Fansided

The best players who never slipped on the Green Jacket at the Masters

By David Salituro

14 Apr 1996: Greg Norman of Australia feels the pressure after hitting the first ball of the final round off the fairway and in to the crowd during the final round of the 1996 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Mandatory Credit:Stephen Munday/ALLSPORT
14 Apr 1996: Greg Norman of Australia feels the pressure after hitting the first ball of the final round off the fairway and in to the crowd during the final round of the 1996 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Mandatory Credit:Stephen Munday/ALLSPORT /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 5
Next
(Original Caption) Augusta, Georgia: the dejected expressions of Tom Weiskopf (left) and Johnny Miller (center) tell the story of the 1975 Masters with victorious Jack Nicklaus on the right. Miller and Weiskopf played 11-under-par one stroke off Nicklaus winning 12.
(Original Caption) Augusta, Georgia: the dejected expressions of Tom Weiskopf (left) and Johnny Miller (center) tell the story of the 1975 Masters with victorious Jack Nicklaus on the right. Miller and Weiskopf played 11-under-par one stroke off Nicklaus winning 12. /

4. Johnny Miller

Johnny Miller has become so well-known calling out chokers on television that it’s easy to forget he was once one of the best players in the world. Miller won 25 career PGA Tour titles between 1971 and 1994, including two major championships. The first of those came after the greatest round in golf history, a 63 in the final round at Oakmont to win the U.S. Open in 1973.

Miller, though, never had the same luck in the Masters. In 19 career appearances, he finished runner-up three times but never won the Green Jacket. In 1971, he held a two-shot lead over Charles Coody after a birdie at the 14th hole but bogeyed two of his last three holes while Coody passed him with birdies at 15 and 16 to win by two shots. Again, in 1975, Miller got to within a shot of the lead with a birdie at 17 but Jack Nicklaus responded with a 40-foot birdie putt of his own on 16. Miller missed an 18-footer on the last hole to tie Nicklaus and finished a shot behind. He also came in second in 1981, losing by two shots to Tom Watson.

Miller retired from playing full-time in 1990, beginning a 29-year stint in the NBC broadcast booth that ended with his retirement back in February. He once derisively called the Masters the “Annual Spring Putting Contest,” but also admits never winning is his biggest regret from an otherwise successful career.

Home/The Masters