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Jeff Schley

  • Karma: +0/-0
I enjoyed his critiques mostly and style, for the players are so good compared to regular golfers it was refreshing you had a guy say, “Bad shot there, he maybe 20 feet but he is on the wrong side of this hole.” I remember him critiquing Jim Furyk during his 2003 US Open win at Olympia Fields on one of his approaches into one of the par 4’s and he hit it to about 25.  He said something to the affect, “I don’t care US Open or whatever, your a pro golfer with a 9 iron in your hand you got to get it inside of 15 feet if you want to win golf tournaments.”


He was brash and yes Gary Koch, Dan Hicks and others glorified him for his 63 at Oakmont almost every broadcast, but he probably said what the golfer himself was thinking after maybe just not executing well enough after a shot.  For someone to actually say it as a critique on air rubbed the players the wrong way, for the game is hard, but in his prime it wasn’t very hard for him.


He also dabbled in golf course design and Silverado one that stands out to me.


He is a member of LDS and has been very generous with his time for charities I know, which is always an enduring quality is my eyes.


So legacy of Johnny Miller?
"To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice your gifts."
- Steve Prefontaine

V. Kmetz

  • Karma: +0/-0
I enjoyed his commentary enormously; he was frank and without a personal agenda of any sort. While I grew ambivalent about his constant references to his era and Oakmont, I recognize my own reaction as an acuumulation of 30 years of his pre-eminence on air.


And one thing about that too is that the era he now concludes has been the tech explosion era, the envelope-pushing-Mike-Davis-is-CitzenOne era, and the era with acute debate about championships artificially managing their winning scores... so...Miller's 63 (forever argued as a reason for WFs Massacre) has been constantly relevant as a symbol of that power struggle...his experiences, colleague references, and so forth was/has been constantly worthy of on-air mention.


I re-state, I thought he was frank, and I think in the end he did strike the proper note of reporting and translating of the action to the audience with an empathy that lay golfers can appreciate.


cheers   vk

"The tee shot must first be hit straight and long between a vast bunker on the left which whispers 'slice' in the player's ear, and a wilderness on the right which induces a hurried hook." -

Peter Pallotta

I am a big fan. He talked about the 63 (or the iron play when 'on') in the same way he did the bad putting and the chokes, and every other tour pro's strength & weaknesses too.
His legacy? Tony Romo.
« Last Edit: February 03, 2019, 08:38:50 AM by Peter Pallotta »

Jon Wiggett

  • Karma: +0/-0
His greatest contribution will always be with his clubs.

Thomas Dai

  • Karma: +0/-0
Probably actions rather than words so most likely the 63 in ‘73, the Phoenix/Tucson hot-streak in ‘75 and Birkdale in ‘76.
Atb

Steve Kline

  • Karma: +0/-0
Generally, I enjoyed him and his willingness to state his opinion regardless of what others thought.


With all the data gathering on Tour now, I think some of Miller's statements are proving to be a little too critical - re: distance to the hole for certain shots, etc. I think it would have been fascinating to shift Miller's announcing career to now with all of the data coming in. He seems like someone who would have really used that in his commentary.


Miller's ego was outsized for sure. In the end, my problem with that wasn't him, but with the others on the broadcast. Their deference to him was worse than his ego. Johnny stated his opinion. The rest of them seemed afraid to do so because it might be different than Johnny's.

jeffwarne

  • Karma: +0/-0
Incredible iron player.Many rounds where he putted poorly and shot 67.
2 Majors-63 at Oakmont and epic battle with 19 year old Seve.
Desert Fox
Stepped out of booth to win 1994 Pebble Beach Invitational-the only event he played that year-at 46!


Family man.


