"At long last, a player stepped forward to say he could expose Tiger Woods as a false god. A player with multiple major titles. A figure with a platform and résumé that reduces last week's amateur-hour trash talker, Stephen Ames, to a credibility-free bore.
That's the good news. The bad news is Johnny Miller's age, 58, and his intention to stay in the NBC booth and out of the Ford Championship field.
"I'm not so sure Tiger could beat me if I played my best game and he played his," Miller said Wednesday at Doral.
On any given Sunday, Miller believes he could have given Woods a lesson in big-game accuracy and nerve. "My irons were better than Tiger's, and so I wouldn't have been afraid of Tiger, even though he would've dusted me on a consistent level because of his short game. I had no short game."
The above is a portion of a story from USA TODAY. Comments?
I'm not much of a golf historian so I didn't know that much about Miller. But I watched a special hosted by Jim McLean (?) on the golf channel a couple of weeks back (I think it was a few years old). Man he was something. His swing was pretty sweet and really "new style" in my opinion. And apparently he was deadly accurate with the irons!
I watched a tourney once and Johnny was telling the story how he used to *&$# off his playing partners because he had his iron distances down to a single yard in variation. In other words, his caddie told him 107, he'd say, "OK," and bust out his PW and hit his 107 swing. Not his 106 swing, not his 108 swing - his 107 swing. That's how tightly he knew the difference.
So he'd take the club back, hit the ball, and before he even looked up he'd be waving in appreciation to the crowd for the shot he just hit, because he knew the shot he just hit was going 107 without even looking up to check.
Miller was one of my favorites. I remember that 63 at Oakmont like it was yesterday. When Johnny was dialed in he was amazing. Had a little 10 yard slice on all his shots.
His iron play reminded me of Nicklaus in that he was always pin high. If he was off it was a little left or right.
I think the 2000 Tiger and Johnny Miller in his prime were very equal. I'd give the slight edge to Miller though just because his iron game was like no other, not even like Tigers is today.
It's funny how most people are always comparing the past and present players. IMHO there is no comparision. Jack Nicklaus was bar the greatest golfer of all time. Todays players are using space shuttle technology as past players were using dead instruments. As far as Miller goes i really like his straight forward brash attitude. But we are talking apples and oranges here.
Miller was a great iron player but even he would admit that he had problems with the putter. In 2000, Tiger set the scoring record by half a shot...I don't see Miller's name at the top, so I don't see how Miller would compete with him on a consistent basis.
I think the 2000 Tiger and Johnny Miller in his prime were very equal. I'd give the slight edge to Miller though just because his iron game was like no other, not even like Tigers is today. Simp
I don't know. I think Tiger would wallop Miller and Nicklaus even back in their prime. Golf's a much more popular game these days, the money is much bigger (inflation adjusted) and Tiger still dominates the field moreso than Miller or Nicklaus did (Nicklaus was close). Even in the more competetive environment of today, Tiger is a remarkable stand out.
Sure, technology is better these days, but the courses they play are literally a thousand yards longer. Scores are similar to what they were back then, so the technology has been balanced by longer courses and faster greens. The technology actually helps the field keep up with Tiger; with old techology Tiger's distance would put him even further ahead of the field.
Baring injury, Tiger is likely to surpase almost all of Nicklaus' records. And he's doing it with better and broader competition than Nicklaus had.
I guess that is why Miller has more major wins than Tiger, NOT! I like Miller, good ol' fashion healthy trash talking I hope Tiger responds to Miller in the media.
Tiger is dominating the game like no other person in the history of golf (except maybe Old Tom Morris) but at Millers peak, for 2 or 3 years back in the early 70's he couldn't be touched. That's not saying that he won every tournament that he entered though. During, and only during, those few years do I think that Johnny Miller could rival Tiger. Anything outside of that period and Miller sadly came back to the rest of the field while only winning a few tournaments. For the most part, Tiger would stomp a mud hole in Miller and then stomp it dry. Simp
March 6th, 2006, 07:26 PM
in my opinion.
In his prime he dusted everyone with his irons! You can look it up.
) but at Millers peak, for 2 or 3 years back in the early 70's he couldn't be touched. That's not saying that he won every tournament that he entered though. During, and only during, those few years do I think that Johnny Miller could rival Tiger. Anything outside of that period and Miller sadly came back to the rest of the field while only winning a few tournaments. For the most part, Tiger would stomp a mud hole in Miller and then stomp it dry. Simp
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