Miller disappointed by American team’s Ryder Cup preparation

CARY, North Carolina: Twice major winner Johnny Miller tried to hold his tongue during the recent Ryder Cup in France, but the filter came off on Tuesday as he criticised the US team’s preparation in the lead up to their heavy defeat by Europe.

In his role as lead analyst for the NBC coverage on American television, the California-born 71year-old watched as the US players missed too many fairways and too many putts at Le Golf National last month.

Criticism at the time focused on how Justin Thomas was the only one of the 12 players on the American team, who had played a tournament at the course, which annually holds the French Open on the European Tour.

Mi l ler, however, was more puzzled by why the Americans did not play more practice rounds in the week of the tournament. The Friday start gave the team three full days to prepare on- site after their Monday afternoon arrival.

“I didn’t actually say some of the things I wanted to that week,” the former US and British Open champion said in a conference call on Tuesday announcing his retirement from the commentary booth.

“I think the fact that the US was playing nine holes a day, and those ( European) guys played the (French) Open every year and I’m thinking, are you kidding me? Nine holes a day? What else you got to do but play? I was fairly upset at that because Europe set up that golf course totally unlike the Americans had ever played. It was like the old US Open.”

It was a deflating, if familiar way for Miller to end his Ryder Cup commentary career.

In nearly three decades as an NBC analyst, he has observed the past six American defeats on European soil. The most common thread he observed running through those losses was poor putting.

“For some reason, when you’re at home the putter seems to work better, and when you’re on the road going to Europe it doesn’t seem to work really good,” he said.

Miller, who will commentate on his final event at the Phoenix Open in February, brought a critical eye to a chummy sport often lacking in candid observations.

He became known for frequently using t he word “choke”, a provocative term that refers to a player’s inability to execute a shot under pressure.