Quotes of the Week: September 14, 2014

“They’re just getting older… Phil’s 43 (Lefty is 44) and Tiger’s nearly 40 (he will be 39 in December). So they’re getting into the sort of last few holes of their career, and that’s what happens.”

“I was going through Twitter last night and it was like, ‘Hold on here, did I say something bad here? I don’t think I did,’… I know Tiger and Phil really well. I get on really well with both guys. I’ve said much worse to Tiger before.”

“I know exactly what Rory said and how it was taken…We all know Tiger and Phil aren’t young little pups anymore. It was all just kind of taken out of context and the whole story that Rory was telling was right on point. It’s just unfortunate that some stuff is taken out of context and that it can make you a little hesitant about what you say up here sometimes.”

“Going into last week and having that lead and executing the game plan almost to a tee that I had, it gives me a lot of confidence knowing that when I’m in that lead I can play my game and I can still come out on top.”

“He apologized for the way it went down. It was a little unfortunate for a tournament to end like that with everyone being rushed… We were fine with them hitting their tee balls up, but we were not in a position where we were going to let them hit their approach shots… Will it ever happen again in a major championship? No.”

“I knew I should have stopped earlier, but I was having so much fun out there, and I wanted to keep playing… But it got to the point where it was too painful. So, I just made the smart decision to not play.” - on withdrawing from the Evian Champiosnhip

“I’m able to just sort of go about my business… Nobody really bothers me, which has been very nice, but you can’t live under a rock forever. I would love to play like this and be in the spotlight more often just because it’s from my good play. I’m not going to run around and do fist pumps or anything like that. But if you play well, you’re going to get noticed, for sure.”

“I talked to (assistant captain Steve Stricker). He was checking in with a few of the guys and we’ve talked amongst ourselves… I’ve played with Jimmy (Walker) and I’ve played with (Jim) Furyk and I’ve played with Phil (Mickelson). I thought those were my possible three guys who stood out.”

“In the off-season I’ve got to get a handle of my injuries and move forward and hopefully I don’t have any problems in the future,”

“Who cares? Ask Rory. He could care less, too. Listen, all we want to do is win. We’re trying to win golf tournaments… Jim Furyk’s record, Corey Pavin’s record is a lot better than Bubba Watson. So I wish I hit it like them, I guess.” – when asked who won the “long drive contest” between he and McIlroy

“If she wants to caddie, she can caddie… Depends on how Justine feels, what her comfort level is and what she feels like doing. I know I can play well. I’ve won with both of them, played some great golf with both of them. Obviously, it’s more of a family decision on what we feel is most comfortable not only for us but also for little [daughter] Windsor-Wells.”

“I wouldn’t rule it out. But it’s one of those things where if we pull the volatility back a little bit, I don’t think it’s a major thing, given where the Cup is now. But it may be something we want to do. We’ll continue to look at it. We certainly want to make sure everybody understands we’re keeping our options open in that regard.” - on changing FedEx Cup points system

“Obviously life isn’t perfect, and he went through a tough time… As he said to me, ‘It’s going to make me a better person and more importantly, a more responsible person. Through that it’s going to make me a better athlete and a better golfer.’ In life, unfortunately, sometimes we forget that even athletes are human. There are bumps in the road. Most importantly, he’s a wonderful person with a good heart, and we care about him. He’s our future son-in-law, and we love him dearly. So yeah, it’s been a tough time, but when you go through tough times as a family that’s when you’ve got to stick together the most.”

“It’s very frustrating, because I’ve never been injured before… It’s also frustrating because it’s been a great year and this came a week after winning the British… I’ve been healthy my whole life, so I just have to take my medicine… I’ve been very lucky.”