Outspoken announcer(who used to drive me crazy) who always did his homework who harnessed his talents and  mellowed into a great announcer over the past 5-10 years despite the ego driven proclamations mentioned.
Going out at the top of his game.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2019, 08:28:59 AM by jeffwarne »
"Let's slow the damned greens down a bit, not take the character out of them." Tom Doak
"Take their focus off the grass and put it squarely on interesting golf." Don Mahaffey

Tim Martin

  • Karma: +0/-0
I was always a fan of Johnny regardless of his ego and actually felt cheated if he didn’t reference the 63 somewhere during the telecast. ;)  Nobody has ever been as candid and to me that’s what made him stand out. I can’t say I’m a fan of Azinger at least what I have experienced so far. He’s great at stating the obvious which to me is the most common problem for golf commentators. Less is more.

Ian Andrew

  • Karma: +0/-0
Members wanting to have stimpmeter readings at their own club.


With every golf development bubble, the end was unexpected and brutal....


Tim Martin

  • Karma: +0/-0
On a personal note I brought my then 13 year old son Jack to the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage. We bumped into Johnny Miller at the Wednesday practice round and he was gracious enough to take a picture with Jack as well as add a few words of encouragement. George Marucci was not quite as willing as Jack was wearing a New York Giants tee shirt. It was like asking Superman to take s picture with a guy wearing a kryptonite tee shirt.

Tim_Cronin

  • Karma: +0/-0
In 1997 and 1997, his son Andy made it to the final match of the Western Amateur at Point O' Woods. In one of those years – maybe both – Johnny sat in on one of the two live radio broadcasts on a Benton Harbor station, WHMS 1400, during the morning semifinal match. He was as good on radio in explaining what could and usually would happen as he was on NBC. He wouldn't do it in the final match because he said he was too nervous, but what a treat for those listening.
The website: www.illinoisgolfer.net
On Twitter: @illinoisgolfer

James Brown

  • Karma: +0/-0
He was arguably the best golfer ever when he was hot.  That’s really something. 


He was the best golfer turned full time announcer. 


He has left us quite a few courses.  Most are very fun, a few are pretty good. 


He owns the worst putting performance ever shown on TV from Shells WWOG at Olympic. 


And he pioneered the golf announcer model where the announcers are “personalities” and become part of the story.

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
I will be the contrarian...

He was a great golfer, and I'm sure hes' a great family man and gracious in person... but safe to say i will not miss his pompous and holier than thou commentary from the tower.  Good riddance!

Erik J. Barzeski

  • Karma: +1/-0
I think his broadcasting will be, by far, his lasting legacy. It not only lasted longer but it reached far, far, FAR more people.

It's not a knock on who he was as a player, just a testament to how many people you're able to reach via TV.
Erik J. Barzeski @iacas
Author, Lowest Score Wins, Instructor/Coach, and Lifetime Student of the Game.

I generally ignore Rob, Tim, Garland, and Chris.

Ken Moum

  • Karma: +0/-0
Unfortunately I expect we'll neve see another analyst as willing to put his real thoughts out there. (Unless Brandel somehow ends up in a booth)


As a player who loves to compete in "real" tournaments, where your score with your ball is going to end up in calligraphy as a certain midwesterner here like to say, I found Miller's frank commentary refreshing.


Too many broadcasters, especially retired pros, worry too much about remaining chummy with the players, IMHO.


His willingness to talk about nerves, tension and even OMG!, choking, really struck a chord with me. The essence or tournament golf is controlling your nerves so you can achieve the goal.


It doesn't matter whether you're a double-digit handicapper like me, or a seasoned pro.


And as far as the bitching about him talking about his 63, I've paid close attention over the years, and he almost never brought it up.


Just like when I was at GCSAA and a lot of members thought he was why their members complained about grain. So I started listening carefully. Miller always mentioned grain as something the player needed to take into account. Not something the super needed to eliminate.


FWIW, my boss asked me what I thought about inviting Johnny to talk at the annual conference. He was reluctant, but I thought he'd captivate the members, and I think he did.


And if you've never seen him swing a driver one-handed at full speed, you've missed something amazing.


