In Parting Shots, the GolfChannel.com Team offers up the best quotes from the year.
True fact: orange is the second highest level on the Homeland Security Advisory System
‘Why? What happened? Why did it happen?’ – Irene Cho, on the sudden and shocking death of 25-year-old Erica Blasberg. Cho was one of Blasberg’s closest friends on the LPGA.
‘Just so there is no confusion, I would like to make it clear that this is my decision.’ – Hank Haney, in an announcement that the swing coach and world No. 1 Tiger Woods would no longer be working together.
‘Stop. Enough already. We got it the first time, back off a little bit. This is like orange overload. Either move to Florida, or stop wearing all orange. Look in the mirror before you go out.’ – Golf Digest’s Mr. Style, Marty Hackel, in an interview with GolfChannel.com‘s Randall Mell on the fashion sense of Rickie Fowler.
‘Someone asked me if I was excited to be going out there to the Champions Tour. I said I would be excited if the hole was bigger. But I think it’s the same size out there, so I’m not that excited. I can miss ‘em out there same as I can miss ‘em out here.’ – Mark Calcavecchia, who announced the Memorial Tournament would be his last regular PGA Tour event before becoming a full-time Champions Tour fixture.
‘How screwed up is that? How do you not get the 30th-ranked player in the world? It just blows my mind.’ – Ben Curtis, after Justin Rose failed to qualify for the U.S. Open, despite winning the Memorial.
‘I keep saying this until I’m blue in the face. It’s not the best field in golf. It never pretended to be. It’s the most democratic championship.’ – David Fay, Executive Director of the U.S. Golf Association, responding to the annual criticism aimed at the USGA regarding its qualifying process for the U.S. Open.
‘When you do get your Willy Wonka golden ticket to the U.S. Open you can play and have a chance. It’s just a great feeling to play in a major.’ – Erik Compton, a two-time heart transplant survivor, upon finally playing in his first major championship.
‘There are no words.’ – Cristie Kerr, after winning the LPGA Championship and ascending to No. 1 in the world rankings.
‘Today was a nuclear bomb.’ – Paul Goydos, after shooting just the fourth-ever 59 in PGA Tour competition during the first round of the John Deere Classic.
‘Please pass on my congratulations to Steve Stricker. It’s lovely to see an American win on your tour.’ – Lee Westwood, joking to PGA Tour commssioner Tim Finchem, referring to the fact that eight of the last 11 tournaments on the PGA Tour had been won by international players.
‘It was nice to get to go home and sleep in your own bed. You just lie there and think, `Oh, my goodness, U.S. Open champion.’ It’s crazy.’ – Paula Creamer, reflecting on her big win at the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
‘I think that gentleman learned the hazards of following me.’ – Phil Mickelson, after hitting a spectator following a wayward drive in Akron, Ohio.
‘Hopefully, you don’t all think I’m a sissy. I do hit the ball a long way.’ – Bubba Watson, during a tearful post-round news conference in which he was talking about his father’s battle with cancer and the scare he faced with his wife Angie and the same disease.
‘The real test is driving by a Five Guys and not stopping.’ – Phil Mickelson, after he disclosed that he is now a vegetarian, in an effort to possibly offset the problems he began suffering due to psoriatic arthritis, which causes the immune system to attack the joints and tendons.
‘Am I going to have to separate you two?’ – Doug Ferguson, Associated Press golf writer, after asking a question about Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson’s play in the Ryder Cup, which then sparked a lively debate between NBC golf analysts Johnny Miller and Gary Koch.
‘This ... is the greatest moment of my golfing career.’ –Colin Montgomerie, after leading his European team to a close win over the Americans in the Ryder Cup.
‘I’d like to thank Louis (Oosthuizen) and Phil Mickelson for not showing up and giving us a bit of Christmas money.’ – Ernie Els, after winning the 2010 PGA Grand Slam of Golf. Els and runner-up David Toms got into the elite field after Mickelson and Oosthuizen withdrew.
‘I am too young to have a drink, I am too young to drive, so I will not be buying a car and I have not got a girlfriend who would like a present.’ – Matteo Manassero, after his victory at the Castello Masters in Spain. Manassero, 17, became the youngest player ever to win on the European Tour.
‘I’m an idiot.’ – Ryuji Imada, who was penalized 26 strokes in the first round of the Mission Hills Star Trophy due to a misunderstanding of the local lift, clean and place rules.
‘We were pretty depressed.” –Rick Reimers founder and owner of Sun Mountain, the Missoula, Mont.-based company that provided the U.S. Ryder Cup team with its rain suits, expressing his disappointment with the Ryder Cup controversary.
‘I played better when I was drunk.’ – John Daly, to the Charlotte Observer, when asked what he had learned about himself over the years.
‘I had finally got my first hole-in-one to tie her and she had to go one-up me again.’ – Erica Bensch, who along with her sister Lindsey, both recorded aces on the same day.
“I have an ego, no doubt about it. But it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, they haven’t got me up there?’ It’s the Tiger Woods show, and the others. You know what? It didn’t play out that way.’ – Stuart Appleby, talking about the fact that he wasn’t featured in any of the promotional posters that were on display in Melbourne for the JBWere Masters.
“You’ll never see a happier guy who just vomited away a tournament.” – Roland Thatcher, after giving up the lead at Disney late in the round. Thatcher, however, was still able to secure his Tour card for next season due to his solo second-place finish.