Tin Cup (1996) - Quotes

Acknowledgment of Roy's Excellence

Earl: You the man, Roy. You are definitely the man.

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The Reason Behind a Golf Shot

Roy: Parred the backside with a 7-iron.

Simms: Why?

Molly: Yeah, that's exactly right. That's the question, "Why?

Romeo: Because he broke his other clubs. Snapped them in two.

Simms: Jesus.

Roy: Not all of them. Romeo broke two.

Simms: I'm on your side here. We go way back. I hope you qualify for the Open. But if you do, you better play with control or you'll get slaughtered. Good players shoot an 80 in the Open. You see it means you just can't go for it.

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A Swinging Conversation About Apologies

Molly: You've got a beautiful swing.

Roy: I'm a beautiful guy.

Molly: Look, Roy, I came to apologize, okay?

Roy: For what?

Molly: You did what I said and I poured cold water over your efforts. I didn't get it. I'm a terrible shrink, probably. Should've stayed in real estate, shit, actually, I should have never left Ohio for that cowboy in Amarillo, but... Have you ever been to Amarillo?

Roy: Cowboy?

Molly: Yeah. It's not as romantic when you're actually with one, trust me. So, the oil man in Dallas or Houston, I don't know where he was from. Anyway, he looked great. After that, I went to the Gulf and ended up in trailer sales. Then condos in Corpus Christi. The bottom, just, boom, fell right out of the market so I needed a new gig.

Roy: A new gig?

Molly: Yeah, therapy. I took all the classes. I'm legitimate. Legal. Certified. Fuck! I'm certifiable. I'm really sorry.

Roy: Oh, boy.

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Taking Risks in Love

Molly: All you have to do is walk up to this, this woman, wherever she is, look her in the eye -- look at me, Roy -- just look her in the eyes, that's right, let down your guard, and don't try to be cool or smooth or whatever; just be honest and take a risk. And you know what, whatever happens, if you act from the heart, you can't make a mistake.

Roy: Dr. Griswold...

Molly: Yes?

Roy: I think I'm in love with you.

Molly: What?

Roy: From the moment I first saw you, I knew I was through with bar girls and... strippers and motorcycle chicks, and... when we first started talking I was smitten with you, and I'm smitten with you more every day I think about you, and the fact that you know I'm full of crapola only makes you more attractive to me. Usually I can bullshit people, but I can't bullshit you, and in addition you got, you got great legs, and most women I'm thinking about how to get in their pants from day one, but with you I'm just I'm just thinking about how to get into your heart. Stunned?

Molly: So...

Roy: So what about dinner and we can talk about us and if we have a future and how to drop that horse's ass boyfriend of yours.

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Navigating the Journey to Personal Growth

Roy: Okay, so how do I do it? Therapy, I mean, I mean, wh-- how do I start doing it?

Molly: Ooo-kay, Roy. Well, in parlance you might understand, just kick back and let the big dog eat.

Roy: Suppose there's this guy, and he's standing on the shore of a big wide river, and the... river's full of all manner of disaster, you know, piranhas, alligators, eddies, currents, shit like that nobody'll even go down there to dip a toe. And on the other side of the river's a million bucks, and on this side of the river is a rowboat.

Molly: Mm-hmm?

Roy: I guess my question's this: What would possess the guy standing on the shore to swim for it?

Molly: He is an idiot.

Roy: No, see, he's a helluva swimmer. His problem's more like why does he always have to rise to the challenge?

Molly: He is a juvenile idiot.

Roy: You don't understand what I mean by the river.

Molly: Roy, we're talking about you, and what you like to call your inner demons -- that human frailty you like to blather about -- not some mythopoetic metaphor you come up with in a feeble and transparent effort to do yourself credit.

Roy: You mean you're going to make me feel lousy?

Molly: No.

Roy: I came here to feel better. I mean, what kind of therapy is...

Molly: [laughs] Roy, Roy, Roy, you don't have any inner demons. What you have is inner crapola, inner debris... garbage... loose wires, horseshit in staggering amounts.

Roy: I'm not some just jerk driving range pro who drinks too much booze, eats too few vegetables, okay?

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Unexpected Therapy Session

Molly: Roy, Roy... why are you here?

Roy: Therapy.

Molly: You've come for therapy? Okay, look, Roy, you know, you really need to make an appointment. Because I have a client in a half an hour.

Roy: That's enough time. Thirty minutes? Hell, I'm not THAT fucked up.

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Struggling to Pursue Destiny Amidst Work Constraints

Roy: Here I am, ready to charge forth in pursuit of my destiny and I can't get time off work to do it.

Romeo: I'm no expert here, but it seems to me that the pursuit of destiny isn't something you need to get off a $10 per hour job to do.

