Miller’s work during
Open week alternately
prescient, lacking
He long ago established himself as the best television analyst in the game. So it goes without saying that having Johnny
Miller in the booth is a marked advantage for NBC Golf. But having Miller in
the booth in a U.S. Open at the Olympic
Club—where he is as much a part of the
landscape as a mist-laden cypress tree—
is downright unfair. Sort of like having
Einstein for a physics teacher.
Miller is not perfect. Focus on his
commentary for four days and he makes
his share of mistakes, such as when he
opened eyes by saying that Webb Simpson was four under par through 10 holes,
when he was only two under. He can
bully his colleagues. He can be childish
and even churlish, but all of that and his
remarkable sixth sense—that trademark
free-form intuitiveness—makes him the
most entertaining, most informative,
most Wallenda-like announcer in golf,
maybe all sports.
When asked what separates Miller
from his competitors, his boss Tommy
Roy, executive producer of NBC Golf,
points to Miller’s unmatched candor and
predictive abilities. “The two biggest
things he has are no filter between his
brain and his mouth, so whatever he’s
thinking comes out,” said Roy. “And the
other thing is that he’s just prescient.
There’s something about him.”
The return of Miller to his stomping
grounds was much anticipated. The roller-
coaster uniqueness of Olympic, its bizarre
history of turning back bigger names for
lesser ones and its undeniable San Francis-
co-ness pointed to a star turn for man who
was low amateur in the 1966 Open here.
For a few days Miller lived up to the
hype. During brief appearances on the
Thursday/Friday telecasts, his enthusiasm was obvious. “I sort of feel like
[Olympic] is my baby or my child,” said
Miller, who estimated he has played the
course some 600 to 700 times. He doled
out informative reminders about the challenges of the course, repeatedly telling
viewers that on the Lake course’s reverse-canting fairways, “the lie does not match
the shot,” and pointing to the ever-present
influence of Lake Merced on the greens.
He was perky and pesky throughout
Tiger Woods’ puzzling round Saturday.
In fact, Miller got into it with his fellow announcers a few times. As Woods
considered his second shot on the second
hole, Mark Rolfing, who was walking
with Woods’ group said, “I kinda like
the lie.” Miller, who compounded his
local knowledge with his usual serious
homework all week, pounced. He cited
the hook lie, the hook wind and a sliver of
an opening at the left front of the green,
Miller positing, “Most likely the back
bunker is saying, ‘I might get you, Tiger.’
” Woods’ ball came to rest two feet from
that bunker.
But just as Woods faded on Sunday, so
did Miller. Roy told Golf World earlier in
the week that one of the cardinal rules
for analysts across NBC Sports is no
second-guessing. As Roy explained it,
“We want you to first-guess. Don’t wait
till the guy’s hit the shot to say, ‘Well, I
didn’t think that was a good play.’ ”
The Sunday telecast, which battled a
case of drift for the last two hours as the
leaders waffled, started with Miller at
his instinctual best. When Furyk went
