110+ Jack Nicklaus Quotes On Winning, Golf And Tiger Woods

Jack Nicklaus is a legendary American professional golfer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time, having won a record 18 major championships. Nicklaus is also known for his golf course design business, which he started in the 1970s. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Jack Nicklaus on winning, golf, life.

Top 10 Jack Nicklaus Quotes

1. Resolve never to quit, never to give up, no matter what the situation.
2. Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one's level of aspiration and expectation.
3. I never hit a shot, not even in practice, without having a very sharp, in-focus picture of it in my head.
4. Pursue what you love, what you are passionate about. Don't let somebody else dictate your life's path.
5. Confidence is the most important single factor in this game, and no matter how great your natural talent, there is only one way to obtain and sustain it: work.
6. Talent isn't as important as the work and dedication necessary to become competent.
7. I'm a firm believer that in the theory that people only do their best at things they truly enjoy. It is difficult to excel at something you don't enjoy.
8. The older you get the stronger the wind gets -- and it's always in your face.
9. Sometimes the biggest problem is in your head. You've got to believe you can play a shot instead of wondering where your next bad shot is coming from.
10. It takes hundreds of good golf shots to gain confidence, but only one bad one to lose it.

Jack Nicklaus Image Quotes

The older you get the stronger the wind gets -- and it's always in your face. — Jack Nicklaus

Focus on remedies, not faults. — Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus Short Quotes

• Focus on remedies, not faults.
• Learn the fundamentals of the game and stick to them. Band-Aid remedies never last.
• Complacency is a continuous struggle that we all have to fight.
• Temper is the one thing you can't get rid of by losing it.
• There's a guy who won't be in contention. There's another one I don't have to worry about.
• Nobody ever remembers who finished second at anything.
• I guess that's why they call it Hell.
• He has the finest, fundamentally sound golf swing I've ever seen.
• A big part of managing a golf course is managing your swing on the course.
• The golf course is always in good shape. Paul Latshaw does a reasonable job.

Jack Nicklaus Quotes About Winning

Professional golf is the only sport where, if you win 20% of the time, you're the best. — Jack Nicklaus

The longer you play, the better chance the better player has of winning. — Jack Nicklaus

You can win tournaments when you're mechanical, but golf is a game of emotion and adjustment. If you're not aware of what's happening to your mind and your body when you're playing, you'll never be able to be the very best you can be. — Jack Nicklaus

There isn't a flaw in his golf or his makeup. He will win more majors than Arnold Palmer and me combined. Somebody is going to dust my records. It might as well be Tiger, because he's such a great kid. — Jack Nicklaus

I don't think about winning the Masters as part of the slam. You want to win the Masters because of what it means to the game. — Jack Nicklaus

Whether it's pool or Ping Pong, I can't stand to have my kids beat me. Especially Ping Pong! And when they beat me, they just needle the devil out of me. That's fine. I'd rather have that than let them win a shallow victory. — Jack Nicklaus

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

We don’t have to do a bunch of things to figure out how to win the Ryder Cup. Just go play golf. ... I’m a little bit too casual probably about a lot of things, but you can’t force good play. Good play comes from good hard work and actually being prepared to play, not being forced to play. — Jack Nicklaus

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

The most difficult thing for me is keeping yourself focused on what you're doing. As you go play, you try to get your focus and desire. You don't do it to the level you would do it if you wanted to win. You have to work at it and be on top of your game. — Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus Quotes About Golf

If there is one thing I have learned during my years as a professional, it is that the only thing constant about golf is its inconstancy. — Jack Nicklaus

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. — Jack Nicklaus

Once you play a tournament, you're playing against the golf course, you're playing against yourself and trying to do the best you can. — Jack Nicklaus

There is no room in your mind for negative thoughts. — Jack Nicklaus

Golf is not, and never has been, a fair game. — Jack Nicklaus

I've said many times before that Pebble Beach is a wonderful thinking-man's golf course. That is why it is such a great U.S. Open venue. — Jack Nicklaus

People only do their best at things they truly enjoy — Jack Nicklaus

Golf is a game of precision, not strength. — Jack Nicklaus

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. — Jack Nicklaus

The importance of my legacy is not the golf course, it's what my life is, and what my life is intended to be. The game of golf is a game. My family is my life. — Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus Quotes About Life

