig out.

A kid grows up a lot faster on the golf course. Golf teaches you how to behave.

All I ever wanted to do was play competitive golf against the best players in the world.

This is a game. That's all it is. It's not a war.

He had a lot of talent, but didn't have much dedication, wasn't organized, didn't know how to learn, didn't know how to comprehend what he was doing, didn't try to learn how to get better.

Crises are part of life. Everybody has to face them, and it doesn't make any difference what the crisis is.

I never worried about money, except that I knew that all I had to worry about was golf. As long as I could play, I was going to make money.

I don't believe in luck. Not in golf, anyway. There are good bounces and bad bounces, sure, but the ball is round and so is the hole. If you find yourself in a position where you hope for luck to pull you through, you're in serious trouble.

The biggest rival I had in my career was me. I couldn't control Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson or Lee Trevino. The only person I could control was me.

The longer you play, the better chance the better player has of winning.

My goal has always been to win more tournaments than anyone. I think we all try to do something in life that separates us from someone else.

Naturally it is nice to be widely known for worthwhile achievements, but it forces you to do many things which you don't like to do and these things take up time you want for other things.

From a tournament standpoint that will be it for me,

I have always said that if I am healthy, competitive enough, and can contribute to the tournament by being a part of the field, then the Memorial Tournament is the one event I would like to play,

When he won his match, I told him, 'We'll, you've doubled your allotment for the week,'

I love Augusta. Don't get me wrong. All I want is for Augusta to be Augusta, because it's such a great tournament. But when you take a golf course and limit the number of people that have the ability to win ... Their intention is not to do that. But they're doing that.

I always enjoyed La Costa. I had some great times there. It was kind of funny, because La Costa sat right on the heels of the Masters and I'd say to my wife, 'I really don't want to go out and play this week; I'm tired.' And Barbara would say, 'You get out of this house and get out there and play.' And she'd kick me out and make me go out there, and rightfully so, because I always had good preparation for the Masters and it carried over many times into the Tournament of Champions.

It allows somebody like myself, who is really not playing a whole lot of golf, to have some fun, play with some of my old friends, and have a little competition which I always yearn for.

Tiger's record may not be the best in the Presidents Cup, ... but I tell you what, he gets pumped up to play.

I would like to know I shot under par, ... If I play again, then it won't make any difference. If I don't play again, at least my last round was under par. I had a chance to shoot a pretty darn low round, but I messed it up.

My biggest fear in coming here this week was that I didn't want to shoot a couple of 80-somethings,

When asked 'You really know your way around the course. What's your secret?' The holes are numbered.

As I sat down, Norman started making birdies. I got nervous, so I got up and started walking around. They didn't make as many birdies when I walked around, so I walked around the rest of the time.

Angelo was known for his ... grey afro, but he should also be known for being an excellent caddie, ... Angelo always went out early in the morning and got the pins, and knew enough of the golf course and my golf game, that any information I needed, he generally had.

I've said numerous occasions, I think that the potential of the Presidents Cup to be greater than the Ryder Cup is there, simply because the scope is larger. I think there are probably more good players, as it relates to world rankings, than probably if you played the Ryder Cup. I think the Presidents Cup has come of age.

It was very important for Phil, ... When he won his match I said, 'Well, you've doubled your allotment for the week.' So we gave him a hard time.

First hole, I hit a driver, 3-wood and a 7-iron.

See, as much as I love the game, golf was my vehicle to competition. And I love to compete.

That one is something I have a hard time just fathoming,

Also, there's nobody on the tour today who could hit the ball as well as Lee Trevino or Ben Hogan.

In many ways, Angelo was part of our family, and Barbara and I will miss him greatly.

I know what they're trying to do; they're trying to make it the same golf clubs that players traditionally should play into the greens. Whether they've gone overboard, I don't know. I just know they eliminated a lot of guys who don't have the ability to do that.

I know that when I see Tiger Woods showed up a day early. And Charles Howell, Chris DiMarco and Jay Haas - they all four were here a day before anybody was supposed to be here to play the golf course and get ready for it.

I know what Augusta is trying to do.

I know what Augusta is trying to do. Whether they've gone overboard, I'm not sure. But they've eliminated a lot of guys who are able to win. That's the change at Augusta I have a hard time with.

If I were to look back on my work, I think I accomplished probably about 70 to 75 percent of what I could have. Maybe 60 percent. Somewhere in that area; two-thirds of what I could have accomplished. If I had been a really dedicated person, and really worked hard, I think I could have accomplished more.

