Once He Opens Up, There’s No Stopping Him

Johnny Miller won the 1973 U.S. Open at Oakmont in Pennsylvania and the 1976 British Open at Royal Birkdale, so he knows something about major championships.

He won eight tournaments in 1974 and 25 in his PGA Tour career -- more than Gary Player, Ray Floyd, Hale Irwin, Greg Norman, Tom Kite, Davis Love III or Nick Price-- so he knows something about winning.

Miller, 58, has been NBC’s lead analyst for its golf coverage for 14 years so he knows something about spoken words. His book, “I Call The Shots,” is out in paperback, so he knows something about written words.

And now, with next month’s U.S. Open at Pinehurst in North Carolina, Miller knows something about that too.

Actually, he knows a lot about almost everything on the pro golf scene, or at least that’s the way it seems when Miller sounds off, which is what happens when you’re at the top of both the most-liked and the most-disliked broadcaster lists every year.

Pinehurst, Miller said, should be a good U.S. Open setup, not like last year’s too-tough Shinnecock Hills in New York. Last year, the setup was over the top, said Miller, who admitted he kept his mouth shut about it on the air.

There’s your upset. Johnny Miller without an opinion is like John Daly without a driver.

Miller is rarely shy about offering his views, especially this year, when golf’s so-called Big Five of Vijay Singh, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Retief Goosen get set to tackle what many believe to be the most difficult major to win, played at one of golf’s most demanding layouts.

“That golf course will test you,” Miller said. “You want to make a hard golf course? Look at Pinehurst. You just put greens on top of mountains.”

As for possible favorites, Miller listed the familiar ones.

He went heavy on the analysis. We have come to expect nothing less.

On Singh: “The best player in the world and I don’t think it’s even close. It seems like he’s in contention every single week. He’s almost where Tiger was in 1999-2001. I don’t know how long it’s going to last, but nobody’s played that good in his 40s since Ben Hogan.”

On Woods: “Missing the cut at the Nelson, that can’t be good for his ego. His driver is still sort of a work in progress. His iron play, [his swing] went from being too upright to too flat, like he was at Stanford. He can be a chameleon, so to speak. He’s really gone to a lot of different levels of excellence. If he drove the ball well, he’d probably win 50% of the tournaments he plays.”

On Els: “He’s a full notch behind Vijay. He’s not even on the same rung. There’s no major that rattles you like the U.S. Open. Last year’s Open, probably took a month to get over that. It’s not like the Masters, where the conditions are generally the same. At the Open, they’re probably already rattled going in.”

On Goosen and Els: “I don’t know what they fed those guys in South Africa, but they’ve barely got a pulse. That putting exhibition that Goosen put on when he won both Opens was off the charts. Most guys can make them at the Quad Cities, not the U.S. Open. Composure under pressure, a very rare commodity.”

On Mickelson: “People get tired of the same guy winning, it doesn’t matter who he is, it’s ‘Anybody win but him.’ Phil right now seems to be equally as popular as Tiger. He’s got a very polished exterior. He’s got a really shiny paint job. He smiles and he acknowledges the gallery and tips his cap. He’s coy and shy and says the right things. I call him ‘Hollywood.’ He’s got the most groomed golf image we’ve ever seen. Smart move. Very orchestrated in everything he does and it’s interesting. He has the willpower to project the identity he wants.”

Miller won the 1974 World Open at Pinehurst in a playoff with Bob Murphy, Frank Beard and Jack Nicklaus, the same year his $353,021 set a record for earnings while he won more tournaments than anyone since Arnold Palmer won eight in 1960.

If he’s looking for someone besides the designated favorites, Miller pointed to Stewart Cink, Padraig Harrington and amateur Ryan Moore.

Miller described Moore as a “super dark horse,” but admired his confidence: “He thinks the hole is a big as a Hummer.”

For anyone at Pinehurst, that same attitude might come in handy, especially when the cameras come on and it’s Miller’s time. Love him or hate him, you still listen to him.

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Where they stand

PGA Tour leaders of various statistical categories through the Bank of America Colonial:

*--* MONEY Rk. Player Events Money 1. Vijay Singh 15 $5,292,006 2. Phil Mickelson 12 $4,185,056 3. Tiger Woods 10 $3,814,290 4. David Toms 13 $2,573,643 5. Kenny Perry 12 $2,411,063 6. Chris DiMarco 10 $2,148,278 7. Fred Funk 14 $1,939,680 8. Luke Donald 9 $1,836,693 9. Adam Scott 9 $1,744,748 10. Retief Goosen 9 $1,698,408 11. Jim Furyk 13 $1,579,683 12. Peter Lonard 14 $1,576,211 13. Joe Ogilvie 15 $1,490,022 14. Ted Purdy 17 $1,457,106 15. Tim Petrovic 16 $1,363,425

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*--* WORLD RANKING Rk. Player Events* Avg. Pts 1. Vijay Singh 64 12.85 2. Tiger Woods 43 12.63 3. Ernie Els 53 10.74 4. Phil Mickelson 49 9.18 5. Retief Goosen 51 7.91 6. Adam Scott 53 5.66 7. Chris DiMarco 50 5.57 8. Sergio Garcia 47 5.42 9. Kenny Perry 47 5.40 10. Padraig Harrington 50 5.24 11. David Toms 49 5.13 12. Luke Donald 54 4.67 13. Stewart Cink 57 4.39 14. Darren Clarke 57 4.18 15. Mike Weir 46 4.07

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*--* DRIVING AVERAGE Rk. Player Rounds Avg. 1. Scott Hend 35 319.5 2. Brett Wetterich 28 306.2 3. Tiger Woods 32 305.2 4. Hank Kuehne 42 303.7 5. Scott Gutschewski 28 301.2 6. Kenny Perry 38 301.1 7. John Elliott 23 298.9 8. Brandt Jobe 38 298.7 9. Harrison Frazar 47 298.3 10. John Daly 34 298.1 11. Jason Allred 41 297.9 12. Lucas Glover 34 297.8 13. Chris Smith 37 297.5 14. Phil Mickelson 44 296.9 15. Sergio Garcia 32 296.5 15. Brendan Jones 36 296.5 15. Kevin Stadler 43 296.5 18. Charles Warren 45 296.2 19. Davis Love III 33 295.9 19. Sean O’Hair 41 295.9

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*--* SCORING AVERAGE Rk. Player Rounds Avg. 1. Phil Mickelson 44 69.06 2. Luke Donald 28 69.07 3. Vijay Singh 55 69.14 4. Tiger Woods 32 69.46 5. Jim Furyk 45 69.50 6. Darren Clarke 26 69.54 7. Tom Lehman 31 69.66 8. Ernie Els 28 69.77 9. Scott Verplank 38 69.79 10. J. Maria Olazabal 31 69.87 11. Kenny Perry 38 69.95 12. Loren Roberts 29 69.99 13. Arron Oberholser 39 70.01 14. Charles Howell III 40 70.10 15. Rod Pampling 38 70.15 16. Retief Goosen 29 70.16 17. Billy Mayfair 56 70.18 18. Stewart Cink 48 70.22 19. Shigeki Maruyama 40 70.24 19. Nick Price 24 70.24

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*Number of events over the last 104 weeks. Source: PGA Tour