John Laurence Miller (born April 29, 1947) is an American former professional golfer. He was one of the top players in the world during the mid-1970s. He was the first to shoot 63 in a major championship to win the 1973 U.S. Open, and he ranked second in the world on Mark McCormack's world golf rankings in both 1974 and 1975 behind Jack Nicklaus. Miller won 25 PGA Tour events, including two majors. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998.^[1] He was the lead golf analyst for NBC Sports, a position he held from January 1990 to February 2019. He is also an active golf course architect.

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Johnny Miller
Miller in 1975
Personal information
Full name	John Laurence Miller
Born	(1947-04-29) April 29, 1947 (age 77) San Francisco, California
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	205 lb (93 kg; 14.6 st)
Sporting nationality	United States
Residence	Monterey Peninsula, California
Spouse	Linda Miller
Children	6
Career
College	Brigham Young University
Turned professional	1969
Former tour(s)	PGA Tour
Professional wins	36
Number of wins by tour
PGA Tour	25
European Tour	2
Japan Golf Tour	1
Other	10
Best results in major championships (wins: 2)
Masters Tournament	T2: 1971, 1975, 1981
PGA Championship	T11: 1977
U.S. Open	Won: 1973
The Open Championship	Won: 1976
Achievements and awards
World Golf Hall of Fame 1998 (member page) PGA Tour money list winner 1974 PGA Player of the Year 1974 Bob Jones Award 2023

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Born and raised in San Francisco, California, Miller was invited to join the Olympic Club in 1963 as a Junior Golf Section member, and became the top player on its junior team. He won the San Francisco city junior title in 1963 at age 16, and the following year won the 1964 U.S. Junior Amateur. After graduation from Abraham Lincoln High School in 1965,^[2] he enrolled at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.

In the spring of his freshman year of college, Miller qualified for the 1966 U.S. Open at the Olympic Club. His intimate knowledge of his home course helped him to finish in a tie for eighth place, the low amateur by three strokes, and earned him an invitation to the 1967 Masters.^[3] He won the California State Amateur Championship in 1968.

Miller was an All-American at BYU and graduated in 1969 with a degree in physical education.^[4]

Miller joined the PGA Tour in 1969 at age 22, and won his first tour event in 1971. During his professional career, Miller won two major titles: the 1973 U.S. Open and the 1976 Open Championship.^[5]

Coming into the 1973 U.S. Open at the challenging par-71 Oakmont, Miller was a 26-year-old with just two tour victories in four years, but had done well in several majors. He tied for second at the 1971 Masters, and had top-10 finishes at the U.S. Open in 1971 and 1972. Miller had yet to win in 1973, but by mid-June, he had recorded eight top-10 finishes, which included a tie for 6th at the 1973 Masters.

Miller played the first two rounds at Oakmont Country Club with Arnold Palmer and his "Army" gallery, at its largest in Palmer's native western Pennsylvania. Miller was two under par (140) after the second round but shot a five-over 76 on Saturday to settle at three-over (216) for the championship. Miller played the front nine without his yardage book on Saturday until his wife Linda retrieved it.^[6]

Miller began the fourth and final round in 12th place, six shots behind the four co-leaders, including Palmer. Teeing off at 1:36 pm, about an hour ahead of the final group, Miller shot a scorching eight-under 63, considered one of the most remarkable rounds in major championship history. He passed the leading players of the day, including Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, and Palmer, who was in the final pairing with John Schlee.^[7] Miller's 63 was the lowest round in the history of a major championship. It was tied several times but remained a record until Branden Grace shot a 62 at the 2017 Open Championship.