Pete Egoscue has totally changed my life. Never have I experienced such complete pain relief as I have by following the Egoscue Method. — Jack Nicklaus

Through years of experience I have found that air offers less resistance than dirt. — Jack Nicklaus

I understand golf is a game, and I've never treated it as anything else. Family is something that's very special, and so they all contributed to the room. They all contributed to what my life was, my career was. — Jack Nicklaus

You have to trust your kids. They have to experience life, and you just hope you've provided them a foundation for what's right and what isn't. — Jack Nicklaus

The fact is, I diet every day of my life. I have to work at it. But I diet so I can pig out. — Jack Nicklaus

Pressure is what you live for...if you are going to be successful in life, you're going to have pressure. — Jack Nicklaus

Tom Watson, Tom Watson blew, what, two PGA Championships and a U.S. Open. Did it destroy his life? No, it didn't destroy his life. He learned from it. He went on to win a lot of major championships and obviously became one of the world's great players. — Jack Nicklaus

It's difficult to excel at something you don't truly enjoy. — Jack Nicklaus

I think you've all heard my story about my daughter and how we felt Children's Hospital saved her life when she was less than a year old. I won't go through all of the details of that. — Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus Quotes About Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods has been unlucky with his body. I don't know whether some of it is self-induced or some of it is just unlucky. But we never know what happens with guys. — Jack Nicklaus

I think Tiger Woods is a determined young man who really wants to play. — Jack Nicklaus

I suppose I get a lot of questions about Tiger. But Tiger Woods is a tremendous talent. He plays well. He has a great work ethic. He's probably as talented of a golfer as anyone who's ever played. — Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus Quotes About Play

If I had only one more round to play, I would choose to play it at Pebble Beach. I've loved this course from the first time I saw it. It's possibly the best in the world. — Jack Nicklaus

I have a couple [of grandsons] that are in college playing lacrosse. It's great and it's fun. But they all also play golf a little bit. — Jack Nicklaus

We called [my son] Gary "Little Herschel" when he was in middle school - but then he didn't grow any taller. He ended up playing golf and being a really nice golfer. — Jack Nicklaus

I've always tried to play golf with a golf club. I have a hard time driving with my rifle. I mean, 18 is really narrow ... I have no problem with the course, except for the tee shot on 18. — Jack Nicklaus

Who in the world remembers who won the 1975 Westchester Classic or the 1978 Western Open? Basically, the majors are the only comparison over time . . . played on the same courses for generations. All the best players are always there. — Jack Nicklaus

I always practice as I intend to play. — Jack Nicklaus

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

[My boys] they're all different. Jackie was very competitive. He was a tough kid - a little bit like Nick. Steve was sort of a finesse guy. He was a little bit like Nick - if he could touch it, he'd catch it. He played wide receiver at Florida State. Then, Gary came along and Gary was more my size. — Jack Nicklaus

[My son] Michael came along and he played a little bit of everything. He went to Georgia Tech on a golf scholarship. — Jack Nicklaus

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. — Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus Quotes About Sports

There is no room in your mind for negative thoughts. The busier you keep yourself with the particulars of shot assessment and execution, the less chance your mind has to dwell on the emotional. This is sheer intensity. — Jack Nicklaus

Before every shot, I go to the movies — Jack Nicklaus

I know it sounds selfish, wanting to do something no one else has done. But that's what you're out here for - to separate yourself from everyone else. — Jack Nicklaus

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. — Jack Nicklaus

This is a game. That's all it is. It's not a war. — Jack Nicklaus

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

I don't think you ever will yourself to win. I think you prepare yourself the best you can, get yourself in the best mindset you can get in, and go after it. — Jack Nicklaus

It's great to win, but it's also great fun just to be in the thick of any truly well and hard fought contest against opponents you respect, whatever the outcome. — Jack Nicklaus

The one strongest, most important part of my game is that I want to be the best. I won't accept anything less that that. My ability to concentrate and work toward hat goal has been my greatest asset. — Jack Nicklaus

What's interesting about golf is that most athletes end up gravitating toward golf because it is such a difficult sport. — Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus Quotes About Work

My ability to concentrate and work toward that goal has been my greatest asset. — Jack Nicklaus

Nick O'Leary loves to compete. His work ethic is fantastic, and that's what I like about him. He works, and works, and works; and if he has to get better, he gets better. — Jack Nicklaus

