I think a lot of Jim Thorpe, the Olympian, and his accomplishments.
I'm actually a very quiet person off the golf course. I talk 150 miles per hour when I'm at the course, but when in private I very seldom ever open my mouth.
His nerve, his memory, and I can't remember the third thing.
I never played much golf as a kid. I caddied quite a bit but never got serious into golf until about age 15.
There are two things that won't last long in this world, and that's dogs chasing cars and pros putting for pars.
The most interesting guy I've ever played with was King Hassan of Morocco. I went over there on a trip in the early 1970s, and the King and I played five holes. I've never been that nervous in my life.
I just feel like I have when I started making a lot of money, I started spreading it out to people. Mickelson, the whole deal, the over-tip: if I see a guy that looks like he needs a hand out or something, I'll pull something out and give him something.
My divorce came to me as a complete surprise. That's what happens when you haven't been home in eighteen years.
You can make a lot of money in this game. Just ask my ex-wives. Both of them are so rich that neither of their husbands work.
When you're poor, you know nothing about the future, you know nothing about the world, nothing that goes on outside 300 yards around you.
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.
Only bad golfers are lucky. They're the ones bouncing balls off trees, curbs, turtles and cars. Good golfers have bad luck. When you hit the ball straight, a funny bounce is bound to be unlucky.
My point is, there's no sense trying to squeeze something out of your swing if you can let your clubs do the shotmaking for you.
Green synthetic practice mats are the worst thing for your golf game that I know of. You can hit six inches behind the ball and not even know it, because the ball still gets airborne. Practice nets are awful, too. Swing a weighted club instead.
Sure, I've felt racism. I think everybody has prejudice. When I was growing up, the dark Mexican kids weren't allowed in the public swimming pool in Dallas. My light-skinned friend got in, and he laughed at us. It didn't seem like a big deal, because we didn't know any different. So I never ran into anything that actually scarred me.