Roy: Well, I'm stuck, and I'm buried. I need help, and I need advice. I need counseling, I need a... I need a shrink.

Romeo: You don't know no shrinks.

Roy: I know one!

Romeo: No-ooo, no no no. Not the doctor lady.

Roy: Why not?

Romeo: You can't ask for advice about the woman you're trying to hose FROM the woman you're trying to hose!

Roy: Why not?

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Balancing Love and Personal Goals

Romeo: You know what I think? She's got you by the huevos.

Roy: Your job is to teach me patience and humility. Don't advise me on my love-life. Not all my thinking occurs below the belt. I stand for a few things besides my next romantic interlude.

Romeo: You'll have no trouble telling her you can't teach her until after the Open.

Roy: That'd make an issue out of something that's not an issue. Besides, I'm focused. I am! This is my quest! This is my stand for the guys who've had their fill of soulless robots like David Simms.

Romeo: Well, He may be a soulless robot, but he's a rich, happy, soulless robot... with a beautiful doctor-lady girlfriend. Besides, how's getting in the Open going to change what she thinks about you?

Roy: Well, it'll show her that I'm not who she thinks I am.

Romeo: But you are who she thinks you are!

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Astrology and Attitudes in Relationships

Molly: Mr. McAvoy, I can appreciate that you have a fairly laid-back, relaxed lifestyle--but I have hours to keep.

Roy: All right. A former paramour once ascribed my fluid sense of time to being born under the sign of Pisces. Something about floating through the universe.

Molly: You amuse me, Roy. But I'm the only woman in America born after World War II who thinks astrology's a crock of shit.

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The Complexity of Success and Failure in Golf

Romeo: 1981 Fort Washington Golf Club, Fresno, California- Ring a bell? Final round of the Tour qualifing school? Tried to hit that same impossible cut 3-wood into the wind from a hilly lie- 5 in a row out of bounds. Until you finaly pulled it off and tapped it in for a crowd-pleasing 13... when a 12 would have got you on the Tour. Now that was a defining moment. And the definition was "shit.

Roy: Greatness courts failure, Romeo.

Romeo: You may be right boss, but you know what? Sometimes par is good enough to win.

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The Motivation Behind Taking Risks

Roy: You know why I still hit that shot?

Romeo: Cuz that's the only way you could beat Dave Simms.

Roy: No.

Romeo: Cause it was that look in your face...

Roy: I hit it again because that shot was a defining moment, and when a defining moment comes along, you define the moment or the moment defines you. I did not shrink from the challenge, I rose to it. If I had it to do all over again, I'd still hit that shot.

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Debating Masculinity in Golf Culture

Roy: Thirteen years on the tour an you're still a pussy.

Simms: Thirteen years on the driving range and you still think this game is about your testosterone count.

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Confronting Delusions of Grandeur

Molly: Can I ask you a question? If you're such a legendary striker of the golf ball, as everyone says...why are you, at your age, out here in the middle of nowhere...operating a barely-solvent establishment, ducking the I.R.S...collecting a few pathetic dollars to buy your next sixpack when you're capable of so much more?

Roy: Perhaps I'm chock-full of inner demons.

Molly: No. You're chock-full of bullshit.

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Golf Terminology and Misunderstandings

Roy: Waggle it and let the big dog eat.

Molly: What big dog?

Roy: The driver, the #1-wood.

Molly: Oh this is metal.

Roy: Woods are metal, the driver's known as the big dog. I'm just saying let him loose, let it rip, let the big dog eat.

Molly: You know, this is without a doubt the stupidest, silliest...most idiotic, grotesquely masquerading game ever invented.

Roy: Yes ma'am and that's why I love it. Now if you hit one good shot, just one, and that tuning fork rings in your loins and you can't wait to get back...and do it again.

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The Golf Swing as a Poetic Expression

Roy: What Is The Golf Swing," by Roy McAvoy? Well, I tend to think of the golf swing as a poem.

Romeo: Ooh, he's doing that poetry thing again.

Roy: The critical opening phrase of this poem will always be the grip. The hands unite to form a single unit by the simple overlap of the little finger.

Molly: Right.

Roy: Lowly and slowly, the clubhead is led back, pulled into position not by the hands, but by the body, which turns away from the target, shifting weight to the right side without shifting balance. Tempo is everything; perfection unobtainable as the body coils down at the top of the swing. There's a slight hesitation. A little nod to the gods...

Molly: A, a nod to the gods?

Roy: Yeah, to the gods. That he is fallible. That perfection is unobtainable. And now the weight begins shifting back to the left pulled by the powers inside the earth, it's alive, this swing! A living sculpture and down through contact, always down, striking the ball crisply, with character. A tuning fork goes off in your loins. Such a pure feeling is the well-struck golf shot. And then the follow through to finish. Always on line. The reverse C of the Golden Bear! The steel workers power and brawn of Carl Sandburg's Arnold Palmer!

