Sam Snead Quotes

Keep close count of your nickels and dimes, stay away from whiskey, and never concede a putt.

A bad putter is like a bad apple in a barrel. First, it turns your chipping game sour. Then it begins to eat into your irons and finally it just cleans the head off your driver.

I shot a wild elephant in Africa thirty yards from me, and it didn't hit the ground until it was right at my feet. I wasn't a bit scared. But a four foot putt scares me to death.

The only place that's holier than St. Andrews is Westminster Abbey.

Grip the club as if you were holding a baby bird.

Good golfing temperament falls between taking it with a grin or shrug and throwing a fit.

The fact that Slammin' Sammy couldn't win the Open made it all the more valuable for the players that did win. Gave it a special quality. I'd say a part of the sheen on that trophy comes from my sweat.

Of all the hazards, fear is the worst.

What did I want with prestige? The British Open paid the winner $600 in American money. A man would have to be two hundred years old at that rate to retire from golf.

Golf got complicated when I had to wear shoes and begin thinking about what I was doing.

When I ask you what club to use, look the other way and don't answer.

If I could have shot 69 in the last round every time, I would have won nine U.S. Opens. Nine!

I looked like a monkey trying to wrestle a football.

That little white ball is always staring back at you, daring you to make a mistake.

If a lot of people gripped a knife and fork the way they do a golf club, they'd starve to death.

What abandoned course is that?

Golf course architects make me sick. They can't play themselves, so they rig the courses so nobody else can play either.

No matter what happens - never give up a hole ... In tossing in your cards after a bad beginning you also undermine your whole game, because to quit between tee and green is more habit-forming than drinking a highball before breakfast.

The only thing I fear on a golf course is lightning ... and Ben Hogan.

You can't go into a shop and buy a good game of golf.

Correct one fault at a time. Concentrate on the one fault you want to overcome.

Playing golf is like eating. It's something which has to come naturally.

Over the years I've studied the habits of golfers. I know what to look for. Watch their eyes. Fear shows up when there is an enlargement of the pupils. Big pupils lead to big scores.

You have more potential than you think.

I'd say that golf is about 75% mental. If your state of mind gets out of kilter, you're worse off than a tomcat floating on a log.

There is an old saying: if a man comes home with sand in his cuffs and cockleburs in his pants, don't ask him what he shot.

Golf is played with the arms.

Make the basic shot-making decision early, clearly and firmly, and then ritualize all the necessary acts of preparation.

I give the ball some sweet talk. I tell it that this isn't going to hurt a bit. I'm a friend and all I'm going to do is give it a nice little ride.

There are no short hitters on the tour anymore - just long and unbelievably long.

I've been on some fairways that are as good as the greens we putted on back then. We had crab grass. I remember one green where I putted through ants.

Thinking instead of acting is the number one golf disease.

I've gotten rid of the yips four times but they hang in there. You know those two-foot downhill putts with a break? I'd rather see a rattlesnake.

First and fore-most, you must have confidence. Your second mental problem is concentration. Think the shot through in advance before you address the ball. Draw a mental image of where you want it to go and then eliminate everything else from your mind, except how you are going to get the ball into that preferred spot.