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WASTE MANAGEMENT PHOENIX OPEN

February 1, 2019

Scottsdale, Arizona

JOHN BUSH: All right, thanks for joining us today. I'm Jon bush from PGA TOUR communications. It's quite a week this week anyway at the Waste Management Phoenix Open but really special this week. First of all I would like to introduce, even though he doesn't need an introduction, the World Golf Hall of Fame member, eight time Emmy award nominee, Johnny Miller. Johnny thanks for joining us.

JOHNNY MILLER: Thank you, guys.

JOHN BUSH: And we're also joined by NBC sports play by play announcer Dan Hicks. Dan, thank you for coming by.

DAN HICKS: Thank you.

JOHNNY MILLER: My partner.

JOHN BUSH: As you all know after 30 years Johnny Miller will be calling his final golf telecast tomorrow here at the Waste Management Phoenix Open. What a run it has been. Johnny, if we can just get some comments on sort of what's going through your mind at this moment.

JOHNNY MILLER: You know, sort of an interesting time mentally what I'm going through of part of me is like, like I said to you guys a minute ago, it's like the last day of school before summer school break and sort of like I'm free, I can do anything I want, you know? So but it will be interesting to see when the spring Florida swing comes along, we have been doing that how many years, so many years, that was always sort of the start of our season and I'm probably going to have some nostalgia there, but I'm a big believer in there's a time and a season in everybody's life for different things. There's different times for playing, and I played the TOUR for 21 years, 1989, I mean I'm sorry, 1969 and now 50 years later I'm here talking to you guys. So 50 years on the road's a, trying to raise six kids and be a good husband and it's just been a great life. Thanks to my dad, give him all the credit in the world for his dream of making me into a champion golfer and how it segued into announcing I have no idea, to be honest with you. Because I never even in the -- I had no inclination or any ambition or inkling that I would be going that direction and if somebody would have told me back in 1989 that I would not only be doing it but I would do it for almost 30 years, that would have been, I would have said good luck on that one, you know. But it got better, to be honest with you, I used to struggle a little bit about every other tournament because my announcing was so different than anything that had been done before, a little bit more brash and revealing and didn't mind going where I wanted to go with my commentary and NBC liked it because it, I guess it drew more viewers and but it was tough on me too, even though I was announcing from the heart and talking about what I saw, but when Dan came on board we were sort of right in our groove and much more enjoyable. That's why the last really the last 15, 20 years and really with Gil Capps sitting between us and the people around us and the expertise of Gary Koch and Roger Maltbie and these guys who got so good that it was truly a -- and this guy is like got my back big time, Dan does. My dad was the same way, he was real bright and creative but not real great on the names, you know and that's passed on to my boys too a little bit, unfortunately. But I got to know the players well enough but sometimes I would get a little brain cramp and he knew when I did and I can't tell you how much that helped me out because I was always afraid I was going to forget somebody's name, maybe one or two of you guys feel the same way. I'm really good at other things, but one thing I learned in life that everybody is smart in something. So you got to respect everybody. Certain things that I'm not really great at, but it's been a good run, that's what I'm trying to say and it became very enjoyable. Still a lot of pressure because actually my schedule worked against me in that nine events when you would go, I would go sometimes three months or something with not announcing and then I was supposed to be do a great job on the next event, sometimes the next event might be the Ryder Cup, but it's so much pressure when you're not, you haven't been announcing all the time and the new players coming and going and so it became where it was a little bit hard to get up to speed as I got older. So it's probably a longer answer than you want, but there's a lot going on, but most low good. I think people, even the players knew if they really analyzed what I said I was coming from an area of knowledge and also saying what I really saw. I mean if a guy's hitting nothing but fades and hasn't hit a duck hook in three years and he's hitting a duck hook the last three holes he might be choking, right? You know. I mean that's -- so I mean you got to say that, the public wants that, they want to hear the truth. We're in a PC mode and people are afraid to tell the truth, tell what it really is and they're starving for it. So I said a couple times that I don't take off -- I take off their clothes but I leave their underwear on, you know.

