JOHNNY MILLER, GOLFER: HIS BEST MAY HAVE BEEN THE BEST EVER

This guy was truly great. He had many incredible years on the PGA tour though he isn’t known for his longevity. He came like a comet, a blazing ball of fire, and then he receded into the abyss, or at least his golf game did.  He was the proverbial ”golden boy” who grew up in a swank San Francisco suburb and learned the game of golf at one of it’s finest theatres, the Olympic Club. Johnny Miller is known by many, if not most, in the golf world as the greatest ball striker in modern times, perhaps ever. Jack Nicklaus called him the greatest short iron player of all time. Miller won 25 times on the tour. He won the 1973 U.S. Open by coming back from 6 strokes back with a 63 on the final round to beat Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Lee Trevino. Miller won the 1976 British Open at Royal Birkdale by 6 strokes, beating Nicklaus and Seve Ballesteros. From 1974 to 1976 Johnny Miller won 15 times on the PGA tour. In back to back weeks in 1974 he won tournaments by 14 and by 9 strokes. No one does that, nobody!....not Jack Nicklaus, not Tiger Woods, not Ben Hogan...no one has ever done that...He was possessed.

Never one to hide his strong views and never known for being self effacing, Miller said this about a period of golf that he played in 1975. “When I won at Tucson by nine shots in 1975, I would say the average iron shot I hit that week was no more than two feet off line. It was unbelievable. When I was at my peak, I would go into streaks where I felt that I could knock down the pin from anywhere with my irons. I played some golf that I think is unequaled.” Johnny was, and is, brutally honest, sometimes to a fault...he would also be the first to tell you that he choked in a tournament or that he had the putting ”yips”. He calls it the way he sees it, always has. It’s refreshing.

I think it is fair to say that Johnny Miller is the worst putter among the greatest players to ever play the game. Certainly during his peak years he was making lots of putts, but it didn’t take much for Miller to lose confidence in the putter and nullify the amazing accuracy of his iron play. I can’t think of any great players other than Johnny who were saddled with prolonged putting slumps. In the late 70’s and early 80’s you wouldn’t put your life on the line betting that Johnny Miller was going to make a crucial 5 foot putt----I would much rather take the odds on Jack Nicklaus making a crucial 15 foot putt during ANY point in his long career.

Johnny Miller----one of the all time greats! There is no one like him.