U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 23, 2000

Andy Miller

ANDY MILLER: It was pretty solid the whole round. I started off, just hit fairways and greens, made my first -- I hit every fairway and every green up until 8, then I made a birdie there. Hit it in the front bunker, knocked it about five feet, made birdie there. Greg birdied there also. He bogeyed the par three before that. 9, bad rough in the right rough. Chipped out through the fairway, trying to chip in the fairway. Then I had to hit a flop shot over the bunker, 30 feet. I buried it. He was eight feet, missed it for birdie. That was a huge turning point. Then I birdied par three, knocked it in there about five feet, made that putt. 11, I make a par to his bogey, so right there was a huge swing in the match. And let's see... 12, I parred to his bogey, I believe. And 13 we both bogeyed. I had a chance to finish the match there and I missed about a 5-, 6-footer for par. And parred 14. Had to for the win. I only missed two fairways and two greens, both on -- let's see -- 9 I missed the fairway and the green. Same on 13, missed the fairway and the green. One bogey.

ANDY MILLER: I love it.

ANDY MILLER: I'm playing great, much better I was than the last time I got to Oak Hill in '98. My putting's much better. It's very solid right now. My ball-striking is very consistent. On this course, any USGA course, if you hit fairways and greens, you have a good shot of beating anyone. So that's what I try to do when I go out there. Today I wanted to get off to a good start and win some holes early and try to finish it out early, and I did. Stuck to my game plan and I played very solid.

ANDY MILLER: I definitely get more attention because of my dad. Obviously people say, "There's Johnny Miller's son, watch him," because it's a name as opposed to some guy they have no clue who he is. But that's fine with me. I don't mind people coming and watching; I love it. So it's positive to me.

ANDY MILLER: He walked a few holes and then had to go up in the tower and work.

ANDY MILLER: Obviously he has more insight as far as -- he has better knowledge of courses and opponents and what's going to win. So obviously on this golf course, the first seven holes going out, you have the mound and everything's sloping away. So he told me keep it below the hole, you can hit a lot of fades going out because everything's sloping to the left. You hit fades, it hits the hill and it stops, as opposed to a draw that's going to hit the hill and kick left. You can hit a draw in the middle of the fairway and it will roll into the rough, as opposed to a fade that will stay right there. That's some of the insight he's given me. He definitely knows more than your average father. (Laughter.) Plus he's been in the situation before.

ANDY MILLER: No, he doesn't. I hope not. I wouldn't be playing tomorrow if he was doing that.

ANDY MILLER: Yeah, if he's not my caddie then he can't be giving me any advice. Moral support I guess is all I can get when I'm on the golf course.

ANDY MILLER: I'm looking to go pro after this event, unless I win, which hopefully I'll have that dilemma. Then I would probably stay amateur to play the Majors next year. But like I said, I hope I have to make that decision.

ANDY MILLER: Yes, I finished.

ANDY MILLER: Yes.

ANDY MILLER: I feel I have just as good a chance as any one of them. Last year I beat Molder in the Western Amateur. I would say their records aren't that much more accomplished than mine. So I don't feel intimidated by them at all. I beat them in many tournaments. I don't feel they have any edge on me.

ANDY MILLER: No. I mean you have -- you have an intimidation factor. I don't believe that any of the players in the field have an intimidation factor over me, especially the fact that they know who I am from my father, and I think I have -- that sometimes does play a role I believe. Especially when my dad's out there watching. I feel like I have somewhat of a little bit of an advantage over some players, "Johnny Miller's watching, he's probably analyzing my swing right now." (Laughter.) And so I have a little edge there.

ANDY MILLER: Yeah. But see I'm used to it. He always analyzes my swing. That's what I want him to do.

ANDY MILLER: Yeah, I've been up there. I went up there at Olympic Club.

ANDY MILLER: I have not been on the air. Maybe the father/son, but he wasn't announcing then.

ANDY MILLER: A little bit. I'll tell him. Sometimes he needs to tone it down a little bit. But, you know, some of the things he can't. You don't necessarily, when he's doing his work, sometimes I have a better perspective on it when I'm listening. Not that I always listen to the tournaments he's broadcasting. But, yeah, I do have a chance to critique him every once in a while, which is nice.

ANDY MILLER: I didn't the last time he did it. But, yeah, I might this year. Hopefully I'll make it a little further, so I'll want to watch the tape.

ANDY MILLER: I guess so. I wouldn't want to compare myself to my brothers because we're always trying to -- at this point we're trying to make each other better. So by saying I'm better than any one of them, it's not going to help any one of us get any better. We're all solid players. John, my oldest brother, is in Florida playing the Golden Bear Tour, he's doing all right, changing his swing. Todd and Scott are good players at bYU, they've had good summers. I've had the most successful career so far, but you never know.

ANDY MILLER: I don't know about that. He can still get it going. You'd be surprised. He doesn't play too much, though. For how little he plays, he's unbelievable.

ANDY MILLER: I mean when we're both home at the same time, we always go out and play in mornings and stuff like that. He gives us some tips. He's working with our swings all the time. So we get to play quite a bit.

ANDY MILLER: I think a pretty good rule of thumb has always been just play the course, and he's stuck with that theory. Obviously there's situations in Match Play where the guys hit it in the water, you don't want to be going to the pin if he's flying five on the green and you're hitting two to the green. You just want to get it on the green. But for the most part, I just try to block out the other guy and go out and say, "Hey, if I shoot 5-under par, I'm going to beat him." If not, there's only so much I can do at that point. But try and go out there, make birdies and play extremely smart. If you're always in the fairway and always on the green, that's going to eat at the guy. Even if he's scrambling and he's 1-up, if you're always hitting fairways and greens, the guy knows in the back of his head, "That guy's not going to miss a fairway or green," and he'll have to start hitting close. He's making bogeys while you're hitting it in the middle and making your pars.