(Laughter.)

JOHN BUSH: And with that, Dan.

DAN HICKS: Yeah, this doesn't feel all too unfamiliar.

JOHN BUSH: Front row seat for the last 20 years, Dan, to his career, just can we get your thoughts.

DAN HICKS: Follow-up the underwear comment that usually is what I let about 15 seconds go by and say, let's go to Gary Koch at 17, because I've got nothing to add to that. We have always known or all of us have known that this day would come and I was looking forward to it to a degree just because I know that we have got some special things planned for the final telecast tomorrow but as it's gotten closer kind of, I don't know, it's tough because when you're with somebody for this period of time, plus Johnny said it's a well-oiled machine, when I sit down, we sit down in that tower it's just like an old shoe, riding a bike, it's just such a pleasure to do this job when there's so many other things happening around us, pressure and this and that to get things right and to get the, to broadcast the event, give it its due, but to just know that we have got this comfort level, most of the time, with Johnny is just, it's something I'm really going to miss. In addition to seeing him not as much, because it goes way, way beyond a broadcast relationship, love this guy and always will and we're going to miss him. That tower is, it's never going to be the same and that is the hardest thing to come to grips with personally.

JOHN BUSH: Before we open it up to questions, Johnny, to do it here, TPC Scottsdale, you won here in 1974 and 1975, helping you get the monicker the Desert Fox, comment a little bit about what it means to do it here in Phoenix.

JOHNNY MILLER: Well you know when they said and I told them I was going to retire at the end of the year I was thinking man, I can't do it at the playoff events, those are big events, I can't do it at the TOUR Championship with Tiger.

DAN HICKS: Or the Ryder Cup.

JOHNNY MILLER: The Ryder Cup, I said, I told Tommy Roy, I said I think I'm going to be at Phoenix. We got time because it's not one of our events, it's something we do for CBS, not that we're, that changes that much, but and then Saturday would be better because if we did it on Sunday there might be a playoff and that would be the end of showing that, right? So this made the most sense to do it on Saturday. Of course last year we had 210,000 people on Saturday last year, not that that factored into it, but I've always had a great feeling about the Arizona and I don't know what it is about Arizona, but I just love being in Arizona, maybe not in July, but I like Arizona. So he's an Arizona boy and I don't know, it just feels good to be here. I'm feeling good to be in Arizona and ended up here, probably the best golf I ever played was in 1975 when I had that good run at Phoenix winning by 14 and then winning by nine the next week at Tucson shooting 49 under par for two weeks, which is still a record, and I just was on the top of my game.

DAN HICKS: Just in case you forgot.

(Laughter.)

JOHNNY MILLER: It is what it is, you know.

DAN HICKS: I know.

JOHN BUSH: Thank you, gentlemen. We'll open it up for questions.

Q. Dan, one of the things I remember about Dave Marr is that he always liked these little peanut Mr. Goodbar things when you would crack up the little candy bars, that was a quirk that he, I just remembered about him. What are the Johnny quirks that you'll remember?
JOHNNY MILLER: There's a lot of quirks.

DAN HICKS: We had a great night last night, we had the whole crew the Golf Channel NBC crew at the hotel and we just had a really nice celebratory couple of hours in honor of Johnny, his family was there, 20 plus members, family friends, it was a great night. And one of the things that we did it was actually Gil Capp's idea and in our 18th tower Johnny has through the years has gotten the habit of all these little quirks you're talking about but if had to single out one thing that I think typifies Johnny is and it's going to sound crazy see but it's cheese whiz. Easy Cheese Whiz, there's a brand. So Johnny would get in, I would look over there and he would have the nozzle of the cheese whiz thing implanted basically mainlining cheese whiz like -- and I go, you're actually sticking that in your mouth, so I said, the rest of us probably shouldn't be using this. So our illustrious stage member, Kathy would actually put a piece of gaffers tape on it, on the cheese whiz bottle. So that's just one of the many things. He broadcasts in his bear feet about half the shows. We have done 232 golf events and maybe a hundred of those have been in bare feet. But just I'm going to miss those as much as anything, all the little things, we have been, this week has just been, This Is Your Life and we have been just kind of going over all the great memories of having Johnny at 18 and, but I would say cheese whiz is at the top of the list, believe it or not.