Darkness? You're going to have to ask a higher power. I don't have the answer to that question.

It obviously meant a lot to a lot of people. It was special to the golfing world because they just didn't expect that to happen.

I had a group of guys that was pretty special, ... They wanted to win, they bonded together, they worked hard with each other and they tried everything we could to get the right pairings. They kept telling me what they wanted to do. I said, 'OK,' and that's what happened. They did it.

I have said many times that most people work all their life to retire to play golf, while I played golf all my life to retire to work. I enjoy working. It has kept me young and on the move, and I have had a good time with it.

The worse you're performing, the more you must work mentally and emotionally. The greatest and toughest art in golf is "playing badly well." All the true greats have been masters at it.

Pursue what you love, what you are passionate about. Don't let somebody else dictate your life's path.

I play the Father/Son every year on the PGA TOUR Champions. I split it between Jackie and Gary as my playing partners.

I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head.

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

We don’t have to do a bunch of things to figure out how to win the Ryder Cup. Just go play golf. ... I’m a little bit too casual probably about a lot of things, but you can’t force good play. Good play comes from good hard work and actually being prepared to play, not being forced to play.

It takes hundreds of good golf shots to gain confidence, but only one bad one to lose it.

I'll tell you one thing, they [my kids] all do love to hunt and fish. When they get together, I think that's what they get together more for than anything else.

Don't be too proud to take lessons. I'm not.

I suppose I get a lot of questions about Tiger. But Tiger Woods is a tremendous talent. He plays well. He has a great work ethic. He's probably as talented of a golfer as anyone who's ever played.

Talent isn't as important as the work and dedication necessary to become competent.

Pressure is what you live for...if you are going to be successful in life, you're going to have pressure.

Confidence is believing in your own ability, knowing what you have to do to win. My confidence was developed through preparation.

[Tiger Woods ] been unlucky with his body. I don't know whether some of it is self-induced or some of it is just unlucky. But we never know what happens with guys.

Once you play a tournament, you're playing against the golf course, you're playing against yourself and trying to do the best you can.

If there is one thing I have learned during my years as a professional, it is that the only thing constant about golf is its inconstancy.

Pete Egoscue has totally changed my life. Never have I experienced such complete pain relief as I have by following the Egoscue Method.

Focus on remedies, not faults.

I couldn't control Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson or Lee Trevino. The only person I could control was me. The only person I could prepare for events was me. And if I didn't play well, I didn't play well, and I wasn't going to compete.

I came back and in '63, I was at the British Open, trying to win my first British Open. And I had what I thought was a two-shot lead with two holes to play at Lytham. I remember it like it was yesterday. Anybody with a proper brain would have played the ball short of the hole. I didn't have a proper brain at the time. But you have to make that mistake to learn it.

I think he [Tiger Woods] is a determined young man who really wants to play.

I first saw Arnold Palmer when I was just a kid and he came to Columbus to play in a tournament. I watched him on the driving range hit balls that day. We went on to become great friends.

Ask yourself how many shots you would have saved if you always developed a strategy before you hit, always played within your capabilities, never lost you temper, and never got down on yourself.

Public appearances are a headache. I hold mine down to a minimum.

When I look back on when I grew up, not even football players lifted weights. That was back 50 years ago.

I learned early in my career, where you get so wrapped up and so excited, that all of a sudden you don't think. So I worked very hard to keep myself suppressed. And that's one of the reasons I wasn't gregarious with the gallery.

Tee your ball high...air offers less resistance than dirt.

Complacency is a continuous struggle that we all have to fight.

I played in a basketball league until I was 40 years old. I played every Monday night and the guys would say, "You take him out, and you'll see us afterwards."

Scoring comes from being able to preserve what you've got and play your smart shots when you need to play them and not do stupid things and take advantage of things when have you them.

People only do their best at things they truly enjoy

It's great to win, but it's also great fun just to be in the thick of any truly well and hard fought contest against opponents you respect, whatever the outcome.

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

Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety.

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.

There is no room in your mind for negative thoughts.

You get the kids today into the sport, and then they can't get to the "next level." I mean, come on, that's a bunch of junk.

Sometimes, I'm an ogre. I can be short. I'll walk into the office some days and I've gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, and everybody knows it. I'm a perfectionist. I like to be organized, and I like to get everything done today.

When I want a long ball, I spin my hips faster.

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

The successful people seem to have blinders on. Everything is straight ahead. They go forward and know exactly what they're going to do once they've made up their mind to do it, and by God they don't look sideways.

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

Nobody ever remembers who finished second at anything.

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.