Jack Nicklaus Quotes

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Jack Nicklaus

Profession : Golfer

Birth : January 21, 1940

I'm probably the only bottom-heavy golfer in the country.

Jack Nicklaus

Writers have told me more than once that I'm a better interview in defeat than in victory, which is a compliment I am extremely proud of.

Jack Nicklaus

The long irons are the nemesis of the average golfer. I'm convinced that the underlying reason for this is that he keeps hearing how hard they are to handle. They're not that difficult, truly.

Jack Nicklaus

I've wanted to design golf courses ever since I was a kid. I suppose it comes from the way I've played the game. To find the proper way to play any hole, I've always begun by asking myself what the architect has tried to do with it.

Jack Nicklaus

Golfers have a tendency to be very masochistic. They like to punish themselves for some reason. A lot of them like tough courses.

Jack Nicklaus

Mostly I built golf courses the way I played golf, which was left-to-right. But I learned very rapidly that people wanted to see more than just the way I played golf and that I had to balance up what I was doing, right-to-left, left-to-right, etc.

Jack Nicklaus

Why are we building golf courses? Because we enjoy being outside, bringing man and nature together.

Jack Nicklaus

Naturally it is nice to be widely known for worthwhile achievements, but it forces you to do many things which you don't like to do and these things take up time you want for other things.

Jack Nicklaus

Public appearances are a headache. I hold mine down to a minimum.

Jack Nicklaus

Did you know there's probably more golf played in Iceland than most places in the world? They play 24 hours a day in the summertime and the northern part is warmer than the southern part.

Jack Nicklaus

I love design in general, the creativity. Whether it is golf courses, my apparel line, ads we do or our business with AriZona, design is fun.

Jack Nicklaus

The Senior Tour is a good concept, although frankly I'm not astounded at its continued success. It gives a lot of guys an opportunity to extend their careers.

Jack Nicklaus

Whether it's pool or Ping Pong, I can't stand to have my kids beat me. Especially Ping Pong! And when they beat me, they just needle the devil out of me. That's fine. I'd rather have that than let them win a shallow victory.

Jack Nicklaus

The way I pack is I look at how long I'll be gone and I pack day for day. If I'm going on a three-day fishing trip, I plot each day. I put most of that in a little bag. If I'm going from there to work on golf courses for a few days, I plot that trip.

Jack Nicklaus

If I were to look back on my work, I think I accomplished probably about 70 to 75 percent of what I could have. Maybe 60 percent. Somewhere in that area; two-thirds of what I could have accomplished. If I had been a really dedicated person, and really worked hard, I think I could have accomplished more.

Jack Nicklaus

I never worried about money, except that I knew that all I had to worry about was golf. As long as I could play, I was going to make money.

Jack Nicklaus

I learned early in my career, where you get so wrapped up and so excited, that all of a sudden you don't think. So I worked very hard to keep myself suppressed. And that's one of the reasons I wasn't gregarious with the gallery.

Jack Nicklaus

I played competitive golf all my life. Then all of a sudden, when I quit playing the game, I've got all this spare time and this energy. And certainly I wasn't ready to pack up my bags and go sit in front of the television with a shawl on.

Jack Nicklaus

I have said many times that most people work all their life to retire to play golf, while I played golf all my life to retire to work. I enjoy working. It has kept me young and on the move, and I have had a good time with it.

Jack Nicklaus