Johnny Miller: From the October Golf Magazine

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It would probably sound something like this: "...and then BANG, WHAM... like that! You give it a heavy hit with the back of your hand, and hold the face square for at least 6 inches after impact, just like I did at Oakmont back in '73..."
 
Brian,
You're one in a million. Great story about Earl Woods and I'm with you: Johnny Miller knows how to swing a golf club. When I was a teenager Miller was in his prime. When he was on he was the best I ever saw. I saw him in person just a few times: he shot the easiest 66 I ever saw while winning the 1974 Kaiser at Silverado. I mean everything he hit was right on the button, right down the middle, right at the flag. He didn't even make that many putts. He also came and gave a clinic at a junior tournament I played in. He was late and he jumped out of a car and started hitting shot after shot after shot with every club in the bag just absolutely beautifully, fades, draws, bombing drives, just everything was struck perfectly. He even had the most powerful one armed swing (left arm, his lead arm) I had and have every seen. It was at that moment that I knew I better find something else to shoot for as a career because I knew I could never hit the ball as well as Johnny. Little did I know I was watching one of the best ball strikers EVER. I'm positive he could help Tiger.

I think Johnny would have done great.

Many of you may or not know the story of when I "interviewed" for the job with Mr. Earl when Tiger was 15.
 

Brian Manzella

Administrator
Brian,
You're one in a million. Great story about Earl Woods and I'm with you: Johnny Miller knows how to swing a golf club. When I was a teenager Miller was in his prime. When he was on he was the best I ever saw. I saw him in person just a few times: he shot the easiest 66 I ever saw while winning the 1974 Kaiser at Silverado. I mean everything he hit was right on the button, right down the middle, right at the flag. He didn't even make that many putts. He also came and gave a clinic at a junior tournament I played in. He was late and he jumped out of a car and started hitting shot after shot after shot with every club in the bag just absolutely beautifully, fades, draws, bombing drives, just everything was struck perfectly. He even had the most powerful one armed swing (left arm, his lead arm) I had and have every seen. It was at that moment that I knew I better find something else to shoot for as a career because I knew I could never hit the ball as well as Johnny. Little did I know I was watching one of the best ball strikers EVER. I'm positive he could help Tiger.

I hear ya!

I saw a 60-ish Byron Nelson give a clinic, didn't see Hogan or Snead (until Snead was a sideshow at Augusta).

I've seen everyone else since.

I ve said it multiple times, and will continue to say it:

Johnny Miller hit it better than anyone I've ever seen.

Now that doesn't qualify you to help a hacker. much less a Tiger, but I've heard Miller talk about the swing and I've heard Haney talk as well.

Trust me folks, I rather take a lesson from Miller.
 
How the heck did Haney get to where he got to?

Miller the Fat does nothing to remind us of the golfing genius he was, because he is now a professional bullshiter aka commentator.
 
Credit where credit's due. If Johnny thinks that family should take priority over golf, then maybe a match-up with Tiger wouldn't have worked.
 
I like Johnny Miller.

I've dealt with him personally a number of times, and take his mannerisms with a grain of salt. Do I cringe everytime he says something about impact physics on TV? Yes. But certain character traits are annoying to certain people and his don't really bother me.

Many times, we've been having a conversation about something unrelated to golf....say Bridgestone tires, and he will somehow, with total absense of malice, weave the conversation into a story about how he was the first American tour player to take on a Japanese sponsor, which will subsequently lead to a footnote about how he beat Nicklaus by 13 shots at a tournamant held on the first course built in Japan over 7000 yards.

Anyone else hijacking the conversation that way would irritate the heck out of you, but he has the unique ability to say it in such a matter of fact way, that it doesn't bother me at all. It actually makes me smile and giggle a little on the inside because I'm thinking: "Does he know how arrogant that might sound to people?" You really get the sense he's only saying it because he thinks you might enjoy the story....which, inevitably I do.

Overall, I think he is a good and decent human being that isn't ashamed to talk about the incredible acomplishments he's had in his life.

On TV, does he proclaim some things as gospel that are catagorically false? Yes, but if you listen carefully, there is an abundant amount of subtle truth about how to play great golf, especially great tournamant golf.

And let me say this: personally, I much prefer his style to other "knowledgeable", "world class" teachers and players that have come at me with a wheelbarrel full of obvious false modesty. Those are the guys that really annoy me!
 
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Well put.

I like Johnny Miller.

I've dealt with him personally a number of times, and take his mannerisms with a grain of salt. Do I cringe everytime he says something about impact physics on TV? Yes. But certain character traits are annoying to certain people and his don't really bother me.

Many times, we've been having a conversation about something unrelated to golf....say Bridgestone tires, and he will somehow, with total absense of malice, weave the conversation into a story about how he was the first American tour player to take on a Japanese sponsor, which will subsequently lead to a footnote about how he beat Nicklaus by 13 shots at a tournamant held on the first course built in Japan over 7000 yards.

