US Open legend Johnny Miller thinks the time has come to limit hitting distances, particularly as many courses have been lengthened to accommodate the issue.
In March, the USGA and The R&A announced a golf ball rollback plan, which would mean elite players use a different ball to recreational players and, speaking to the media before the US Open at Los Angeles Country Club, Miller explained why he thinks driving distances should be curbed. He said: “I think we've gone far enough with the golf ball.
"Everything goes so much farther. It's like the guys are - used to be if you had 220 to the green, that was a 4-wood. Now these guys can hit a 5-iron 220. It's like, hitting the ball so far. It's sort of forcing championships to have to lengthen.”
The US Open is known for the often brutally difficult way the courses are set up, and Miller suggested that one way to ensure even the biggest hitters remain challenged is to adopt that kind of approach in other tournaments.
He said: “Golf itself is pretty strong. They know how to set up the courses, but they shouldn't be - USGA or any of the tournaments shouldn't be afraid of setting, maybe not every hole really hard, but the bottom line is you want it to be a challenge for the pros. They need to know that par on some holes is really what you're trying to get, not a birdie.”
Miller produced arguably the greatest round in US Open history with his 63 in the final round in 1973, and he explained that despite those extra driving distances, players would still consider it a good round. He continued: “Is 63 a good round? It's a good round today. Yeah, it's a dang good round. It's not like the guys are shooting 58.
“There's only so many chances if you hit every green, like I said, to get 8-under. Can you make eight out of 18 putts? Are you hitting it close enough to the hole to get 18 putts?”
‘Golf Used To Be A Little More Pure'
As his playing days began to wind down, Miller began a long career as an analyst on NBC – a role he left in 2019, three years before the game changed dramatically with the emergence of LIV Golf. Away from the golf ball rollback debate, he admitted he would still enjoy the role today, but felt the game has lost some of its purity.
He said: “The whole atmosphere is changing. I'm not thrilled about the gambling part now in golf. That's an understatement. There's just been a lot of changes. In a way golf used to be a little more pure. I don't miss that part of it. But I still would have liked to have announced if I would have been the age I was when I started with NBC.”
Miller has also been made this year’s Bob Jones Award winner, the USGA’s highest honour that recognises respect, character and a commitment to fair play, and the 76-year-old, who also won the 1976 Open Championship, admitted it was an emotional experience.
He said: “There was a lot of good feelings last night, a lot of emotion, a lot of tears. We brought tears to a lot of people's eyes, and mine. I was sleeping like a rock this morning. Normally I wake up at 6am every morning. I think I could have slept until 9. It was emotional.”
Miller's comments on the driving distance debate came just a day after 2021 US Open winner Jon Rahm warned that the golf ball rollback proposals could lead to a 'slippery slope.'
