Enjoy the pressure. Enjoy the stress. Enjoy being uncomfortable. And don't shy away from it, embrace it.
Gary Woodland
When I got hurt and had surgery on my left shoulder, my arm was in a sling for over a month but I could play Ping-Pong right-handed. I started playing and got addicted.
It's frustrating not to play well.
I can hit a lot of drivers, be aggressive, and attack from the fairway.
People probably growing up said U.S. Open wouldn't suit me, because I'm a long hitter, I'm a bomber.
I'm a huge sports guy, so getting messages from guys I grew up watching and following - Scott Van Pelt, Chris Paul, Charles Barkley, Adam Schefter - was really special.
I have a boxer and I'm getting another boxer. I have a girlfriend, Gabby Granado, who lives with me as well.
I love to be at Topeka Country Club. It's where I grew up. That's one course I'd play every day.
I never let myself get ahead of myself.
I can control my attitude, and I can control my game.
I went to school to Washburn to play basketball, and I always believed if basketball didn't work out I could fall back on golf.
And the question about if I ever dreamed of making the putt on the last hole of a U.S. Open when I was a kid, no, I didn't. But I hit a lot of game-winning shots on the basketball court when I was a kid.
I'm becoming a more complete player where I believe I can compete more week in, week out, especially in major championships.
I've trained since I started walking, I've played sports, I've competed. I've learned how to win, even if I haven't done it as much as I'd like.
I always wanted to play at the highest level. I didn't care what sport it was; I just wanted to play at the highest level.
I worked my whole life and dreamed my whole life of being a professional athlete.
I don't know if I've ever had the autograph requests that I've had. It's hard to say no, especially when somebody's out there and they're asking. It would have been hard for me to hear no when I was a kid, so you try to make time and prepare for that, I guess.
I'll never forget where I came from, and I'll never forget who I am.
I love Quail Hollow. I think it's one of the big boy golf courses we play. I just don't think there's really a bad hole on it.
It's nice to see the results. You work so hard and you want to see results to back up the work that you've done.
I come from Kansas; we're steak-and-potato boys. I grew up on meat.
I played other sports, so when I played golf, I wanted to have fun. And hitting it far is fun.
Taxes are nice in Florida.
When I see the ball going in the hole, I'm a completely different player.
I make 18 three-footers after every round. It's just something that helps me focus on routine, and helps me hear the ball go in the hole. It's something I do every day.
There are going to be bad things in your life, a lot of ups and downs, but the only thing you can control is your attitude. And if you do that, in the end good things will happen.
I've never played Cypress. And everybody says it's amazing. That's one course I'd like to play.
My dad worked nights. When I got home from school I was able to go hang out with my dad and play some golf.
My dad had me on the golf course. It was just something I could do with my dad.
There's men and women who sacrifice and do so much for us so I can go out and play a game of golf and live my life under freedom.
I wouldn't be where I am without my dad.
My dad never forced me to do anything. But if I did it, if I decided to go play catch or basketball, he was hard on me. You had to do it the right way if you were going to do it. He never let me win.
I can't play video games because I have that addictive personality. If I started playing video games I wouldn't stop.
No matter what I've done, from when I was a young kid, I always believed I would be successful.
I've always believed in myself.
I'm always thinking and so even if I'm not on the golf course I'm mentally thinking.
I'm trying to get better on and off the golf course at all times so I think it's a work in progress all day long.
But being a father is as good as it gets.
Basketball, you're not always going to have your best, but you find ways. If I'm not shooting well, I can pass, I can play defense. There's other things I can do. I can take that to golf.
If I'm not driving the golf ball, now I can rely on something else to really get me through. It took me a while to get my game to that position, but I feel like I'm comfortable doing that now.
It took me a lot to learn to control adrenaline; and other sports you use adrenaline to your advantage.
I loved baseball, and I was the best at basketball. Golf was sort of third on my list.
It's been my experience that success in golf comes from not letting your mind wander from the shot you're about to hit.
For years, I felt like I was just whacking at the ball, trying to see how far I could hit it, especially with the driver. Whatever the coach I was working with at the time told me to do, I would just go along with it.
I love to play three-quarter iron shots. They take a lot of extra movement out of the swing, which increases my chance of hitting it solid with the face square to the target.
I think of all my iron shots as punches - not punch shots, but how much pressure I'm applying to the hit.
Life's not always going to be bells and whistles.
I always just wanted to be successful. I didn't know what it was, what I was going to do.
Being a father now puts life in perspective. My whole life it's all been about trying to win. And now I'm trying to make a better life for my son than I've had.
I don't have to be perfect with my ball-striking, because I have other things that can pick me up, that's been a big confidence boost for me, knowing I don't have to be perfect; I can still contend and have a chance to win.
