As a kid growing up in Latrobe, PA, I could dream about being an Olympian like Jesse Owens or Johnny Weissmuller. I could also dream about being a great golfer like Bobby Jones or Byron Nelson. But the idea of being an Olympic golfer never occurred to me.

Had I not become a professional golfer, I think I would have pursued some type of career in aviation.

It is a rare and difficult attainment to grow old gracefully and happily.

I can remember back to my early tour days when some fellows didn't think I'd last too long. Nothing physical - they said it was my swing. Some said it was too much of a 'muscle swing' to stand the test of time. One fellow predicted I wouldn't get past 30 out there.

It was a wonderful experience to live the life for a year; to spend all day doing Shakespeare and then do a play in the evening.

This was Shakespeare's form; who walked in every path of human life, felt every passion; and to all mankind doth now, will ever, that experience yield which his own genius only could acquire.

The most important thing about music that I've learned after all this time is that to me, it's a way of reaching the truth.

In order for me to write, I have to experience life. I write the songs based on real life, and I perform them from a very real place.