Tom Watson

I've said many times, 'You learn to win through not liking to lose.' And that's what I mean by learning how to win.

If a course needs to be in great condition to be played effectively, then the design strategy is flawed.

I didn't learn how to swing a golf club until late in my career. And even though I won all those tournaments, I still struggled with consistency, and I relied on my strengths, which were hitting the ball long and high, and I could chip and putt with the best of 'em.

That's one of the things you get when you're playing golf. You get bad backs, bad necks.

I played team sport as a kid and loved it. I played basketball and football throughout high school into college in the intramurals and I loved it. There was nothing like a team.

Confidence in golf means being able to concentrate on the problem at hand with no outside interference.

I guess I have never been much of a complainer. You just take what is given you, and don't complain about what you can't affect.

I love the way the game of golf is lived and played in Scotland. I always have.

I have a special feeling for Blue Hills CC, where I won perhaps the most important tournament of my life when I was 14 - the Kansas City Match Play Championship. It gave me a dream of becoming a professional golfer.

My father wasn't a hard guy. He was a well-liked guy. He had a lot of compassion about things in life. There were rules, but there was also flexibility within those rules. He didn't push me when it came to golf: he just taught me the right way to play the game.

When you come off that last hole and you've just finished a good round of golf, life is good. When you come off that last hole and you messed it up through four or five holes and just played a lousy round of golf, it's just not a very good day. It just isn't.

I hope that I've been able to treat people with the respect they've shown me. That's basically the tenet you try to live by. I haven't been successful at it all my life, but that's what I strive for.