Read Chasing Greatness: Johnny Miller, Arnold Palmer, and the Miracle at Oakmont Online
Authors: Adam Lazarus
Tags: #Palmer; Arnold;, #Golfers, #Golf, #Golf - General, #Pennsylvania, #Sports & Recreation, #Sports, #United States, #Oakmont (Allegheny County), #Golf courses, #1929-, #History
Chasing Greatness: Johnny Miller, Arnold Palmer, and the Miracle at Oakmont (69 page)
BOOK: Chasing Greatness: Johnny Miller, Arnold Palmer, and the Miracle at Oakmont
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Whittenton, Jesse
Wind, Herbert Warren
Wood, Larry
Woods, Tiger
Worsham, Lew
Woy, Bucky
Yamamoto, Toshio
Yancey, Bert
Yancey, Cheryl
Zarley, Kermit
Ziegler, Larry
Ziobro, Billy
1
Beaudine’s account of the change to Miller’s stance appeared in a
Pittsburgh Press
article in July 1978, five years after he caddied for Miller in the 1973 U.S. Open. Miller himself validated Beaudine’s account five years later. When the U.S. Open returned to Oakmont in 1983, Ron Rapoport reported as follows on his interview with Miller regarding his play during the first three rounds in 1973: “Miller had scored decently the first two days of the tournament, shooting a 71 and a 69, but he was not happy with his play from tee to green. Only his putting was keeping him in the tournament. So despite the fact that he is not one to practice much during tournaments, he went to the practice tee after his Friday round and did the silliest thing imaginable—he changed his swing. ‘I brought my hands four inches forward and opened the club face,’ he said. ‘I was hitting the ball farther. It was a major swing change, which was really dumb.’” Ron Rapoport, “Johnny Miller Returns to the Scene of His Miracle 63,” June 13, 1983,
Los Angeles Times (Chicago Sun-Times).
Pittsburgh Press
article in July 1978, five years after he caddied for Miller in the 1973 U.S. Open. Miller himself validated Beaudine’s account five years later. When the U.S. Open returned to Oakmont in 1983, Ron Rapoport reported as follows on his interview with Miller regarding his play during the first three rounds in 1973: “Miller had scored decently the first two days of the tournament, shooting a 71 and a 69, but he was not happy with his play from tee to green. Only his putting was keeping him in the tournament. So despite the fact that he is not one to practice much during tournaments, he went to the practice tee after his Friday round and did the silliest thing imaginable—he changed his swing. ‘I brought my hands four inches forward and opened the club face,’ he said. ‘I was hitting the ball farther. It was a major swing change, which was really dumb.’” Ron Rapoport, “Johnny Miller Returns to the Scene of His Miracle 63,” June 13, 1983,
Los Angeles Times (Chicago Sun-Times).
2
Five years later, in a newspaper article (Ray Kienzl, “Caddie Hopes to Bag Miller Again,”
Pittsburgh Press,
July 23, 1978) that recapped the final round, Miller’s caddie, Lou Beaudine, claimed that the ball was actually deeply buried in the grass, so deep, in fact, that it appeared to have been stepped on. According to Beaudine—who passed away in 2006, and
whose claim has not been verified
—Miller asked for a ruling and a U.S.G.A. official concluded that it had been stepped on, probably by a marshal, and the official granted Miller a free lift and drop.
Pittsburgh Press,
July 23, 1978) that recapped the final round, Miller’s caddie, Lou Beaudine, claimed that the ball was actually deeply buried in the grass, so deep, in fact, that it appeared to have been stepped on. According to Beaudine—who passed away in 2006, and
whose claim has not been verified
—Miller asked for a ruling and a U.S.G.A. official concluded that it had been stepped on, probably by a marshal, and the official granted Miller a free lift and drop.
3
This section was written with Professor Joel Greenhouse, Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University.
4
Quoted in Gerry Dulac, “Johnny Miller: The Best Round Ever,”
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
June 10, 2007.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette,
June 10, 2007.
5
The first three U.S. Opens, 1895-1897, were only two rounds.
BOOK: Chasing Greatness: Johnny Miller, Arnold Palmer, and the Miracle at Oakmont
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