The Knucklehead of the Day award

Today's winner is pro golfer and NBC announcer Johnny Miller. A little while back I blogged about the large amount of mistakes in Miller's book 'I call the shots.' Here is a recap of what I wrote-

1- Lee Janzen won the 1993 US Open not 1994
2- Sevriano Ballesteros won 6 not 3 US PGA Tour titles.
3- Ed Fiori did not beat Tiger Woods in a playoff at the 1996 Quad Cities tournament. Woods finished fourth.
4- Valderama has NOT hosted ’several’ Ryder Cups. It hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup only.
5- Tiger Woods is said to have shot 16 under for the 2000 US Open at Pebble Beach. Woods shot 12 under, its even stated he did so on the previous page!
6- Ernie Els bogeied the first hole of the 1994 US Open Playoff, not make a par. Miller compounds this mistake by saying Els who got a drop on that hole may have been helped by this ‘par’.
7- Annika Sorenstam was tied for the lead not one shot back when teeing off 18 at the 2003 US Open.
8- Craig Stadler’s disqualification for kneeling on a towel in a San Diego tournament happened in 1987 not 1983.
9- Ray Floyd lost the 1990 not 1989 Masters in a playoff to Nick Faldo.
10- Gary Player’s first major championship was the 1959 British Open not the 1959 Masters.
11- Tom Watson won five British Opens(75,77,80, 82, 83) not six
12- Jack Nicklaus started the final round of 1986 Masters 4 back, not 6 back.
13- Tom Watson did not win 2 AT&T championships at Pebble Beach. The tournament was the Bing Crosby Pro-am and not sponsored by AT&T when Watson won there in 1977 and 1978.

These mistakes are pretty bad and I have since found more in the book. However what wins Miller the Knucklehead is this little gem on page 224.

"I also won the San Francisco City Championship, the biggest local amateur tournament there was."

Unfortunately history teaches us otherwise.

1956 Ken Venturi
1957 Tal Smith
1958 Bill McCool Angie Vote
1959 Bob Sylvestri Dorothy Stamps
1960 Bob Sylvestri Linda Collins
1961 Verne Callison Jane Thomas
1962 Tom Dixon Jan Ferraris
1963 George Archer Jan Ferraris
1964 Ken Towns Jan Ferraris
1965 Walt Gilliam Jan Ferraris
1966 Larry Anderson Marie Strand
1967 Bob E. Smith Linda Collins Maurer

James Joyner pointed out this 2005 article that backs what I say.

The City Championship is as diverse as San Francisco itself. Hackers hitting the ball sideways play alongside more accomplished golfers who bomb it down the middle. There are flights for all abilities, but the Championship Flight is the one that grabs the headlines. It is there that many of the great ones cut their teeth. Ken Venturi, Johnny Miller, George Archer and Bob Rosburg, to name a few, all started their competitive careers trying to win the City Championship. Even Tom Watson, while a young psychology major at Stanford took a crack at it. But only Venturi and Archer among them was successful.

So Johnny Miller is a liar and this calls anything he says either on the air or in the book into question. Why should anyone believe what Miller says? Should NBC fire Miller like Notre Dame University did when George O'Leary was found padding his resume?

Those decisions aren't up to TFM but I do make Johnny Miller today's Knucklehead of the day.

Linked to- Basil's Blog, Blue Star, Bright & Early, Cao's Blog, Jo's Cafe, Outside the Beltway, Right Wing Nation, Third World County,