Over time, the guy in the ideal position derives an advantage, and delivering him further  advantage is not worth making the rest of the players suffer at the expense of fun, variety, and ultimately cost -- Jeff Warne, 12-08-2010

Tim Martin

  • Karma: +0/-0
Did anyone know that Johnny had a cheese whiz habit? Emotionally I am drained and there is another hour left in the broadcast. Old Yeller has nothing on Johnny’s swan song



Edward Glidewell

  • Karma: +0/-0
I will be the contrarian...

He was a great golfer, and I'm sure hes' a great family man and gracious in person... but safe to say i will not miss his pompous and holier than thou commentary from the tower.  Good riddance!


Unfortunately he's being replaced by Paul Azinger, who is so much worse. I've never been a big fan of Johnny Miller's commentary, but I'd rather listen to him for 4 hours than have to listen to Azinger bloviate for 5 minutes.

Kalen Braley

  • Karma: +0/-0
Did anyone know that Johnny had a cheese whiz habit? Emotionally I am drained and there is another hour left in the broadcast. Old Yeller has nothing on Johnny’s swan song


Yea and he just said he thinks Trump is a great guy and will MAGA.

Holy hurl....

Tim Martin

  • Karma: +0/-0
I will be the contrarian...

He was a great golfer, and I'm sure hes' a great family man and gracious in person... but safe to say i will not miss his pompous and holier than thou commentary from the tower.  Good riddance!


Unfortunately he's being replaced by Paul Azinger, who is so much worse. I've never been a big fan of Johnny Miller's commentary, but I'd rather listen to him for 4 hours than have to listen to Azinger bloviate for 5 minutes.


Ed-Azinger could make an onion cry.

Joe Schackman

  • Karma: +0/-0
I liked Johnny and I'll miss him. No he wasn't perfect but when he called a golf tournament it just felt bigger.

Terry Lavin

  • Karma: +0/-0
He’ll be remembered as a great golfer and an incisive commentator who possesses one of the biggest egos in an egocentric “industry.”
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.  H.L. Mencken

Ronald Montesano

  • Karma: +0/-0
I mentioned on the Tweet that it was the introduction of golfers-turned-announcers that allowed Miller the talking head to come into existence. Venturi began this on the US side; guys like Longhurst and Alliss were too restrained (and educated) to belch the brimstone that made Miller famous.


Televised golf takes steps backwards (Curtis Strange, Lanny Wadkins, and I'm a Wake Forest guy!) but the next great broadcaster is out there. The question is, will she/he want to take on the travel schedule that is demanded by the trade?


Finding your voice, with writers and public speakers, is arduous. Miller settled into a voice; my guess is that he said 60% of what he wanted to say. How often did they use the Kill switch on him?


On the "current data" supposition, I disagree. I think that Johnny was a feel player, and a feel commentator. I don't believe that he would ever warm to data; it would discredit the notions that necessarily popped into his head.


I'm intrigued by his sh!t record in the PGA. Never finished top 10, lots of missed cuts, three WDs toward the end.
Coming in 2024
~Elmira Country Club
~Soaring Eagles
~Bonavista
~Indian Hills
~Maybe some more!!

Tommy Williamsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
I will miss him. He made the tournament more interesting. I enjoyed his rapartee with Roger Maltbie. And he could really play. When he was on the top of his game few could beat him.
I only have played one of his courses, Entrada in St George. It was pretty good, and the terrain on and through the lava was pretty fun.


I will miss him.
Where there is no love, put love; there you will find love.
St. John of the Cross

"Deep within your soul-space is a magnificent cathedral where you are sweet beyond telling." Rumi

Brock Lynch

  • Karma: +0/-0
I will be the contrarian...

He was a great golfer, and I'm sure hes' a great family man and gracious in person... but safe to say i will not miss his pompous and holier than thou commentary from the tower.  Good riddance!


Ditto