Q. You said you didn't have an inkling that you would get into broadcasting. So what is the back story? How did you land this gig back in 1990?
JOHNNY MILLER: Well '89 I was, I had won in '87 at the Bing Crosby at that time, I think it was, is that right? I'm not sure. It might have been still the Bing Crosby. Either that or AT&T. So I won there and I beat Payne Stewart there, but by '89 my putting was -- I mean I was still making cuts and stuff but I could tell my heart wasn't in it. I get bored easily. I'm just the exact opposite of Tom Kite or guys like Vijay Singh they just every day can't wait to hit five or six or seven hundred balls, you know, just, so I just saw, with the big family, I needed to be home more. So I told Linda my wife, I'm going to retire. I'm not going to really tell anybody I'm retiring, but I just, I'm going to just play maybe the AT&T and a few tournaments maybe like in Arizona where I like playing, but basically retire. So literally about three days later I get this call saying, yeah, this is NBC Larry Cirillo, Lee Trevino's going on the SENIOR TOUR and we want to give you his job if you will take it. And I was like, instead of saying something I said, what makes you think I could do that job? You know, I had never done it. And it was pretty late in the year when they called me and it was like the Bob Hope was just right around the corner. And so I said, no, I'm not interested in that at all, no way. And they said well as long as you think about it. So I went over to my wife and I said, hey, this NBC offered me this rare job, there's only like three guys that have got this job in the whole U.S., this lead analyst job. And she said, well, it would be nice to get a regular paycheck now that you say you're retiring. So I thought well I would give it a try. And then I quit after the first day. So it was like holy mackerel what have I got into. I'm not an announcer, I'm a player. They said, it would be good if you could at least finish out the tournament, you know. So by Sunday I was already feeling my oaths, it was like throwing out the Mike Ditka comments about Curtis Strange and then of course Peter Jacobsen got the shot that's easy to choke on and people had never said that word before and I didn't say it because nobody had ever said it, I just, it just, it was an easy shot to choke on, downhill lie over water. So that opened up a few eyes, like what's this guy going to talk about. So that's where it was.

Q. In 1976 and the British Open when you played against Seve, what was it like playing against him?
JOHNNY MILLER: Yeah, Seve was the new darling, 19 years old and well he wasn't even a new darling, nobody even knew he was, I shouldn't say that. Literally had the lead after the first round, second round, third round, getting big headlines like Spanish good looking teenager is leading The Open Championship and I was still, I wouldn't say the top of my career but I was still up there pretty high and so I'm playing with him on Saturday and then I got paired with him again on Sunday and we have a great shot of Seve watching me hit balls. I didn't even know he was watching me but on the practice tee, which players don't usually sit there and watch another player play but apparently he liked my game, I guess. But we got along pretty good. He didn't speak any English to speak of, I had a little bit of Spanish, but I didn't say anything to him because I was trying to win The Open Championship, I had come close and real close a couple years before that to win and I didn't win in '73 and '75 and so I thought I could win over there, I liked that kind of golf. But, yeah, Seve was, he was so passionate, you talk about somebody that was passionate about golf, Seve was, I mean if he, if he would come on the Senior Open right now he would be the No. 1 gallery besides Tiger favorite. That's just, you could just feel the intensity that he had. He was a good looking guy with a big old dashing swing, got in trouble like Phil Mickelson, but he just had the look, didn't he? I mean he just, he was an amazing guy and he, after that because I sort of ushered him in I ended up, he hit about every sand dune there was on Sunday and but he had a good finish and finished second to Jack and we sort of struck up a friendship there that lasted many years. It seems like we got paired everywhere because everybody associated Seve with this initial introduction by the two of us at the Open Championship and playing on the weekend. So I miss him, he joined my management group and so we did a lot of stuff together. He was an amazing guy.

