Quotes of the Week

By Golf Channel Digital
Jun 17, 2012 11:05 PM ET

“He appeared in front of me and I didn’t know if it was part of the deal. I never won a major, I never know what to expect.” – Webb Simpson, on a mysterious man jumping in front of the TV camera and crowing like a bird while Simpson was being interviewed by NBC’s Bob Costas on winning the 112^th U.S. Open.

"Kind of neat, isn't it? Take an old guy and honor him. I think that's pretty nice. It's pretty humbling and meaningful." – Jack Nicklaus, on the renaming of the U.S. Open winner's medal to the Jack Nicklaus Medal.

"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 Tiger Woods falling out of the U.S. Open title race in the third round.

"You talk about those guys, the big threesome – Phil, Tiger and Bubba – and (not) one of them hit enough fairways to win this tournament at Olympic Club, in my opinion." – Fuzzy Zoeller, on the Woods, Mickelson, Watson grouping's chance at a U.S. Open win.

''It's probably the coolest place I've hit balls, maybe besides Augusta.'' – Dustin Johnson, on hitting golf balls off home plate of AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

"My Buddy, Chris, he was like, 'Hey, Andy, look behind you, it's Tiger.' I looked back, it was Tiger walking up. I got really excited, and he actually came up to me and shook my hand. I was like, 'Wow, I just shook Tiger’s hand.'" – Andy Zhang, on meeting Tiger Woods. Zhang, 14, made history by becoming the youngest competitor in the history of the U.S. Open.

"I still have the goal to be low amateur, but my new goal now is to win the tournament." – Beau Hossler, 17, after a third-round 70 that left him four shots off the U.S. Open lead.

"It was a very nice shot, especially because I was playing a match against Gonzalo, and I beat him thanks to this shot, so that’s the most important thing. Unfortunately, it was in a practice round. But it is a good sign, isn’t it?" – Alvaro Quiros, on making a hole-in-one on the par-4 seventh hole during a practice round for the U.S. Open at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.

"I just try to tell Phil to embrace it. Tiger is the best player in the world, and that’s who you want to be paired with every chance you get, so look at it as a challenge. Know if I can beat this guy, I’m going to have a good chance to win." – Phil Mickelson's swing coach Butch Harmon, on the USGA's decision to pair Mickelson and Woods in the first two rounds of the U.S. Open.

"I've probably given it more thought than golf." – Rory McIlroy, on throwing out the first pitch at the San Francisco Giants game. McIlroy missed the cut after shooting 77-73.

"I’m not really looking over at who it is, but, obviously, at the end of the week, or the end of my couple of days of playing with them, you look back and you learn from them. You watch how they handle their situation. You wonder how they handle a bad lie. You learn from two legends of the game." – Bubba Watson, on playing in a threesome with Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson the first two rounds of the 112th U.S. Open.