Phil Mickelson

“I think a college education is important no matter what you do in life.”

“I try to respect everybody out here: players, caddies, fans, media.”

“My family has reduced the effect of my career on my self-esteem. When I'm with them, they make me feel special regardless of how I play.”

“I love competing against the best players. I have a huge challenge, and that's to win a U.S. Open and complete the Grand Slam. I enjoy that challenge. Every year it comes around, I get excited to try to conquer that opportunity. I love it.”

“I hate to play a tournament in which I'm not contending. It's just not any fun for me.”

“I remember when I first came out on tour, it was Greg Norman and Nick Price. We forget how big Norman was, what a presence he was. I remember one of my first tournaments, Greg threw an orange peel down on the ground and some fan ran over and grabbed it. 'This is Greg Norman's orange peel!'”

“The only way to win tournaments is with the short game. Over half your shots out here are within 30 or 40 yards. Ballstriking is where I'm trying to improve, yes, but more to eliminate big numbers than make birdies.”

“The object of golf is not just to win. It is to play like a gentleman, and win.”

“The final group, on Sunday at the Masters, is the greatest feeling in the world for a professional golfer.”

“My kids and I sometimes will just sit in my office and talk about what the world was like 68 million years ago. Amanda, our oldest daughter, wanted to be a paleontologist for a long time.”

“I have come to understand and appreciate writers much more recently since I started working on a book last fall. Before that, I thought golf writers got up every morning, played a round of golf, had lunch, showed up for our last three holes and then went to dinner.”

“It'll be nice not to have to use my fake IDs anymore.”