I just can't stomach playing poorly. More than anything, I hate not getting the most out of my game.
I think the attitude I was trying to learn myself was to really try hard, to give a great effort, to really care, and to let the results go where they are going to go. But at the same time, I don't have to be happy, and I shouldn't be happy, with less than my best.
When you - when you play golf with somebody, you spend four hours or more walking with somebody, usually, you learn something about them that you didn't know before.
When I putt well, I do very well. When I putt poorly, I struggle to be in the game.
To have faith doesn't mean you get any less frustrated when you don't do your best, but you know that it's not life and death. Take what you're given, and when you continue to work hard, you will see results. That will give you the confidence you need to keep going.
I think you only hold U.S. Opens on great courses.
The most satisfying accomplishment for me was winning the British Open in 1996. But the most rewarding times were the times on the mini tours.
I had played in a tournament with the captain of the University of Minnesota's golf team, and he thought I was good. He called his coach, and the coach called me and recruited me. A five-minute phone call changed my life.
I started playing golf because I wanted to be good. After a while, you have to come to a decision of, 'Am I good enough or not?' If you say 'yes,' then it's a simple step towards deciding to be as good as you can be.
I think that major championships are as much about attitude as they are anything else.
The game itself, I think, plays into the strength of my game, which has always been tee to green, hitting the ball consistently in play and managing my game. Putting has always been the one thing that's been a bit more erratic.
I play with a lot of guys who say they're a five handicap, and they shoot 110. And then you play with guys who say they are a 20 and they shoot 75.
Like most kids, my dad played. He would drag us out to the course and make us shag balls for him and caddy and all that kind of stuff.
I think if you look at most successful people, if you ask most of them, their biggest influence was their dad.
I think that more than the winning, the weeks where I don't play well are what drive me the most.
I think it's easy to enjoy anywhere that you play where you feel like you got a chance to win a lot.
I think one of the big issues with, you know, people who have strong faith in addition to competing is that conflict between accepting things the way they are, and wanting to compete and get better, and at what point are you in the right balance.
There are times when you feel like you give a great effort, you have prepared properly, and you got less than what you wanted. So on the one hand, you should feel really good about that and just let the results be what they are. On the other hand, you can't be happy with it when you finished 19th.