Anyone else hijacking the conversation that way would irritate the heck out of you, but he has the unique ability to say it in such a matter of fact way, that it doesn't bother me at all. It actually makes me smile and giggle a little on the inside because I'm thinking: "Does he know how arrogant that might sound to people?" You really get the sense he's only saying it because he thinks you might enjoy the story....which, inevitably I do.

Overall, I think he is a good and decent human being that isn't ashamed to talk about the incredible acomplishments he's had in his life.

On TV, does he proclaim some things as gospel that are catagorically false? Yes, but if you listen carefully, there is an abundant amount of subtle truth about how to play great golf, especially great tournamant golf.

And let me say this: personally, I much prefer his style to other "knowledgeable", "world class" teachers and players that have come at me with a wheelbarrel full of obvious false modesty. Those are the guys that really annoy me!
 
"Overall, I think he is a good and decent human being that isn't ashamed to talk about the incredible acomplishments he's had in his life."

Hard to argue with that statement considering he chose family over Tiger. A modern day Billy Casper?
 

hp12c

New
I hear ya!

I saw a 60-ish Byron Nelson give a clinic, didn't see Hogan or Snead (until Snead was a sideshow at Augusta).

I've seen everyone else since.

I ve said it multiple times, and will continue to say it:

Johnny Miller hit it better than anyone I've ever seen.

Now that doesn't qualify you to help a hacker. much less a Tiger, but I've heard Miller talk about the swing and I've heard Haney talk as well.

Trust me folks, I rather take a lesson from Miller.

Ouch!
 
... but I've heard Miller talk about the swing and I've heard Haney talk as well.

Trust me folks, I rather take a lesson from Miller.

Especially if you're gonna have to pay for it. Haney has given the same lesson to every one of his 'projects' on TGC; at least Johnny Miller might say some new crazy stuff we haven't heard before. Plus if I hit a bunch of bad shots during the lesson we'll both just blame it on the pressure of taking a lesson from the the guy who shot 63 in the final round at Oakmont. That's pressure folks...
 
I like Johnny Miller.

I've dealt with him personally a number of times, and take his mannerisms with a grain of salt. Do I cringe everytime he says something about impact physics on TV? Yes. But certain character traits are annoying to certain people and his don't really bother me.

Many times, we've been having a conversation about something unrelated to golf....say Bridgestone tires, and he will somehow, with total absense of malice, weave the conversation into a story about how he was the first American tour player to take on a Japanese sponsor, which will subsequently lead to a footnote about how he beat Nicklaus by 13 shots at a tournamant held on the first course built in Japan over 7000 yards.

Anyone else hijacking the conversation that way would irritate the heck out of you, but he has the unique ability to say it in such a matter of fact way, that it doesn't bother me at all. It actually makes me smile and giggle a little on the inside because I'm thinking: "Does he know how arrogant that might sound to people?" You really get the sense he's only saying it because he thinks you might enjoy the story....which, inevitably I do.

Overall, I think he is a good and decent human being that isn't ashamed to talk about the incredible acomplishments he's had in his life.

On TV, does he proclaim some things as gospel that are catagorically false? Yes, but if you listen carefully, there is an abundant amount of subtle truth about how to play great golf, especially great tournamant golf.

And let me say this: personally, I much prefer his style to other "knowledgeable", "world class" teachers and players that have come at me with a wheelbarrel full of obvious false modesty. Those are the guys that really annoy me!

Hey Virt, hows things over in Tibet? Did ya find any perfectly round stones?;)

Johnny sounds a bit like myself, only difference being he was a great golfer.;) Oh, that false modesty is really difficult to pull off.;)

Did I ever mention the time I holed this monstrous putt when it really mattered.....
 
"So I hand him his driver and he hauls off and whacks one - big hitter the Lama -- long -- into a 10,000 for crevice at the base of a glacier".
 
I think what bugs me about JM and people like that is they become caricatures of themselves. You get a rap, "loose canon" in his case, and you go to extremes to live up to the label. The calls and descriptions are not natural anymore; they're contrived to portray the image. Yogi Berra comes to mind, although a lot of his were spontaneous. Gary McCord fell into this too. He admitted the bikini wax and body bags were lines he worked out ahead of time.
 

ZAP

New
I kind of like and dislike Miller. My biggest problem with him is how every bad swing seems to be caused by a pressure breakdown. All of us who have played golf know that it can come and go for no reason at all. Not every person experiences pressure in the same way.
His perspective on certain shots makes watching golf more interesting sometimes. I guess he has good and bad which is basically like every single other person I have thus far encountered on this planet.

As far as arrogance goes I think you have to be a little arrogant to even think about broadcasting in the first place. You have to think that people might be interesting in your comments.

Sort of like forums.
 
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