Quotes of the Week: June 29, 2014

"I said, 'You know, Mr. President, I think I'd better go.' He says, 'Okay, well, I'd like you to meet my Joint Chiefs.' I'm like, 'Oh, my God.' I felt awful that I'm holding up a Joint Chiefs of Staff meeting because he wanted to talk sports." [Laughter] – Woods on a previous meeting with President Obama

''Now last year was the second time I've been honorary chairman of the Presidents Cup. The United States won both times. I'm just saying." – Obama during a ceremony at the White House for the Presidents Cup

“I’m not used to seeing these guys in suits." – Obama during a ceremony at the White House for the Presidents Cup

''I'm pretty sure I can shave at least two or three strokes if I can just get out of the darn sand." – Obama on getting a bunker tip from Phil Mickelson

"This has been quite a tedious little process, but been one where I got to a point where I can play competitive golf again, and it's pretty exciting." – Woods on his recovery from back surgery

"I did. I watched a little bit of it, but also watched more World Cup than I did golf." – Woods on if he watched the U.S. Open

"I've had people come up to me and say they had the same procedure and got their life back, and that's basically how I felt. I was able to do things, and do things that I normally took for granted." – Woods on his back surgery

"In the past, I probably would have pushed through it and set myself back, and then kept pushing harder and harder and harder until stuff breaks." – Woods on why he decided to have surgery

“We walked around there, and Phil Mickelson asked if he could have an apple, so the president lost about 20 apples out of the jar. We walked around the Oval Office eating apples and just feeling it. It was just wonderful.” – Els on spending time with President Obama

"In the past I haven't been that successful here and I think this week, it was a big step for me to accept that you have golf courses that you don't – that don't suit your play, that don't suit your eye a lot, and then I struggled a lot on the greens." – Kaymer after missing the cut in Germany

"I just remember all the early years on Tour when I used to run 30 miles a week and just push it, no matter how hurt I was. I would just go out there, still logging all the miles and do all the different things and still play tournament golf and I was winning. But I didn't realize how much damage I was doing to my body at the time." – Woods on how he trained in the early part of his career

"We made a few tweaks here and there but nothing major. Nothing that probably you would observe with the physical eye." – Woods on his work with swing coach Sean Foley

"The back's great. I had no issues at all. No twinges, no nothing. It felt fantastic. That's one of the reasons why I let go on those tee shots. I hit it pretty hard out there." – Woods after his first round since back surgery

"One thing I was worried about, as I said, was hitting driver at a competitive speed, and it was fantastic. I let it go and it was no problems at all, but I made so many little mistakes, which was something that I can rectify and get that fixed for the British." – Woods after missing the cut at Congressional

"I hate to say it, but I'm really encouraged by what happened this week. As I said, I missed the cut by four shots. That's a lot. But the fact that what I was able to do physically and the speed I had and distance that I was hitting the golf ball again, I had not done that in a very long time." – Woods after missing the cut at Congressional

"Yeah, I've already answered that question." – Reed after being asked about his "top 5" comment from earlier this year

"If I had 18 birdies today, it would probably be the first question that I got. I'm used to it. I know that my heart is always going to be the story, but I think it will be a little less this week. And I think the story line is me trying to get into the British Open." – Compton on being asked all the time about his heart transplants

“It was fun. I worked really hard for it. It was just really fun to see all my friends come together, and we had a really good time.” – Wie on her victory party after the U.S. Open

“I feel like that’s the biggest prize in golf, getting flowers from Happy Gilmore." – Wie on getting flowers from Adam Sandler after her U.S. Open win