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SALT LAKE CITY — For certain people and certain places, a connection is not only evident — it's natural.
So it was with pro golfer Johnny Miller and the Arizona desert.
When it came time to step away from professional golf, then, there was only one place to do so, it seems.
After 50 years in professional golf, including 29 years in the broadcast booth, former BYU golfer Johnny Miller shot his final standup during the third round Saturday of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
"Johnny Miller was a great player to watch play golf. He was exciting. He knew how to win tournaments, and he became a Hall of Fame," said former PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem during the NBC broadcast, one of many who shared their favorite memories of the all-time great. "He will be sorely missed, but always appreciated."
Stepping down in Phoenix is appropriate for Miller. His best moments arguably came in the desert, where he dominated in PGA Tour stops in Phoenix, Tucson and Palm Springs, California — including a historic 14-shot win at the Phoenix Open in 1975, just weeks before winning the Tucson Open by nine strokes.
"It just felt like this was home for me. It was my best golf," said Miller, who earned the nickname 'The Desert Fox.' "That 14-shot win is something I think about once in a while.
"I was just in my prime. That was the time."
Miller, 71, has often said he is a believer that there is a time for everything. And after 50 years in professional golf, he felt that it's time to move on.
"You know, (it's) sort of an interesting time mentally what I'm going through," Miller told ESPN as his final week in the broadcast booth wound down. "Part of me is like, 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.'
"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."
Miller has been NBC’s lead golf analyst since 1990, and the network has paired him with Dan Hicks since 2000. The duo is the longest-tenured 18th tower tandem in broadcast golf history, according to the network.
NBC has already announced that Paul Azinger will replace Miller as lead golf analyst, beginning with Sunday’s final round of the Phoenix Open. His first full-time tournament will be Feb. 21-24 at the WGC-Mexico Championship.
Miller played 21 years on the PGA Tour before retiring and spending three decades on television.
Before there were local golf stars like Tony Finau, there was Johnny Miller.
A native of San Francisco, Miller played at BYU from 1965-1968, becoming the Cougars’ first-ever All-American first-team golfer as a senior. He helped BYU to two Western Athletic Conference titles, and was inducted into the BYU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1978.
Feel free to sing along, everybody 🎤#ThanksJohnnypic.twitter.com/fiZjFFPLAE
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) February 2, 2019
His professional career was no less stellar.
Miller won eight major titles in 1974 en route to PGA player of the year honors, and he finished with top honors at the 1973 U.S. Open and 1976 British Open, as well as a second-place finish at The Masters in 1971, 1975, and 1981.
Miller finished his career with 25 wins on the PGA Tour, the most of any golfer with Utah ties in the history of the sport. His legacy in Utah golf is still felt today, by pros, amateurs and youth golfers from Logan to St. George.
Miller was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1998, a year after he decided to forego his eligibility on the Senior PGA Tour because of recurring knee injuries.
In the broadcast realm, Miller has been nominated for eight sports Emmys while covering 20 U.S. Opens, three British Opens, 14 Ryder Cups, and he helped inaugurate the first Olympic Games to feature golf in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Miller, who is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, splits time in the Heber Valley in Utah, as well as Napa, California, where he owns a limited partnership with Silverado Country Club in Napa. He helped design Thanksgiving Point Golf Club in Lehi, as well.
