Johnny Miller

There are legions of golf fans who know Johnny Miller only as a television broadcaster. After retiring from the PGA Tour, Miller rarely played the Senior Tour, and his fame as a golfer faded.

Miller was a breath of fresh air on golf telecasts, unafraid to call it as he saw it. Miller even had the gumption to toss around the word “choke” and apply it to specific players. Many golf fans and professional golfers came to love Miller’s broadcasting; but many also came to dislike it, believing Miller too blunt.

Those who know Miller only as a broadcaster are missing the knowledge of what a truly great golfer he was in his prime.

Miller grew up in San Francisco and won the 1964 U.S. Junior Amateur Championship, then had a successful college career at Brigham Young University. He turned pro in 1969.

He’d won twice on the PGA Tour when, at the 1973 U.S. Open, he produced one of the greatest rounds of golf ever played. Miller’s final-round 63 – the lowest round ever shot in a U.S. Open – carried Miller to the first of his two major championships. He also won the 1976 British Open.

In 1974, Miller won eight tournaments, the money title and the Player of the Year award. He won four more times in 1975.

The World Golf Hall of Fame says: “In golf’s modern era, it’s commonly understood that no player has ever achieved the brief but memorable brilliance of Johnny Miller. … (In 1974-75) Miller hit the ball consistently closer to the flag than any player in history. At his best, Miller’s game was marked by incredibly aggressive and equally accurate iron play.”

Miller’s playing credentials would likely be even stronger had he not been plagued by a series of injuries and, later in his career, the yips. He overcame both for his final victory, the 1994 Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

In addition to his broadcasting, Miller owns a golf course design company, a golf academy, and has made numerous golf instructional videos.

Johnny Miller was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1996.