Tom Lehman Quotations

To have faith doesn't mean you get any less frustrated when you don't do your best, but you know that it's not life and death. Take what you're given, and when you continue to work hard, you will see results. That will give you the confidence you need to keep going.

I think that major championships are as much about attitude as they are anything else.

I think the attitude I was trying to learn myself was to really try hard, to give a great effort, to really care, and to let the results go where they are going to go. But at the same time, I don't have to be happy, and I shouldn't be happy, with less than my best.

I just can't stomach playing poorly. More than anything, I hate not getting the most out of my game.

I play with a lot of guys who say they're a five handicap, and they shoot 110. And then you play with guys who say they are a 20 and they shoot 75.

I think if you look at most successful people, if you ask most of them, their biggest influence was their dad.

I think it's easy to enjoy anywhere that you play where you feel like you got a chance to win a lot.

I think that more than the winning, the weeks where I don't play well are what drive me the most.

Like most kids, my dad played. He would drag us out to the course and make us shag balls for him and caddy and all that kind of stuff.

The most satisfying accomplishment for me was winning the British Open in 1996. But the most rewarding times were the times on the mini tours.

When I putt well, I do very well. When I putt poorly, I struggle to be in the game.

I had played in a tournament with the captain of the University of Minnesota's golf team, and he thought I was good. He called his coach, and the coach called me and recruited me. A five-minute phone call changed my life.

I started playing golf because I wanted to be good. After a while, you have to come to a decision of, 'Am I good enough or not?' If you say 'yes,' then it's a simple step towards deciding to be as good as you can be.

I think one of the big issues with, you know, people who have strong faith in addition to competing is that conflict between accepting things the way they are, and wanting to compete and get better, and at what point are you in the right balance.

The game itself, I think, plays into the strength of my game, which has always been tee to green, hitting the ball consistently in play and managing my game. Putting has always been the one thing that's been a bit more erratic.

There are times when you feel like you give a great effort, you have prepared properly, and you got less than what you wanted. So on the one hand, you should feel really good about that and just let the results be what they are. On the other hand, you can't be happy with it when you finished 19th.

When you - when you play golf with somebody, you spend four hours or more walking with somebody, usually, you learn something about them that you didn't know before.

I'd like to be in a position to give my spot up if I had to.

If it had been coming away from the airport my three-year-old would have been sitting where the bullet hit.

He's a great player, he's mentally strong, he doesn't beat himself. Therefore, if you're going to beat him, you've got to beat him?he's not going to lose. I think that does maybe ... change your mindset knowing that if you're behind, you've got to catch him and pass him?he's not coming the other way.

I think you only hold U.S. Opens on great courses.

I was within 100 yards of the exit. Then there was this huge loud explosion right next to me. I flinched. My initial reaction was, someone shot the back window out of the car. It was a very surreal experience for me. It was pretty crazy, you don't have a guy shoot at you very often. I'm very happy they caught the guy.

I was within 100 yards of the exit and there was this huge, loud explosion right next to me. I turned around and looked and the windows were all intact. When I got to the airport, I hopped out and looked and, sure enough, there was a nice little round hole.

I would love to be a part of it as both a captain and a player. If it doesn't work out that way, I can accept that.

We want to have players who are winning tournaments. I wouldn't feel good about it, quite frankly, unless I started winning, and that hasn't happened in a while.

You have to move it out there a little bit off the tee, but I think the biggest difference is that you have to hit it straighter. Even with the changes, I still think it's going to come down to having a great short game. It is longer, but if the short game is working, it's going to be a good week.

You get to a point in your career where you either decide it's time to get serious and make some changes, or you quit. I love golf too much, and there's too much to play for to quit.

Is it OK to play the last two holes? I haven't seen them yet.

The way I look at it is I would love to earn my spot.

The team at Brookline definitely had it. Definitely had it. It was a great mix of guys.

And the next hole, David drove it in the thick stuff and I made a nice birdie to go 2-up. And then it was 1-up and it was 2-up and he made some mistakes, and I got the match.

You open the paper every day and read these things. I think the guy was full of Jack Daniels and had a bad day of work. You just have to shake your head and wonder what people are doing.

You open the paper and read these things that happen to people. Totally random.

It was a very, very surreal experience. You pick up the paper every day and read about crazy stuff that happens to people.

It was a very, very surreal experience. You don't have guys shooting at you very often.

That kind of thing definitely hurts a tournament.

I've got one Aussie flag on the side of my car. It would be nice to have two.

It's very satisfying. I'm proud that I've done it, but I'm embarrassed I didn't do it 15 years ago.

It takes time to start where I started and try to work off all the flab. You have to give something up, and to me it was always the kind of thing that, 'Well, I can't do it because I've got to work on my game. I've got to work on my chipping, work on my driving. I've got to do something with my game.' I said, 'You know what, it's not going to do me any good at all if I can't walk the golf course because my knees hurt so bad.' I'll give up three hours a day of chipping or three hours on the range to make it so my knees don't hurt.

It was hard to believe. I'm just glad my wife and kids weren't with me. If it wasn't so serious, it would almost be amusing. I mean, how many times when you're driving, do you get shot at?

It was just a very random thing. Random things happen in this world. I'm most happy he tried that before I got my kids. Otherwise, my 3-year-old would have been sitting in that seat. Anyway, all's well that ends well.

I'm happy they caught the guy. It was a random thing. I think he was full of Jack Daniels, had a bad day at work. It was pretty crazy.

I played poorly for the first nine holes but Geoff played very well. You've got to give him a lot of credit. I just didn't have it today but I gave it everything I had.

I just didn't play well. I played poorly this morning and poorly for the first nine holes this afternoon. But you know, Geoff played very well. You have to give him a lot of credit. He played extremely well and made a lot of clutch putts. I am proud of the way I performed this week though.

I did a lot of things I'm very proud of. I just didn't have it. I hit too many loose ones. I probably shouldn't have won this (Saturday) morning. I didn't play well against Chad but he played a little worse. And I didn't deserve to beat Geoff Ogilvy in the afternoon.

I think if you are going to base your whole life on what you do on the golf course, you are up for a lot of ups and downs.

I've got one Aussie flag on my car. It would be nice to have two.

I was way more nervous on the opening day of the Ryder Cup than the first round of any major. Every Ryder Cup match is like being in the last group on Sunday in a major.

I think its easy to enjoy anywhere that you play where you feel like you got a chance to win a lot.

I think you only hold U.S. Opens on great courses.

Having nerves and feeling the pressure just gets you focused and gets your concentration level where it needs to be. I harness that nervous energy into a positive way.