Great Johnny Miller Interview

[David_Tepper]

Johnny Miller is making the rounds promoting his new book. Yesterday he was interviewed on KNBR in San Francisco. As usual, he was upfront with his thoughts and opinions. If you are interested, you can replay the interview at:

www.knbr.com/razorMrT/index.html

[David Wigler]

David,

I heard him yesterday on Rome.  He referred to himself in the 3rd person two different times and called himself the greatest iron player ever.  I thought he came off as a pompous ass.

[Brian_Gracely]

David,

I heard him yesterday on Rome.  He referred to himself in the 3rd person two different times and called himself the greatest iron player ever.  I thought he came off as a pompous ass.

David,

I don't think that's a fair statement on your part.  The comment about "best iron player ever" was in the context of today's players and their skill set.  Johnny said he didn't think any of today's players hit their irons better than him in his prime, and Rome said (paraphased) "I think you could be considered the greatest iron player ever".  I believe a fairly good argument could be made to support that claim...albeit the whole discussion is subjective.

[Mike Benham]

Coincidently, the Shell WWoG Match between Nicklaus and Miller at the Olympic Club was on The Golf Channel last night ...

It is about the 10th time I have seen it and in the opening 1st tee discussion, Miller did run on about how his career was defined based on the guys he beat (Nicklaus, Watson, etc.).  I am sure it was intended to be a compliment to Nicklaus, but it did not sound like one ...

[David Wigler]

David,

I heard him yesterday on Rome.  He referred to himself in the 3rd person two different times and called himself the greatest iron player ever.  I thought he came off as a pompous ass.

David,

I don't think that's a fair statement on your part.  The comment about "best iron player ever" was in the context of today's players and their skill set.  Johnny said he didn't think any of today's players hit their irons better than him in his prime, and Rome said (paraphased) "I think you could be considered the greatest iron player ever".  I believe a fairly good argument could be made to support that claim...albeit the whole discussion is subjective.

Brian,

He did say he was the greatest iron player ever.  He did say he hits his irons better than anyone on tour today.  He did say how proud he was that he shot the greatest round ever and then referenced every single publication that validated that he shot the greatest round ever.  He did refer to himself in the 3rd person several times.  He constantly referenced his greatness (All this from a guy who won exactly as many majors as John Daly).  I have no axe to grind with Miller.  I just thought he came off like an arrogant ass in his interview with Rome.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Miller claims his ballstriking that day was the equal of Nicklaus, but his putting was terrible.

Anyone who was there would have a hard time agreeing with the first part of that assessment.  Nicklaus missed maybe two shots the whole day (second on #7 and tee shot on #12).  The rest of the time he was striking it beautifully.  Miller hit one great shot (tee shot on #15, and a bunch of average shots).

[Joel_Stewart]

I've played with Johnny Miller twice (both times at Silverado) and seen him at outings, clinics etc. a number of times.  He does consider himself to be the best iron player of all time.  He is really a wonderful warm person, he shoots straight but I never felt he was boasting.  He can debate and back up his statements very well.

I would have liked to call in and ask him about his golf architecture business.  He and Fred Bliss have had limited success in building great golf courses and he has some terrible courses as well.

[Brian_Gracely]

David,

Even if you have no axe to grind and you think he sounded arrogant, at least do Mr.Miller the justice of trying to explain his comments in the context of the interview.  

Rome brought up the issue of "greatest round ever played".  Miller said that he never considered it to be a great feat because he considered "greatest ever" to be a 4-round event.  It was only after magazines, colleagues and fans continued to bring it up did he say "yeah, I guess it's pretty cool that people consider it so great and it makes me glad to have accomplished it".  

Miller did hit his irons better than anyone on tour today.  Greg Norman does drive the ball better than anyone on tour today.  Ben Crenshaw did putt the ball better than anyone on tour today.  Restating something that is commonly excepted by an entire industry doesn't make him a arrogant.    

[Bill Gayne]

I watched portions of Shell WWOG last night and at times it was painful to watch. Miller's nerves has made him a shadow of the player he was at his peak.

[RJ_Daley]

Certainly Miller has a great deal of pride in his accomplishments (and ought to).  He gets outspoken at times, which makes for better viewing of telecasts he does, IMHO.  He threw a nice compliment to Azinger about being outspoken as well.  I enjoyed his insights on that webcast link...

I saw some of that already couple of years old SWWOG, and that must have been hard to take such a drubbing from Jack, even if it is acknowledged that he had a lot of non-playing rust.  ouch!  

[David Wigler]

David,

Even if you have no axe to grind and you think he sounded arrogant, at least do Mr.Miller the justice of trying to explain his comments in the context of the interview.  

Rome brought up the issue of "greatest round ever played".  Miller said that he never considered it to be a great feat because he considered "greatest ever" to be a 4-round event.  It was only after magazines, colleagues and fans continued to bring it up did he say "yeah, I guess it's pretty cool that people consider it so great and it makes me glad to have accomplished it".  