Q. Thanks for telling it like it for so many years. You were really outstanding in that department.
JOHNNY MILLER: Thank you.

Q. My questions are, do you remember who named you the Desert Fox and did you like the nickname when you heard it and then also what do you think was the biggest moment of your broadcasting career?
JOHNNY MILLER: Well the Desert Fox was done by one of the reporters, no doubt about it. Other guys had won in the desert, guys like whatever there was Arnold Palmer he won in the desert, he won the Bob Hope several times and he won in Phoenix and I don't remember him winning at Tucson but I guess it was sort of the way I won my tournaments, I won a lot of them by big margins and shooting record scores and then the same thing with the Bob Hope, winning that a couple times. I just won a lot out west because unfortunately, my highest love was fishing, fly fishing and fishing with my kids, so I would get sort of board with golf as soon as the West Coast run was over. It was like I would do a lot of damage at the beginning of the year. Only regret I had was that the Masters wasn't in January and the U.S. Open in February. But the second part of that question was what?

Q. Biggest moment in broadcasting.
JOHNNY MILLER: I think it was the Ryder Cup series, to be honest with you. The Ryder Cup was I guess I can tell this story. When we were when the U.S. was winning and I was on a couple of those teams and a lot of guys don't know it but you weren't eligible for the Ryder Cup for five years on TOUR. Did you know that? I had won the U.S. Open, second in the British Open, and would have made probably two other teams and for five years you're not eligible to play the Ryder Cup. Probably the dumbest rule in the history of golf but hardly anybody knows that. So I didn't play in two of them and I was a good player when I was young, like Spieth, so you imagine Spieth, he wouldn't have played in any Ryder Cups. So that was like first of all that's like the dumbest thing ever. But it wouldn't have mattered because the U.S. was winning all the time. And then Jack Nicklaus, this is an interesting boomerang story because Jack Nicklaus said, well you guys really aren't good enough, why don't you include Europe, you know. So of course in walks all these European players and this group of Europeans who, all of a sudden, now they were, they didn't quite believe in themselves, but they were really every bit as good as the U.S. And then they started winning. And I kept waiting for Europe to say in the last four or five six years saying, you know the U.S. really ought to invite Canada and South America to join because you guys aren't good enough. It would be like the perfect -- it would have been so funny, wouldn't it? Because that's the boomerang, you know. So, not that the U.S. isn't good enough, but that would have probably been pretty funny right? Even if it didn't happen it would have been funny. But all of the Ryder Cup, especially the first one at Kiawah, that was crazy that Ryder Cup. All the little sidebars, the match Colin Montgomerie and against Calcavecchia was the nuts. And Calcavecchia barfing down at the beach and all the stuff between Azinger and Seve and just -- even Hale Irwin hitting a duck hook, he hadn't hit a hook in 10 years -- and he hit it in there on 18 and the gallery threw it back on the fairway and we didn't really cover that very well, you know. So I mean and then Langer missing the crucial putt on the last match, I mean it was, wasn't it, it was a stunning week and then it hasn't let up much. So there's nothing that really compares to the pressure bowl that the Ryder Cup is, even though my favorite championship was Tiger at 2000, that was the best performance golfing wise in history of the game.

Q. You had a great career in your golf career, is there a disappointment about one that you let get away that you really wanted bad?
JOHNNY MILLER: Probably the Masters. My first Masters as a pro I'm leading by two shots with four holes to go, I didn't know it because the leaderboards were hardly existent. I shot a couple, I think it was 72s and then on Saturday I shot 68 in not the greatest weather and got, it moved me up there and then I was 6-under for the through No. 12 for that round, so now I'm 10-under on the weekend and I started thinking how excited my dad's going to be that I'm going to win the Masters, you know. But I just, I lipped it out on 15 and 16 and bogeyed 16 and then missed a short putt on 18 and loss and it was, Jack Nicklaus, I was second and Jack reached over leaned over and says, oh, you'll have a lot of other chances to win, you're going to win. And a couple more seconds after that and I didn't even get a green vest. Bottom line is I would like to have gone to that dinner, you know. That's the greatest part about the Masters for a winner is that whole champions thing. It's pretty cool. I do go to the Masters every year now just to hang out. And that's just not really like me, but I sort of, there's something about that championship or -- they call it a tournament, which should be changed to a championship in my opinion. There should only be maybe five championships in golf, PLAYERS championship, and then the Majors and the rest of them can be tournaments. That would be the first thing I would change if I was commissioner. You don't want the Quad Cities championship.