Miller birdied the first four holes and hit all 18 greens in regulation. He got five more birdies with only one bogey (a 3-putt on the 244 yard par-3 #8), and needed only 29 putts during the round.^{[8][9][10][11]} Ten of his approach shots finished within 10 feet of the cup. In 2007, Miller said: "It was the greatest ball-striking round I've ever seen and I've been around a little bit."^[12] Miller wound up at 5-under (279) for the championship, beating the runner-up Schlee by a single stroke, who shot a 1-under 70. Only six players, Miller included, shot under par in the final round. Miller earned $35,000 for the victory.^[13]

Miller followed that triumph at Oakmont by finishing in a tie for second at the next major, The Open Championship at Royal Troon a month later, three strokes behind winner Tom Weiskopf.^[14][15] This was the first of five consecutive top-10 finishes for Miller at The Open. In 1974, Miller was the leading money winner on the PGA Tour with eight victories, which considerably outpaced the rest of the field. He amassed a then-record $353,201 (not exceeded until 1978), and unseated Nicklaus as the Tour's leading money winner for a season.

Miller began 1975 with three more victories, winning two of them in remarkable fashion. He won the Phoenix Open by 14 strokes, which included a second-round 61 for a 24-under par cumulative score of 260, the lowest on the tour in 20 years. He also won the Tucson Open by nine strokes, with a final round 61.^[16] Miller later said of his peak period in the mid-1970s: "When I won at Tucson by nine shots in 1975, I would say the average iron shot I hit that week was no more than two feet off line. It was unbelievable. When I was at my peak, I would go into streaks where I felt that I could knock down the pin from anywhere with my irons. I played some golf that I think is unequaled."^[17]

Miller finished second to Jack Nicklaus at the 1975 Masters and third at 1975 Open Championship later in the year at Carnoustie.^[18] He won his second major at the 1976 Open Championship, a six stroke victory over Nicklaus and a 19-year-old Seve Ballesteros at Royal Birkdale. The course had played hard and fast after scorching hot conditions in England that summer, during the 1976 United Kingdom heat wave, which saw record hot temperatures and several minor fires breaking out in the tournament.^[19] Miller's final round of 66 at Royal Birkdale tied the course record.^[20]

Following his 1976 Open Championship win, Miller, never known as an outstanding putter, lost the form that made him a frequent winner in his early career and failed to win for the next three years, due to a putting affliction widely known as the "yips".^[21]

Miller later said that he considered quitting professional golf during his slump in form between 1977 and 1979, but a passage in the Scriptures, "It's not what you accomplish in life, but what you overcome", helped inspire him to continue playing golf. Miller also said that Jack Nicklaus, whom he viewed as a father figure, was "amazingly supportive" of him during his bleak period in the late 1970s.^[17]

In 1980, Miller notched his first win in almost four years, the Jackie Gleason-Inverrary Classic.^[22] In 1981, Miller enjoyed one final spectacular season. His victory at the Million Dollar Challenge in Sun City, South Africa following a 9-hole sudden-death playoff with Seve Ballesteros made him that year's leading worldwide money winner after two earlier wins in the United States. Miller's return to impressive form in 1981 resulted in him competing in his second Ryder Cup. Until 2021, the 1981 Ryder Cup at Walton Heath Golf Club in England was the heaviest defeat that a European team had suffered at the hands of the United States, and it is considered by many to be the finest American team ever assembled.^[23]

Miller's final PGA Tour victory came in semiretirement at the 1994 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, at age 46.^[21] He finished his career with 25 PGA Tour wins and 105 top-10 finishes. Miller finished runner-up three times at The Masters in 1971, 1975 and 1981. He played on two Ryder Cup teams, 1975 and 1981. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998.^[24]

Fred Couples referred to Miller as "probably the best ball-striker ever".^[25] Jack Nicklaus described Miller as "the best short iron player ever."^[26]

Miller is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He and his wife Linda have six children and live on the Monterey Peninsula in California and Mount Olympus, Utah.^[35] During the 2018 Ryder Cup broadcast, he announced that his 25th grandchild was born. His son Andy won a Buy.com Tour event and played on the PGA Tour.

• Miller was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998.^[1]
• Miller received the Bob Jones Award from the USGA in 2023.^[36]

Professional

• Ryder Cup: 1975 (winners), 1981 (winners)
• World Cup: 1973 (winners, individual winner), 1975 (winners, individual winner), 1980
• Wendy's 3-Tour Challenge (representing Senior PGA Tour): 1997

• Spring 1969 PGA Tour Qualifying School graduates
• List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins
• Longest PGA Tour win streaks
• Most PGA Tour wins in a year