Telling it like it is

Johnny Miller has spent as much time in a television booth as he has on a green.

For those who saw him play in the bygone era of the 1970s, Miller was a brash young golfer with a shock of blond hair who dared tee it up with the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino and Arnold Palmer with no fear of the outcome.

For those who listened to his television broadcasts on NBC sports and the Golf Channel the past quarter-century, he lets his opinions on today’s young players fly with equal aplomb, rarely cheering in the press box.

He has been in Hawaii the past two weeks preparing for the coming campaign with the island chain as his backdrop. And while too often golf analysts lack the bite needed to put a player’s performance into proper perspective, Miller isn’t afraid to say that pass should have been caught.

As one national golf writer described it this week: “Sometimes, the players feel he’s a little too candid.”

But it’s that kind of insight into a game where failure happens as often as not that separates him from his broadcast colleagues. It doesn’t hurt when Miller rolls out his PGA Tour resume, either, with 25 wins with one U.S. Open and one British Open among them.

As big a year as Tiger Woods had in 2000, Miller won an incredible eight times in 1974 after capturing the 1973 U.S. Open in historic fashion at Oakmont. That week, the then-No. 2-ranked golfer behind Nicklaus became the first to shoot a 63 in a major. The fact that it came in the final round only adds to his lore. He won his second and final major in 1976 at the British.

He said during an interview this week that sometimes he wishes he’d spent more time preparing for the majors since a player’s legacy these days is built primarily on that world stage.

“But I just wanted to win, I didn’t care where we were playing,” Miller said. “Looking back, I guess I game-planned for too many Phoenix Opens.”

It’s that ability to question his own career decisions that makes him ring so true in the broadcast booth when he turns that critical eye on the likes of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler.

Much like in his day, when the fields were rich with talented players capable of going low on any given weekend, Miller sees 2015 and beyond as equally deep. The two most intriguing stories for him this year are the return of Woods and the potential of McIlroy to break from the pack.

Throw in the fact that this is the last year a player can anchor a long putter to his belly — just look what Webb Simpson has done at this week’s Sony Open in Hawaii — and you can get a sense of what kind of drama could unfold by season’s end.

One of Miller’s favorite topics is Woods. He believes he will win another major, just not five of them to pass the Golden Bear.

Woods returns to the PGA Tour in Phoenix this month and then moves on to Torrey Pines in San Diego. While he has been away taking care of his body and tinkering with another swing change, a group of young golfers Woods helped assemble has grown into a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

“And they aren’t afraid of Tiger,” Miller said.

He cites McIlroy’s comments last year that basically said Woods and Mickelson are just getting older and seeing the last few holes of their careers.

“I don’t think they liked that very much,” Miller said.

Probably not, but don’t be surprised if Miller watches that development in the upcoming months leading to the Masters, where McIlroy will try to complete the Rory slam. Woods’ best chance of winning a major, at least in Miller’s eyes, is at the Masters, because the 18-hole tract suits his game.

“As far as 2015, I said my era was a pretty darned good era with like a dozen really, really good players,” Miller said. “And it seems like we’re now in an era with an equal number of big stars. You’ve got obviously Tiger and Rory and Martin Kaymer and Bubba (Watson) and all these guys,

“You’ve got this really great core group, so it’ll be really interesting to see if Rory can separate himself and what Tiger does.”

What intrigues Miller most about Woods is his swing change — can he transfer the confidence he develops on the practice range and take it to the golf course?

“His swing is wider, a lot like 2000, where it’s more elliptical than circular,” Miller said. “He’s getting a lot more distance out of it. It gives him more time to create more body and hip speed. I think this will give him some confidence on the golf course. Hopefully he can do that, because you can’t get confidence a little bit on the practice tee and practice grounds. You’ve got to do it when the bell rings. I’m pulling for him. I hope he does well. I think it would be good for golf.”

Equally interesting is the play of McIlroy. Can he dominate these young guys the way Woods did en route to winning 14 majors? Miller isn’t so sure because the talent pool is so deep.

“It’s pretty crowded at the top, maybe more than ever,” Miller said. “I think the Rory-Tiger thing is obviously the No. 1 story, whether Rory can keep it going and start doing stuff — he already is doing stuff like Tiger did, but whether Tiger can get his game where he’s scoring and challenging and can make it really interesting.

“There’s a lot of good story lines. 

I think of all the years I’ve done announcing, as far as not knowing who’s going to come to the forefront, whether it’s going to be (Henrick) Stenson will get it going or whatever, it’s really a great year. We’re going to have a great, great year of golf.”

One stop that won’t be part of Miller’s travel plans is the U.S. Open. NBC ended its broadcast relationship with the USGA in 2014. This year, the Fox Network starts a 12-year relationship with the U.S. Open, with Joe Buck and Greg Norman in the booth. That twosome will have to go a long way to match the chemistry of Miller and broadcast partner Dan Hicks.

For Miller, ending that 20-year relationship in the broadcast booth with the U.S. Open was bittersweet. As he put it at Pinehurst last year, “I believe there’s a time and a season for everything. There have been a lot of great memories, lot of great champions, lot of great moments, and I’ve had my share.”

MILLER TIME

1947

Born John Laurence Miller on April 29 in San Francisco.

1969

Graduated from Brigham Young, where he was an All-American. He joined the PGA Tour later that year.

1974

Selected as the PGA Tour player of the year.

1990

Joined the NBC broadcast team. He replaced Lee Trevino, who wanted to join the Senior Tour.

1994

Won his last event —  the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He was 46. 

1998

His induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame.

25

Number of PGA Tour events won. He won the U.S. Open in 1973 and the British Open in 1976. 

2nd

His best finish at the Masters — in 1971, 1975 and 1981.

2

His highest world ranking was in 1974 and 1975 behind Jack Nicklaus.

22

His age when he joined the PGA Tour in 1969 and his total number of grandchildren. He has six children.

DID YOU KNOW?

When Jack Nicklaus said Johnny Miller was the best short iron player ever, Woods sought him out in 2012 to be his coach. He declined because of his broadcast commitment.