I'm more proud of the good rounds I've played while hitting the ball badly than of the great rounds while hitting the ball well. I understand my swing well enough to get myself through a tournament and win it. I've made it work. — Jack Nicklaus

I love the golf courses because it brought the best out of me. It made me prepare, made me work at it, made me do the things I needed to do to be better, and that's what I loved about USGA events. If you couldn't handle it, then you got beat, and that's OK. — Jack Nicklaus

The worse you're performing, the more you must work mentally and emotionally. The greatest and toughest art in golf is "playing badly well." All the true greats have been masters at it. — Jack Nicklaus

I thoroughly enjoy working with kids, whether it's The First Tee or the lesson tee with my grandkids. — Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus Quotes About Shot

You try to figure out the two things that I use as the philosophy to do a golf course. The first is that most people are really interested in something being aesthetically pleasing and good to the eye. The second is that a good golfer likes good golf shots. — Jack Nicklaus

Scoring comes from being able to preserve what you've got and play your smart shots when you need to play them and not do stupid things and take advantage of things when have you them. — Jack Nicklaus

There's more to be learned here [St. Andrews] about course design than anywhere. Collection bunkers, false fronts, bump shots. The fundamentals of design became fundamental because of what's here. And it happened accidentally. Or maybe accidentally on purpose. — Jack Nicklaus

I always look to see what Arnold [Palmer] shot; it's a habit. We will always compete against each other. — Jack Nicklaus

That "I don't give a darn" attitude is probably why I've shot so many good final rounds over the years when I started the day a few shots behind with nothing to lose. . . and maybe that's why I've shot so many bad last rounds when I was ahead and knew I couldn't afford a mistake. — Jack Nicklaus

If you design something pretty with good golf shots in it, then I think that's the combination that creates a really nice golf course. — Jack Nicklaus

Confidence is when you stand over a shot and know you're going to make it because you've done it time and time again. — Jack Nicklaus

Jack Nicklaus Famous Quotes And Sayings

The older you get the stronger the wind gets -- and it's always in your face. — Jack Nicklaus

The successful people seem to have blinders on. Everything is straight ahead. They go forward and know exactly what they're going to do once they've made up their mind to do it, and by God they don't look sideways. — Jack Nicklaus

Johnny Miller is a very honest guy. That may have been to his detriment sometimes. On television, he's too honest. We talk about it a lot. Do you really need to be that honest? You know what I mean? But he's a good man. He's a good family man. He's got good values, and we're delighted to have him as our honoree. — Jack Nicklaus

If a guy is a good athlete, he'll end up being a pretty decent golfer if he just takes it up. But you never master it; even the best players in the world never master the game. — Jack Nicklaus

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. — Jack Nicklaus

I never went into a tournament or round of golf thinking I had to beat a certain player. I had to beat the golf course. If I prepared myself for a major, went in focused, and then beat the golf course, the rest took care of itself. — Jack Nicklaus

When you lip out several putts in a row, you should never think that means that you're putting well. When you're putting well, the only question is what part of the hole it's going to fall in, not if it's going in. — Jack Nicklaus

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.' — Jack Nicklaus

There are interesting times. The game is more fun when you are experimenting. One day yuor great, the next day scatterlog. But your learning. No that's not right. I probably have forgotten more about golf than I will ever learn. What you do is remember some of the things you thought you would never forget. — Jack Nicklaus

There are always new places to go fishing. For any fisherman, there's always a new place, always a new horizon — Jack Nicklaus

We're not perfect every time. We make mistakes just like everybody else. But, we stay on top of it, and we stay with it, and we make sure we get it right. — Jack Nicklaus

I think we have more good players today [2016] than we've ever had in the game of golf. And I think that's saying a lot because we had a lot of good players when I played. I think you had a bit of a lag in there for a while, that Tiger was just so much better than everybody else that he really didn't put anybody in with him. — Jack Nicklaus

I think in my case winning fans came as a result of winning tournaments. Certainly, I didn't have too many supporters when I came on Tour. I didn't look like an athlete, I was overweight, had a crew cut, baggy clothes and on top of that I didn't smile much. I was very serious about my game, literally and figuratively the heavy. — Jack Nicklaus

If you'd asked me at 30 where I'd be during the Masters when I was 46, I'd have pictured myself on a boat fishing, smoking a cigar, drinking a mint julep and watching it on television. — Jack Nicklaus

