Byron Nelson Quotations

My God, he looks like he's beating a chicken.

Every great player has learned the two Cs: how to concentrate and how to maintain composure.

One way to break up any kind of tension is good deep breathing.

Winners are different. They're a different breed of cat.

Arnold Palmer has what I call an 'Eisenhower smile'. Those two men, they'd smile and their whole faces would look so pleasant; it was like they were smiling all over.

One of the things I'm most proud of looking back in my little black book is that my career had a lot of consistency,

Well, I was in third place about an hour ago, and now I'm in 20th ... and you're one painting short.

I've been fortunate all my life. I was born into a Christian family and able to stay out of jail. I've been more blessed than anybody I know in golf.

so we gave a lot of it away.

It was so much different in those days. People ran their tournaments pretty much to suit themselves.

It shows you how important one stroke really is in golf, ... One shot doesn't sound like much, but I won eight times in 1944, improved one-third of a shot in '45 and won 18 times.

I played with him in a tournament in Ontario, Canada. I was leading going into the last round. He was about 45 minutes late. You could do that in those days, especially name players. He did things you'd get disqualified for now. He'd call and say, 'I'll be late, but I'll be there.' Anything to draw the people and his name drew people. He was a top showman. He was always a jolly sort of a guy. I don't know anybody who didn't like him.

The first step in building a solid, dependable attitude is to be realistic, not only about your inherent capabilities, but also about how well you are playing to those capabilities on any given day.

In my day we simply didn't believe that it was possible to play as well as these young fellows do. We thought that strength denied touch and that you could not consistently hit the ball both long and straight. It's been proven that you can.

To control your nerves, you must have a positive thought in your mind.

The only shots you can be sure of are those you've had already.

Sam Snead did to the tee-shot what Roger Bannister did to the four-minute mile.

Golf is a lot like life. When you make a decision, stick with it.

Putting affects the nerves more than anything. I would actually get nauseated over three-footers.

I played the British Open in 1937. It took a week to get there and a week to get home. I was the low American; finished fourth or fifth. And what it came down to was, I lost a good part of my summer, won $185, and spent $1,000 on boat fare alone.

No golfer ever gets so consistently good that he can't use some constructive advice. No matter how many trophies he may win, he can't analyze and remedy his own faults.

Golf is a percentage game, and I play the percentages.

The only thing you should force in a golf swing is the club back in the bag.

Out-of-control emotions can make smart people stupid.