Romeo: Ohh, he's doing that Arnold Palmer thing.

Roy: And then the unfinished symphony of Roy McAvoy.

Molly: What's unfinished?

Roy: Well, I have a short follow-through. It has an unfinished look...

Molly: Why?

Roy: Well, some say it's the easiest way to play in the winds of west Texas...some say it's because I never finish anything in my life. You can decide. But the point is...every finishing position is unique. That's what the golf swing's about. It's about gaining control of your life and...letting go at the same time.

Molly: Jeez Louise.

Roy: There's only one other acceptable theory about how to hit the ball.

Molly: Oh, boy, well, I'm afraid to ask. What is it?

Roy: Grip it and rip it.

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The Game Beyond the Golf Course

Roy: First thing you must learn is this game ain't about hitting a little ball in some yonder hole. It's about inner demons, self-doubt, human frailty and overcoming that shit. What kind of doctor did you say you were?

Molly: Psychologist. A neo-Jungian, post-modern Freudian, holistic secularist.

Roy: Okay.

Molly: I mean, inner demons, human frailty, that's my life's work.

A Humble Golf Pro's Perspective on Feminism

Molly: I take it you're a feminist.

Roy: I've been called many things, never been saddled with that one.

Molly: You might try being saddled sometime. Smell of leather, sting of a whip.

Roy: I'm just a humble golf pro, can I help you?

A Challenge to Self-Confidence Among Friends

Roy: Any of you shitheads ever get bored? You ever get bored? Cause I got a riddle. Takes about 2 ounces of brains to figure it out. Anybody think they got a brain with 2 ounces of brains in it?

Romeo: There's a rumor Earl does.

Roy: For chrissakes, fellas, come on, a little self-confidence from the players gallery. We ain't talkin long division.

Critique of Talent and Professionalism at the Range

Clint: [about Molly] How can such a pretty girl have such an ugly swing.

Earl: [about Roy] The word normal and him don't often collide in the same sentence.

David Simms: Can you people not see that I'm busy? I'm working. This is my office. Do I come to your office and ask for an autograph? I don't think so. Jesus. What an ugly dog.

TV Director: Another driving range pro, it's all we needed. It's heroes that I need. Not obscure driving range pros.

Jim Nantz: Unbelievable. McAvoy has done it. You just saw the greatest round in U.S. Open history. The all-time lowest round in a major doesn't belong to a Jack Nicklaus or an Arnold Palmer, Hogan, Nelson or Snead. It's been shot by the most improbable artist of all. Roy McAvoy has his signature on golf's all-time masterpiece round.

Doreen: [to Molly] You're not one of those women who tries to fix men, I hope. I mean, men cannot be fixed, and especially him.

Enduring Mental Struggles and Challenges

Romeo Posar: [to Roy] You're a head case. You always have been, always will be.

Frustration in Unheard Advice

Romeo Posar: [to Roy] You won't listen to me, will you? Even when I'm trying to help you, man. After all these years you think I'm full of shit?

One Rule Against Bad Bets

Romeo Posar: Look, boss, I only got one rule. And that's never bet money that you don't have on a dog race with an ex-girlfriend who happens to be a stripper.

Attraction in Obnoxious Behavior

Dr. Molly Griswold: I find him... mildly attractive when he's obnoxious and arrogant like this.

Questioning Male Competitiveness and Insecurity

Dr. Molly Griswold: Why do men always insist on measuring their dicks?

Self-Deception and Misjudgment in Relationships

Dr. Molly Griswold: I can always tell when someone's lying to himself. But I am quite susceptible and frequently wrong when that person lies to me!

Embrace challenges or don't engage at all

Roy McAvoy: Well, what the hell? You ride her until she bucks you or don't ride at all.

Golf and Sex: Enjoyment Over Skill

Roy McAvoy: You know someone once said that golf and sex are the only two things you don't have to be good at to enjoy.

Desire for Recognition in Performance

Roy McAvoy: Way I'm swinging today, nothing bugs me except insufficient applause.

Determination to Qualify and Defy Expectations

Roy McAvoy: [to Molly] I'm going to qualify for the U.S. Open and kick your boyfriend's ass. Whatever you think of me, you should know he hates old people, children, and dogs.

Value Beyond Competition in Golf

Roy McAvoy: [to Boone, who doesn't want to wager against Roy's car] That's because you think of it as transportation, Boone. Think of it as bragging rights. Think of yourself sitting around the bar, crowing to your cronies about the Cadillac you won from me. They'll forget all about the Winnebago you lost to me.