Top Quotes of 2015: Part 2
1 / 39
Inbee Park
“The first time, I felt just a bit weird. It didn’t feel like my place. Second time, it felt a little more comfortable, but I felt like my game wasn't quite ready yet. But now, the third time, it feels like I'm really ready for this spot and my game is getting better and better every day. I feel like I am playing like a No. 1.” - on again becoming world No. 1
Getty Images
2 / 39
Nick Faldo
"When Tiger is under pressure, [his swing] is a completely different speed. There are plenty of pressure tee shots at St. Andrews to avoid the gorse and put it in the right places.” – doubting Tiger Woods’ prospects for success at the Open Championship
Getty Images
3 / 39
Minnesota Tourism director John Edman
''They want $1.5 million from the state. Get real.'' – in an email to colleagues about an alleged request from local organizers of the 2016 Ryder Cup, which will be played at Hazeltine National Golf Club near Minneapolis
Getty Images
4 / 39
Bubba Watson
"All men ARE created equal, I believe that so I will be painting the American flag over the roof of the General Lee." – tweeting his intention to remove the Confederate flag on the roof of the iconic car from the 1970s-80s TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard”
Getty Images
5 / 39
Donald Trump
“I’ve had tremendous support from the golf world, because they all know I’m right. I’ve been great to golf. I’ve been investing while everybody else was fleeing. I have Mexicans and South Americans working for me all over the country and believe me, they love me and I love them. I think they’re great. I’ve had great support and I haven’t heard one negative thing and frankly I don’t expect to.” – the Republican presidential candidate, telling Golf Channel insider Tim Rosaforte he doesn’t expect any golf-related repercussions from disparaging comments he made toward Mexicans in regard to border relations with the United States
Getty Images
6 / 39
Joint statement
''In response to Mr. Trump's comments about the golf industry 'knowing he is right' in regards to his recent statements about Mexican immigrants, we feel compelled to clarify that those remarks do not reflect the views of our organizations. While the LPGA, PGA of America, PGA Tour and USGA do not usually comment on presidential politics, Mr. Trump's comments are inconsistent with our strong commitment to an inclusive and welcoming environment in the game of golf.'' – responding to Donald Trump’s statement to Golf Channel
Getty Images
7 / 39
Bill Murray
“You sound like the guy who wrote 'Caddyshack II.'" – responding to a reporter’s suggestion that a scene from the John Deere Classic pro-am would’ve been great for "Caddyshack"
Getty Images
8 / 39
U.S. Women’s Open Championship director Ben Kimball
“It’s like seeing a test before you take it.” – on the decision to remove Sei Young Kim’s caddie, Paul Fusco, after he was discovered in the USGA rules office improperly taking cell phone photos of “internal course setup documents"
Getty Images
9 / 39
Morgan Pressel
“That was me. I was one of those young whippersnappers, and now I’m the old lady in the crowd.” – on her transition from LPGA teen prodigy to mentor for up-and-comers
Getty Images
10 / 39
Donald Trump
“You never called to tell me this, as common decency would have dictated, but rather just put it out to the media. As you have heard, and as Univision and NBC are finding out, I am a ‘plus 5 [handicap]’ at contracts. You have an absolutely binding contract to play the great Turnberry Alisa course …” - in a letter to LPGA commissioner Mike Whan responding to the LPGA’s suggesting it would prefer the Ricoh Women’s British Open be played somewhere other than Trump Turnberry but that it was too late to make such a move. Trump offered to let the LPGA out of its contract, but the event was played at Turnberry
Getty Images
11 / 39
Tiger Woods
“Retirement? I don’t have any AARP card yet, so I’m a ways from that.” – on whether he's thinking about walking away from the game
Getty Images
12 / 39
Robert Allenby
“He just told me I could go eff myself.” - on an argument with caddie Mick Middlemo, who either quit or was fired mid-round at the Canadian Open
Getty Images
13 / 39
Mick Middlemo
“I said, ‘Look, if you want someone to abuse, get someone out of the parking lot.'” - Middlemo's account of what transpired with Allenby
Getty Images
14 / 39
Stuart Appleby
"Let's get one thing straight, yesterday I did not play golf at all or fire my caddy after 9 holes. No confusion needed." – joking about often being confused with fellow Australian Allenby
Getty Images
15 / 39
Gary Player
"We need Tiger Woods. Why? He’s a man of color. We need a black champion." - in an interview with Omnisport, an international sports news agency
Getty Images
16 / 39
Ian Poulter
"Statistically he’s the best putter in the game, and he may go down as the best anyone has ever seen.” – on Jordan Spieth
Getty Images
17 / 39
Lydia Ko
''I was like, 'Man, that's a really nice helicopter. I would love one.''' – on Donald Trump’s arrival at the Women’s British Open
Getty Images
18 / 39
Donald Trump
“He apologized to me. He was very nice and very respectful.” – on LPGA commissioner Mike Whan, who had said he wished the Women’s British Open could have been moved from Trump Turnberry in light of the recent controversy surrounding Trump’s comments on illegal immigrants
Getty Images
19 / 39
Mike Whan
“We added a fifth major to make sure the 150 best female golfers on the planet got that kind of exposure. Was it going to make comparisons a little messier? Of course it was. Do other sports do that? Of course they do. We needed to make sure the world continued to watch.” - on how adding a fifth major complicates the concept of a Grand Slam
Getty Images
20 / 39
Dustin Johnson
“I don't have to worry about it, there's a grandstand there. Thank you, PGA. I appreciate that.” - on his infamous bunker from the 2010 PGA Championship being covered up by a grandstand
Getty Images
21 / 39
Jason Day
“[The Wanamaker Trophy] is just going straight into the trophy cabinet. … [It] apparently has not had any sort of liquid in it and I don't plan to because I just respect the trophy too much to put anything in it.” – after winning the 2015 PGA Championship
Getty Images
22 / 39
Jason Gore
''Contrary to popular belief, I'm still a good golfer.''
