Quotes of the Week: April 8, 2018

“If you take away Tiger Woods, Phil [Mickelson] probably gets 10 to 12 majors.”

“It’s very possible that that’s the case, and it’s also possible that he [Tiger Woods] brought out the best in me, and forced me to work harder and focus, to ultimately achieve the success I’ve had. And it’s hard to determine, looking back, which one it is.”

“We looked at Magnolia, Holly, different ones, but we really liked Azalea, for different reasons. First of all, because we thought it was a very pretty name. You write it the same way in English and in Spanish, which is great, and also because it’s the hole that kind of turned things around in the final round and kind of got me going, to be able to win the Masters last year.” – on the suggestion by his wife, Angela, that they give their daughter a name that related to where Garcia won his first major championship, which he did last year at Augusta National

“Nobody respects and appreciates what Tiger has done for the game more, because nobody has benefited from what he’s done for the game of golf more than I have.”

“I’m an avid fan of the history of the game, and I know a win here and what that would mean and where that would put me in history alongside some of the greatest that have ever played this game. But I have to try and clear my head of that come Thursday morning and go out and play good golf, hit good golf shots, have good course management, hole putts.” – on trying to ignore the fact that a Masters win would give him the career Grand Slam

“You guys think it’s harder on us than it is. At the end of the day he’s going to go home and he’s either going to be a four-time major winner or five-time major winner. That’s still pretty good.” – on Rory McIlroy winning – or not winning – the Masters

“We’re at the tail end of our careers – we both know that. We have had a great 20-year battle, and hopefully we’ll have a few more. But we understand where we are in the game now versus where we were in our early 20s, battling for who is going to be No. 1. That was then, and certainly this is now.” – on the evolution of his relationship with Phil Mickelson

“It’s the Watson of old.” – after becoming, at 68, the oldest winner of the Masters’ Par 3 Contest

“I walked past Tiger on the range and said, `I never thought I’d see the day.’” – on seeing supposed antagonists Woods and Phil Mickelson preparing to play a practice round together

“I made big strides in the last two weeks to get from kind of a panic place to a very calm, collected and confident place. It’s difficult to do in two weeks. Sometimes it takes years. I feel like I’ve been able to speed that process up a lot of the last couple weeks.” – on the state of his game coming in to the Masters

Woods: “The only thing that was missing was a tie.” Mickelson: “I think it looks good.” – on Mickelson wearing a long-sleeve, button-down collar shirt during Tuesday’s practice round with Woods

“I place a lot of importance on what happened here in 2011. I feel like it made me a better player, I feel like it made me a better person, it definitely was a character builder. It took me a while to get over it, but I knew if I looked at the big picture it would serve me well in the long run.” – on blowing a four-shot lead in the final round of the Masters

“If there’s 5,000 ways to play one regular course, there’s probably about 50,000 ways to go around Augusta National, and that’s the beauty of it. Because each shot, you can have so many ways to hit it. There’s no perfect way. You don’t need to play perfect to win at Augusta National, just because there are so many ways to do. You just need to find the way that’s maybe best for you at the moment.”

“There’s a great quote from Bobby Jones dealing specifically with the 13th hole, which has been lengthened over time, and he said that the decision to go for the green in two should be a momentous one. And I would have to say that our observations of these great players hitting middle and even short irons into that hole is not a momentous decision.” – the new Augusta National chairman, addressing the topic of possibly lengthening the par-5 13th hole

“He hits that thing, and I don’t know how he doesn’t hit himself. It’s incredible.” – on Phil Mickelson hitting flop shots with his 64-degree wedge

“Last year I was about as confident as I’ve ever been, so it was probably a 10. This year it’s probably a nine and a half.” – asked to rate his confidence on a scale of 1-10 going into the Masters

“In hindsight, it was a big pipe dream. My back was fried.” – on intending to play the Masters each of the past two years, only to have to change his mind at the last minute because of back pain

“With all due respect to @themasters, allow me to put my 6 Green Jackets in the closet for a moment and say that I don’t know if I have had a more special day on a golf course. To have your grandson make his first hole-in-one on this stage.... WOW!” – via Twitter, after his grandson GT, whose father is Nicklaus’ son Gary, made his first hole-in-one while caddying for Jack Nicklaus in the Par 3 Contest

“He looked at me and said, ‘Let me tell you something. If I am going to win this tournament today, I am going to have to hit a really good shot under a lot of pressure at some point. I am going to do it right now.’ That was my entrée to get out of the way and watch him do his thing. And he hit arguably the greatest shot of his career.” – on what Phil Mickelson told him in 2010 when Mackay tried to talk him out of going for the 13th green from the pine straw

''Arjun Atwal is a good friend of his, and he told me just go up and say hi to him and he’ll be nice. It definitely will be a fanboy moment for me when I go and say hi to him.’' – on anticipating meeting Tiger Woods at the Masters

“Finally, I listened to her.” – on finally taking the advice of his wife and sometimes caddie, Justine, to hit a 3-wood off the first tee at Augusta National and get the ball in play

“I said ‘I have to do this, I’ve done it before’ and so he let me just free-wheel it and do it.” – on his conversation with caddie Ted Scott in which Watson, against Scott’s advice, hit a hard hook, reminiscent of the shot that helped him win his first Masters, to the 11th green

''I believe if I play the golf I know how to play, I can win majors. I need to stick to my game plan.’' After taking the 36-hole lead in the Masters

''I think I’ve proven to myself and to others that you never give up. I started the round nine shots back and I came out with the idea of just playing the golf course and having a lot of fun doing it and try to shoot a low round and finish the tournament strong and see what happens, if something crazy happens.’'

''He’s not scared. I think you guys have seen that previous from the Ryder Cups and the way he plays. He won’t back down. I don’t necessarily see him as someone that backs up and will let you come back into the tournament. You have to go catch him.’' – on Masters champions Patrick Reed

''To have to par the last hole to win my first major, it definitely felt right.”