What was your first PGA Tour paycheck?
The Buick Open in Michigan in 1960. I finished 16th. I got $465 and I thought I was the richest man on earth.
What was your best money-ranking finish on the PGA Tour?
I finished 9th one year and I made $48,000. That was in 1964. I qualified for the Ryder Cup team but they didn't let me play. That's another story.
What's the most money you've won in a friendly round of golf?
I'm the kind of guy that plays for money with my friends. I don't play (for money) with strangers, I play with my friends and we have fun. And actually a lot of times the one who wins the money winds up losing because he has to pay for the food and the drinks and the music. He has to pay for all that.
Have you won more money from Lee Trevino or has Trevino won more money from you?
No, I never gamble with Lee. You think I'm crazy?
Who is your favorite playing partner?
When we played partners against two other guys, I used to like to play with Doug Sanders as my partner. He was the best money player in the history of golf.
Who is the most underrated golfer?
Bill Casper. He won 51 titles and nobody knows about him. And the most underrated human being ever, he's one of the best human beings of all time. And the best putter ever.
What's your favorite course - if you had only one more round to play, where would you play it?
I would probably play Winged Foot in New York.
What is your dream foursome - Chi Chi and which other three people?
Well, I’d like to play with that lady (Martha) Burk (laughing), she'd be one of them. And probably Arnold Palmer and maybe Jimmy Carter. If he plays golf. I admired Jimmy Carter more than any man that ever served in the White House. Not as the greatest president, but as the greatest man who ever served.
Do you have any superstitions?
Oh yeah, I don't open the umbrella in my room, I don't put my hat on the bed, I don't mark my ball with a dowel. Those are all superstitions. People say, 'Well why are you that way?' I say, 'I haven’t done too bad.'
What's the best thing about your golf career?
Well, I met Mother Teresa through golf and I spent 45 minutes with her and those have been the best 45 minutes of my life. I was in the Philippines, I was a good friend of President Marcos, and the pope was there and Mother Teresa was there. And he (Marcos) said, 'Who would you rather meet, Mother Teresa or the pope?' And I said, 'We'll always have another pope, we'll never have another Mother Teresa,' so I met her. And I've never seen eyes like hers. Her eyes were nothing but love.