When the British Open is in Scotland, there's something special about it. And when it's at St. Andrews, it's even greater. — Jack Nicklaus

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. — Jack Nicklaus

You're not going to tell me that you're going to find a person who's not a very good athlete and he or she is going to be a great player. But anyone can play the game. That's the nice thing about the game. You don't really have to be a world-class athlete to play the sport [golf] and have fun because of handicap systems. — Jack Nicklaus

If you're going to be a player people will remember, you have to win the Open at St. Andrews. — Jack Nicklaus

The US Open flag eliminates a lot of players. Some players just weren't meant to win the US Open. Quite often, they know it. — Jack Nicklaus

It's a great sense of accomplishment when you can take something and really think it's really tough, and then all of a sudden you conquer it. That makes you feel pretty good. — Jack Nicklaus

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 he can. — Jack Nicklaus

I knew that if I kept the pressure on and didn't do anything stupid I would probably win. — Jack Nicklaus

I never worried about money, except that I knew that all I had to worry about was golf. As long as I could play, I was going to make money. — Jack Nicklaus

Such is putting! 2% technique, 98% inspiration or confidence or touch...the only thing great putters have in common is touch and that is the critical ingredient...none of them found it through mechanizing a stroke, nor do I believe they could maintain it that way. — Jack Nicklaus

If you want to hit it farther, hit it better. — Jack Nicklaus

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. — Jack Nicklaus

There are no maladies in my golf game. My golf game stinks. — Jack Nicklaus

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. — Jack Nicklaus

I played in a basketball league until I was 40 years old. I played every Monday night and the guys would say, "You take him out, and you'll see us afterwards." — Jack Nicklaus

You're always struggling because you're not playing on a 53-and-a-third by a 120-yard field. You're not playing on a baseball diamond. With golf, every field is different and every atmosphere is different. The grass is different. The weather is different. You're outside. You're not in a stadium. There are so many different variables, so you never master golf. So, I think good athletes like a challenge. — Jack Nicklaus

Nobody - but nobody - has ever become really proficient at golf without practice, without doing a lot of thinking and then hitting a lot of shots. It isn't so much a lack of talent; it's a lack of being able to repeat good shots consistently that frustrates most players. And the only answer to that is practice. — Jack Nicklaus

Oakmont, you've got to be playing slope. — Jack Nicklaus

We [with my wife] felt like we had the ability to help people not just on a local basis, but on a national basis. — Jack Nicklaus

You have to love something and have a passion for it to be disciplined. My commitment was purely to golf — Jack Nicklaus

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. — Jack Nicklaus

When I look back on when I grew up, not even football players lifted weights. That was back 50 years ago. — Jack Nicklaus

My kids all do love to hunt and fish. When they get together, I think that's what they get together more for than anything else. — Jack Nicklaus

I think I fail a bit less than everyone else. — Jack Nicklaus

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

If there is one thing golf demands above all else, it is honesty. — Jack Nicklaus

We also play a Father/Son at home and I play with Steve, too. I try to mix it up. We play two or three times a year, but that's about it. — Jack Nicklaus

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. — Jack Nicklaus

I never thought about being No. 1. I just kept trying to be No. 1. — Jack Nicklaus

None of the guys did anything. We never did anything. I never really got into the workout room until I was about 40 years old. I was pretty strong and I didn't think I needed that much. — Jack Nicklaus

Essentially, he has been retired since he was 21. — Jack Nicklaus

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

...said Nicklaus, 'was a brotherhood, I suppose'. — Jack Nicklaus

I didn't push any of my kids into golf, and they played golf because they wanted to. — Jack Nicklaus

One of the worst mistakes you can make in golf is trying to force the game. — Jack Nicklaus

Tee your ball high...air offers less resistance than dirt. — Jack Nicklaus

Life Lessons by Jack Nicklaus

1. Jack Nicklaus teaches that hard work and dedication can lead to success; he worked tirelessly to become one of the greatest golfers of all time.
2. He also emphasizes the importance of having a strong support system; Nicklaus credits his wife and family for helping him stay focused and motivated.
3. Finally, Nicklaus encourages people to never give up, even when the odds seem insurmountable; he was able to overcome obstacles and achieve greatness through perseverance.