Golf is like a love affair. If you don't take it seriously, it's no fun; if you do take it seriously, it breaks your heart.

Daley’s quip captures the emotional paradox of golf: the game only becomes rewarding when a player invests attention, patience, and pride in improvement—yet that same investment makes failure sting. Like romance, it thrives on commitment (practice, discipline, hope) but punishes overattachment with frustration, self-reproach, and the sense that one’s best efforts can still be undone by small mistakes. The line also hints at golf’s peculiar psychology: because outcomes hinge on fine margins and repeatable technique, seriousness feels necessary, but perfection remains elusive. The humor lies in recognizing that the very intensity that makes golf meaningful is what makes it capable of “breaking your heart.”