Best 195 quotes of Jack Nicklaus on MyQuotes

1960, I was 20 years old, and I was leading the U.S. Open. Now, I wasn't leading by several strokes, but I was leading the U.S. Open and playing with Ben Hogan, had a very good chance to win, nine holes to go, I was leading. I was still leading with six holes to play.

A big part of managing a golf course is managing your swing on the course.

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.

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

Age doesn't make a difference either. Whether you're 20 or 70, you can still play together. There are so many different things you can do with golf that you can't do in other sports.

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

And, of course, I'm constantly energized by designing courses around the world.

A Nicklaus Design golf course is done by the guys in my company that I work with, that have been trained in my vision, and they do what they think I might do. They might come in the office and ask me questions and I'd certainly answer their questions, but I'm not involved in the site visits or anything else.

Any golfer worth his salt has to cross the sea and try to win the British Open.

A perfectly straight shot with a big club is a fluke.

Arnold's place in history will be as the man who took golf from being a game for the few to a sport for the masses. He was the catalyst who made that happen.

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.

As long as I'm prepared, I always expect to win.

At a certain point in the [golf] tournament, it becomes a match play event and becomes a match play event against who is on the leaderboard, so you have to know who is there to do what you're going to try to do.

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

Augusta National is a young man's golf course, and you really need a young man's nerves to play on it.

Barbara [my wife] and I said a long time ago that if we were in a position to help somebody, it would be kids. So when we started the Memorial Tournament (in Columbus, OH), Nationwide Children's Hospital, which saved my daughter's life when she was less than a year old, was the beneficiary from day one.

Before every shot, I go to the movies

Ben Hogan was not really a big hitter. He was long enough. But Ben Hogan today? Ben Hogan today could not compete at Augusta because he did not have the massive length to compete against the long hitters. Power was always an issue at Augusta, but never so dominant that you couldn't play it.

Bob Ford is a great guy. He's a great friend. He's done a great job at Oakmont and Seminole. He's a very quiet man. He doesn't get in the middle of everything, but he understands what a nice job he's done at both places.

But if I played well and prepared myself properly, then all I had to do was control myself and put myself in a position to win.

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

Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety.

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

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

Did you know there's probably more golf played in Iceland than most places in the world? They play 24 hours a day in the summertime and the northern part is warmer than the southern part.

Donald Trump has been a good friend for a long time. I texted him after the election and I said 'congratulations, Mr. President. The Nicklauses are all happy for the Trumps,' and I said, 'It's time to bring American together, make American great again as you wish.'

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

Every putt is different. Your feet dictate the stroke by how they feel on the green. I just never used the same stroke on every putt.

Focus on remedies, not faults.

For years, I never thought I needed a short game. Finally I just decided to do something about it. I needed to get up and down from tough spots on the par-5s for my birdies. So I went to Phil [Rogers]. He's the best. For the last couple weeks, Phil has been staying at my house and we've been practicing in the evening.

Golf is a better game played downhill.

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

Golf is a game of precision, not strength.

Golf is game of respect and sportsmanship; we have to respect its traditions and its rules.

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.

Golf is you against yourself.

Golf really excites me only when the course is difficult and challenging. I love competing. The pressure of competition against fine holes and fine players makes me feel very much alive.

Golf was my vehicle to competition and I can't play if I can't compete.

Grand Haven will challenge the skilled player yet, because of some width to the holes, it also will be a fun course that the average player can enjoy.

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.

He's going to be around a long, long time, if his body holds up. That's always a concern with a lot of players because of how much they play. A lot of guys can't handle it. But it looks like Tiger Woods can.

How people keep correcting us when we are young! There is always some bad habit or other they tell us we ought to get over. Yet most bad habits are tools to help us through life.

I always practice as I intend to play.

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 can barely turn on my computer!

I couldn't care less who I'm paired with. There's nobody I've ever played better or worse with, thank goodness. You don't want any factor to be outside your control. What if Arnie's Army had bothered me? What id I'd said, "Oh geez, I'm paired with Palmer," I'd never had beaten him.

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 don't believe in philosophies. I believe in fundamentals.

I don't care how old your children get, you're always a dad.