Say what? Quotes of the Year: Part II

• By Golf Channel Digital
• Dec 23, 2012 9:00 AM ET

“I was probably five.” – Phil Mickelson, when asked to recall the last time he played seven holes in 7 over, including scores of 5 on each of the last six. He withdrew after shooting 7-over 79 in the first round of the Memorial Tournament.

“Did he make a mistake? Hell, yeah, he made a huge mistake. But did he ruin the game that I play? No. I wish he never would've done that. He might have 100 wins by now, and he would still be picked on.” – Fred Couples, on Tiger Woods' personal affairs that came to light after Thanksgiving in 2009. He went on to say it’s time for Woods’ critics to move past his personal troubles.

Quotes of the Year: Part I

“He wants to win another major championship so bad to shut everybody up; I honestly believe the pressure got to him, and he choked.” – Brandel Chamblee, on Woods falling out of U.S. Open contention in the third round.

“I'd love Tiger to go out first and kick his ass.” – Rory McIlroy, half-joking, in his Barclays news conference, talking about a possible singles match on Sunday of the Ryder Cup against Woods.

“The dogs in the street knew I wasn’t getting a pick, so it wasn’t a hard phone call whatsoever. It was a polite phone call from Jose (Maria Olazabal). I knew the result.” – Padraig Harrington, on not being selected for the European Ryder Cup team.

“What I'm seeing is that Tiger's really intimidated by Rory. When have you ever seen him intimidated by another player? Never. But I think he knows his time's up, and that's normal; these things tend to go in 15-year cycles. Jack (Nicklaus) took it from Arnold (Palmer). I took it from Jack, Tiger from me and now it looks like Rory's taking it from Tiger.” – Greg Norman, creating an uproar with comments about Woods and his rivalry with McIlroy.

“Quiet, Greg, quiet. Down boy.” – Jack Nicklaus, responding to Norman's comment on Woods.

“I’m pretty calm and cool out there. He might be borderline dead, but I think it’s a good thing.” – Zach Johnson, on his partner Jason Dufner’s demeanor while on the course. Johnson and Dufner won two of their three matches while paired during the Ryder Cup.

“I had cysts in my rectum. How do you put that?” – Boo Weekley, on one of the reasons for his poor play in the last few years.

“Annika told me that world No. 1 is the loneliest place on the earth.” – Yani Tseng, referring to Annika Sorenstam, at the unveiling of an exhibit in Taipei, Taiwan that celebrated Tseng's rise to the top ranking.

“No disrespect at all to Fred Couples, who has had a lovely career. I understand that he won two TPCs, the Masters. But I won more PGA Tour events, more majors. I won a U.S. Amateur. I mention this to Bernhard Langer, and he said, ‘You're going to get in.’ Is it when I stop playing? When I'm 6 feet under? When there's no one left to put in?” – Mark O’Meara, on Fred Couples' World Golf Hall of Fame induction and his own omission.

“I’m going to tell you something: If (McIlroy) doesn’t come and play Bay Hill, he might have a broken arm, and he won’t have to worry about where he’s going to play next.” – Arnold Palmer, joking on “Morning Drive,” about McIlroy not playing in the 2013 Arnold Palmer Invitational. McIlroy has never played the tournament.

“Guys who play slow, we all know who they are. I feel like sometimes the guys get a hall pass because they’ll say, ‘Oh, I’m working on it.’ Well, you’re not working on it really hard because if you’re literally working on it and you’re still the slowest guy on Tour, then that says something about your work ethic because it hasn’t changed.” – Brandt Snedeker, during his visit with “Morning Drive.” He went on to call the pace-of-play issue on the PGA Tour “pathetic.”