The Magnificent Masters: Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Weiskopf, and the 1975 Cliffhanger at Augusta by Capps Gil

Author:Capps, Gil [Capps, Gil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780306821851
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2014-03-25T00:00:00+00:00

IN 1971, Miller was in only his second full season on the PGA Tour. Although winless, he was starting to contend on Sundays. Three weeks before that year’s Masters, he held his first 54-hole lead on Tour at the Greater Jacksonville Open. Playing in a field that included Nicklaus and Palmer, Miller battled thirty-mile-per-hour winds to shoot a 69 in the third round—the only sub-70 score of the day. Leading much of the final round, he walked up to the last green with a twenty-foot birdie putt to win the tournament. Instead of giving it a firm run, he left his putt two feet short. Then, unimaginably, he missed the par putt. His three-putt bogey left him one shot out of a playoff, which was eventually captured by Gary Player. The Associated Press reported, “(Miller was) in tears as he signed his card.”

The heartbreaking conclusion was offset by a benefit—the high finish assured Miller of his first Masters appearance as a professional. In a category employed only once, Augusta National officials had instituted a points system based on finishes from the week after the 1970 Masters to the week before the 1971 tournament. Miller, who entered a whopping thirty-six events in that time span, was one of eight players not otherwise eligible who qualified off this list.

When Miller arrived at Augusta, he played all of his practice rounds with his friend and mentor Billy Casper. A fellow Mormon, Casper was also the defending champion, having defeated Gene Littler in a playoff the previous year. Miller felt like his game measured up to Casper’s in those practice rounds, but his good play didn’t translate to low scores the first two days. He opened the tournament with a double bogey on the very first hole, and, following rounds of 72–73, he trailed by seven shots at the midway point—seemingly out of contention.

In the third round, Miller began two hours and ten minutes ahead of the final group. After holing a twenty-foot par putt on the 4th hole to ignite his round, Miller made five birdies. Even a bogey at the 18th didn’t prevent him from firing the low round of the day, a 68 (later matched by Jack Nicklaus). He had climbed to within four shots of Nicklaus and Charles Coody going into the final round.

On Sunday, Miller went off in the third to last pairing with Hale Irwin and picked up where he left off the day before. He birdied the 3rd, 4th, and 8th holes to go out in 33. Then at the 11th, he poured in a nine-foot birdie putt to reach four under on the day. “This (charge) drove the hordes mad,” wrote Dan Jenkins in Sports Illustrated. “Suddenly, they personally had discovered the new Nelson, or Hogan or Nicklaus.”

If Arnie had his army, Miller was quickly forming his own militia. “That was the most excitement that I had ever caused on a golf course,” he says. “They were really pulling for me.” With a willowy physique and blond mop-top, Miller already stood out, aided by what he admits were some pretty wild clothes.

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