Miller did hit his irons better than anyone on tour today.  Greg Norman does drive the ball better than anyone on tour today.  Ben Crenshaw did putt the ball better than anyone on tour today.  Restating something that is commonly excepted by an entire industry doesn't make him a arrogant.    

Brian,

Either you are hearing what you want to hear or I am hearing what I want.  He was in studio and it was right after a commercial.  Rome asked what he wanted.  If you did not think he sounded arrogant, I wouldn't try to convince you.  

As for your second comment, I could not disagree more.  I do not even think he was the best iron player of his time - I'd take Hale Irwin.  Tiger is a far better Iron player in my mind.  As for Driver's, Vijay is as accurate as Norman and 30 yards longer (As are Chad Cambell, Darren Clarke and a host of others).  I would take 10 current players over Crenshaw in putting.  Crenshaw, like Faxon, always helped his putting stats by hitting the ball so sideways that they only had shot putts after missed greens.  Under pressure, Tiger, Els, Price, Furyk and Faxon would all give Crenshaw a run for his money.  

[Jeff Fortson]

I heard the entire hour Jim Rome spent with Miller on the radio yesterday.  While I did find his referencing of himself in the third person to be odd and amusing, I didn't feel that Johnny Miller was being egotistical.  

David, I think you have painted a picture of the interview that skipped many facts about the reasons Miller talked about himself and his achievements.  Yes, Miller talked about how a golf publication ranked his final round 63 in the U.S. Open at Oakmont as the greatest single round in competition of all time.  Can you argue that?  I think if it isn't the greatest it has to definitely be one of them.  Plus, Rome brought up the round in the first place!  Why are you trying to paint a picture of Miller going on Rome's show to brag about his exploits?  

Sure, Johnny Miller has no problem telling you how good he was or how much he thinks he knows about golf related topics but I would never describe what happened on Jim Rome's show yesterday as "pompous" or "arrogant".  More like "straight shooting" and "honest in the way he feels", even if he does refer to himself in the third person (which I thought was weird too).  Jim Rome asked many of the questions that got some of the answers that you point to in blasting Miller.  At least Miller tells us how he really feels instead of serving up a bunch of softballs so we all think he is nice.  I like people that can speak their mind even if it comes off as egotistical.


Jeff F.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Under pressure, Tiger, Els, Price, Furyk and Faxon would all give Crenshaw a run for his money.  

Nick Price?

[George Pazin]

One man's honest and straight shooting is another's arrogant and egotistical. While I tend to fall in the camp of viewing it as egotistical, it's at least interesting to hear something other than standard prepped responses.

One thing I've never understood was how anyone could view Norman as the greatest driver of the ball ever, considering his performance while under the greatest pressure. This is not to detract from his tremendous accomplishments - I've never considered him a choker, for one - but I don't see how you can call him the best when he didn't perform his best when it counted most. I'd call Jack better, for one - Tiger, too, until this year.

[tlavin]

Everybody knows that Johnny Miller is a pompous ass who is full of himself and full of fulsome rhetoric about today's players.  That is why he is so fun to listen to!  From Cosell to Limbaugh to Miller, effective commentators are all egotistical, opinionated and incisive.  Johnny Miller says the first thing that comes into his head and he's always thinking about himself, so it's no surprise that he was again bragging about his great round at Oakmont (undeniably brilliant) or his skills during his prime (the shortest prime of any "legendary" golfer).  All you need to know about Miller's abilities these days is to be reminded of the segment he shot during the Players Championship this year.  He was describing the island green shot on 17.  They wanted a demonstration.  Miller's hands were on a microphone; Gary Koch had an eight-iron in his.  He didn't even have the balls to swing a short iron for the cameras.  That doesn't sound like the best iron player ever, it sounds like a  self-absorbed gasbag who has an exaggerated sense of his place in the pantheon of golf's greatest players.

[Kevin_Reilly]

Norman is regarded as the "longest, straightest" driver in history.  Hard to argue with that.  He hit it long and straight with the smaller-headed Cobra steel head driver.

As for qualifying your nomination of Tiger "until this year"...we're talking about all-time rankings...so you can't make qualifications like that.

[Michael Dugger]

Considering the old unforgiving irons of that era.  Considering he was hitting mostly long irons into those Oakmont greens.  Considering how often he hit it stiff that fateful final round.

I always thought it was one of THE single best performances in the final round of a major ever.

EVER

Calling anything THE best is kind of tough, surely something must be said for Watson outdueling Nicklaus at Turnberry, or one of my personal favorites, Hale Irwin's 65 at Medinah, including that amazing bomb he dropped on 18 (the one where he was high-fiving the crowd!)

Miller sort of rubs me the wrong way from time to time as well.  In regards to his game, while he may have only as many majors as John Daly, there was a time there for a couple of years where he was battling Watson and Nicklaus week after week.  His game was every bit the equal of those fellows.  

Tom Kite may have only won one major but doesn't his record on tour mean something???  I always thought it did, a journeyman one is not when they rack up 4 or 5 victories a year, irregardless of if those tourneys are majors or not.  For a time, Miller gave the big boys all they could handle.  