Getty Images
23 / 39
Peter Malnati
“Are you kidding me? All of that for THAT?” – on taking his shoes off, pulling up his pant legs, playing his ball from the hazard, getting mud all over himself, leaving the ball in the hazard, and making quadruple-bogey 7
Getty Images
24 / 39
Juli Inkster
“Face paint, the rah rah, I mean, I like a little rah rah. It’s great, the teamsmanship, but I think sometimes it can go over the edge. I think we just need to play golf and maybe be a little more humble.” - on U.S. team's collective attitude at the Solheim Cup
Getty Images
25 / 39
Bubba Watson
“I had some issues growing up where I was very angry at the world and at the golf, and so I've tried to get better at that. Over the past few years, I've grown up, I guess you'd say, and my thinking, my processes, either I'm getting better as a person or I'm just tired of hitting bad shots on the golf course. So I'm thinking better.” - after taking the outright lead at The Barclays through 36 holes
Getty Images
26 / 39
John Daly
"They thought I had a heart attack. But I only smoke two packs of cigarettes a day, not three, so I'll be alright." – on an on-course collapse that sent him to the hospital with a collapsed lung
Getty Images
27 / 39
@maddietod
“Bye dad, text me when it’s Jordan Spieth.” – Twitter user Maddie’s viral response after her father sent her a picture from the golf course with Tiger Woods
Getty Images
28 / 39
Jordan Spieth
“He brings some adrenaline and excitement to these team events that we don’t normally see in people his age." – taking a playful jab at Phil Mickelson after Mickelson was picked for the Presidents Cup
Getty Images
29 / 39
Tiger Woods
“This is certainly disappointing, but I’m a fighter. I’ve been told I can make a full recovery, and I have no doubt that I will.” - after having his second back surgery in 18 months
Getty Images
30 / 39
Juli Inkster
"It was B.S." - after the “gimmegate” Solheim Cup rules controversy involving Alison Lee and Suzann Pettersen
Getty Images
31 / 39
Rory McIlroy
“Luckily, that amount of money doesn’t sort of mean much to me anymore.” - on the $10 million FedEx Cup prize not being a motivator to win
Getty Images
32 / 39
Jason Day
“It’s like Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy had a baby and I was it.” - trying to explain how the then-current Nos. 1, 2 and 3 in the world compare to the former "Big 3" of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player
Getty Images
33 / 39
PGA of America CEO Pete Bevacqua
''If we're not more diverse in the next 25, 50, 100 years, the sport's in trouble. … We have a history that maybe we have to live down a little.”
Getty Images
34 / 39
Suzann Pettersen
“I never won a point that felt so bad in my entire life.” - in an exclusive Golf Channel interview, on her Solheim Cup controversy over not conceding a 20-inch putt
Getty Images
35 / 39
Brandel Chamblee
"I don’t really think it’s appropriate to give players leadership roles in an event they didn’t show interest or passion for when they were competitors. If they had, Tiger Woods would have had a record more commensurate with what he did in match play [almost a 90 percent win rate]. He was 13-17-3 in the Ryder Cup." – voicing his opinion that Woods and Phil Mickelson shouldn’t be Ryder Cup captains in the future
Getty Images
36 / 39
Davis Love III
"If you've been paying attention to the last few Ryder Cups or Presidents Cups, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods have become respected leaders of this team. Whether you're playing in Korea or Medinah, these guys have stepped up to the plate and been leaders. So now the players respect them, they look to them for leadership and they're expecting that in the future." – defending Woods and Mickelson
Getty Images
37 / 39
Tiger Woods
"It's important for me to have more than 18 majors when all is said and done." - on his quest to catch Jack Nicklaus' majors record
Getty Images
38 / 39
Steve Williams
"One thing that really pissed me off was how he would flippantly toss a club in the general direction of the bag, expecting me to go over and pick it up. I felt uneasy about bending down to pick up his discarded club – it was like I was his slave. The other thing that disgusted me was his habit of spitting at the hole if he missed a putt." - in an excerpt from his tell-all book, "Out of the Rough," on his 13 years spent with Tiger Woods
Getty Images
39 / 39
Tiger Woods
"Put it this way. It’s not what I want to have happen, and it’s not what I’m planning on having happen. But if it does, it does. I’ve reconciled myself to it. It’s more important for me to be with my kids. I don’t know how I could live with myself not being able to participate in my kids’ lives like that." – in a sit-down interview with Time Magazine’s Lorne Rubenstein, on how he would feel if he never returned to competitive golf
Getty Images