(Laughter.)

Q. You mentioned how tomorrow makes sense just logistically to retire but with Saturday being such an exciting day here for golfers, for fans, is there some things that you usually look forward to about Saturdays at Waste Management?
JOHNNY MILLER: About the Phoenix Open?

Q. Yes.
JOHNNY MILLER: I don't hear so well either, but I got most of that. I don't know what they have got going here, but it's amazing, isn't it. Because there's other cities with just as many people and some of them even with better fields, but they have got something going here that it's crazy, isn't it? I mean a lot of the tournaments are copying this technique of having musical groups and big gallery stands and trying to copy this formula, because it's fantastic. So the guys that don't come here I think are missing the boat because it's quite an experience to win the Phoenix Open having to go through the gauntlet of the finish with all the people, especially 16 and then 17 and 18 and it's got all the makings of to be honest with you this tournament ought to be a major championship. I mean it could be, I mean it could be it wouldn't be the Phoenix Open it would be called something else, but I mean it's an amazing tournament. And the other thing the players don't realize is the beginning of the year gives huge passionate galleries and back east when there's blizzards and everything else, I mean golf, especially in the old days got watched a lot more in January and February almost than the Majors in summer. So it was an important time to win and I knew that and my manager told me, you know it's big if you win in the beginning. It used to be a big deal when you won Bing Crosby's tournament and Bob Hope's tournament and Andy Williams and all these guys, I mean that put a lot of panache and a lot of prestige to win their tournaments because they were sort of cool. Jackie Gleason, they were big tournaments.

Q. I was wondering, going forward what are your plans as far as residing in Utah and maybe doing some more course development up there?
JOHNNY MILLER: I'm going to keep living there for awhile anyway, that's for sure. I'll probably end up with my ownership in Silverado and then I got a home at Pebble and one in Utah. I'll probably be, again, it goes with my getting bored with things -- so it's good for me to be in here for awhile and then I go, oh, let's go fly fishing in Utah. Let's go check out the kids in Napa. So I'll be -- but you know the golf design business is pretty much dried up except for redesign or taking great courses and putting in new mounding or like Weiskopf, I talked to him twice this week, moving the bunkers out there where it bothers the Koepka's and Woodlands of the world. You move those bunkers where the carry used to be about say 290, now they're out to about 315, well the guys just can't or 320, they just can't carry those bunkers, so they have to enhance the design, they can't just tee it up high and brutally take advantage of a golf course that has good design. And so that's really, I hope to do a little bit more of that because my son Andy is an architect, building architect and he likes to get involved. I just did a course for Arthur Blank, who owns the Falcons, in Montana, that was fun. So those days of the building courses everywhere are sort of over.

Q. I heard maybe you had a little anonymity once up there in Heber, you were at church and you introduced yourself as John and the guy had no idea who you were. Did you enjoy that opportunity?
JOHNNY MILLER: Well I was always John, except my mom called me Johnny. And the press just said little Johnny Miller, I was just a little guy. When I was, I graduated from junior high I was five two, 105 pounds, so the smallest kid in the class and graduating class, now they graduate from junior high we didn't used to think of that now they graduate from grammar school, you know, it's a new generation, yeah.

JOHN BUSH: On behalf of golf fans everywhere, Johnny thank you for your contributions.

JOHNNY MILLER: Thanks to you guys, too. You have been really kind to me and sort of gone with my technique of calling it like it is and, you know, it is what it is and my favorite saying at home is, okay, that's enough of that, well that's where I am right now, that's enough of this.

(Laughter.)

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