[tlavin]

On a somewhat related point, how about Olazabal's complete destruction of Firestone some years back.  That was some unbelievable iron play, maybe the best iron play in a tournament, ever.

[George Pazin]

Overall, I'd still take Tiger, even including this year. He did it when it counted. I'm simply using the qualification because I've heard the statement about Norman for as long as I can remember, and I can't understand how anyone would have rated him ahead of Tiger prior to this year.

Similarly, Jack played most of his career with wooden drivers and lousy balls. I don't think Greg's much longer and straighter with comparable equipment, and certainly especially not under pressure.

I'm also placing relative equivalence between "longest, straightest" and "best" - I guess you could make the argument that the "best" might also shape his shots better, which might take him out of "longest, straightest."

[Mike Benham]

Norman is regarded as the "longest, straightest" driver in history.  Hard to argue with that.  He hit it long and straight with the smaller-headed Cobra steel head driver.

and under pressure ... I don't recall that his tee shots got him in trouble ... (I'm sure someone will correct me on this ...)

[David Wigler]

I heard the entire hour Jim Rome spent with Miller on the radio yesterday.  While I did find his referencing of himself in the third person to be odd and amusing, I didn't feel that Johnny Miller was being egotistical.  

David, I think you have painted a picture of the interview that skipped many facts about the reasons Miller talked about himself and his achievements.  Yes, Miller talked about how a golf publication ranked his final round 63 in the U.S. Open at Oakmont as the greatest single round in competition of all time.  Can you argue that?  I think if it isn't the greatest it has to definitely be one of them.  Plus, Rome brought up the round in the first place!  Why are you trying to paint a picture of Miller going on Rome's show to brag about his exploits?  

Sure, Johnny Miller has no problem telling you how good he was or how much he thinks he knows about golf related topics but I would never describe what happened on Jim Rome's show yesterday as "pompous" or "arrogant".  More like "straight shooting" and "honest in the way he feels", even if he does refer to himself in the third person (which I thought was weird too).  Jim Rome asked many of the questions that got some of the answers that you point to in blasting Miller.  At least Miller tells us how he really feels instead of serving up a bunch of softballs so we all think he is nice.  I like people that can speak their mind even if it comes off as egotistical.


Jeff F.

Jeff,

I didn't think I was blasting Miller.  I have never met him.  Have no dislike for him and have no skin in this game.  I thought he sounded like an ass, you disagree.  You said "Sure, Johnny Miller has no problem telling you how good he was or how much he thinks he knows about golf related topics but I would never describe what happened on Jim Rome's show yesterday as "pompous" or "arrogant".  More like "straight shooting" and "honest in the way he feels", even if he does refer to himself in the third person (which I thought was weird too)."  

He was in studio to promote his book about how good he is.  All the questions were about how good he was.  He referred to himself in the third person.  If telling everyone you are the best is not arrogant in your book but instead straight shooting, than we must agree to disagree.

[George Pazin]

My recollection is that his driver, among other clubs, cost him more than a couple majors. Recalling the last round in the 96 Masters, the last round at Shinnecock (both times I think, but definitely one of them).

That's obviously just my opinion, but he sprayed more than a couple on major Sundays, certainly more than someone who's considered the longest & straightest.

-----

As an aside, shouldn't David Wigler's comments be considered honest and straight shooting by those defending Miller? Why the double standard?

[Kevin_Reilly]

On a somewhat related point, how about Olazabal's complete destruction of Firestone some years back.  That was some unbelievable iron play, maybe the best iron play in a tournament, ever.

The current edition of Golf Magazine has a ranking of the top 10 rounds of the last 30ish years.  Olazabal's round is one of them.

Miller has two of the top 10, including #1.

[Mike Benham]

My recollection is that his driver, among other clubs, cost him more than a couple majors. Recalling the last round in the 96 Masters, the last round at Shinnecock (both times I think, but definitely one of them).

That's obviously just my opinion, but he sprayed more than a couple on major Sundays, certainly more than someone who's considered the longest & straightest.

George -

I don't disagree with your recollection or opinion.  

We, as recreational observers of the sport (honestly, how many tee shots of these players do we see each tournament or year?) have limited access to the events, people on the inside, specifically other players or the ones who know how good these guys are, so when players that have played with Miller, Norman, Calvin Peete, Crenshaw, faxon, Fred Funk, etc. say that they are the straightest, longest, best, etc., I tend to give that a little more weight than us armchair Monday morning quarterbacks ...

In his heyday, Miller knocked down a lot of flags, specifically during his run through the Southwest based solely on his statistics of wins and scoring ... maybe we can classify him as the best iron player in the desert during the west coast swing in the '70s and '80s ...

[George Pazin]

Jeeez, Mike, you put more creedence in a bunch of Tour pros who played with Norman a bunch of times than me, who's watched him on TV a bunch of times?!? What kind of GCAer are you?

Your response probably answers my original question quite well. I guess I'd put more stock in big time pressure, but it makes does make more sense of the statement. Thanks, now I can sleep easy.