NBC golf analyst Miller to return for at least 1 more year
Television viewers haven't heard the last of Johnny Miller just yet.
Miller says he thought this might be his final year in the broadcast booth for NBC Sports so he could spend more time with his 23 grandchildren. But in a telephone interview Monday, he said he will stick around for at least another year.
This is his 28th year working for NBC.
Miller will be the lead analyst next week for the British Open at Royal Birkdale, where he won the claret jug in 1976 with a six-shot victory over 19-year-old Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus.
''I wasn't sure if it was going to be last year or whether I'd do a couple of more, but I'm doing the Open next year also,'' the 70-year-old Miller said. ''I'm having a little bit of a battle of what my priorities are. I have a lot of things to pass on to my grandkids, whether it's fishing or being a grandpa. On the other hand, my brain is still working pretty good. All these years of announcing, I feel like I haven't slipped any. And NBC seems to like having me.
''I'm surprised that there aren't some guys waiting in the wings,'' he said. ''It's been a good run and I'll continue for whatever.''
Miller signed a three-year extension through 2017, though he had an option for next year.
He was bitterly disappointed when the USGA declined to renews its contract with NBC, instead signing a lucrative deal with Fox Sports. That void quickly was filled, however, when NBC and Golf Channel took over the rights to broadcast the British Open starting last year at Royal Troon.
''Not everybody loves the way I announce. I know that,'' Miller said. ''But they know it's rare these days for someone to say what they think, and that's sort of where I've come from. Just talking on the phone, you get what I think. I'm not afraid of hurt someone's feelings.''
