Johnny Miller Picks The Class of '08: Golf Digest Magazine

Johnny Miller Picks The Class of '08

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BEST SAND PLAYER

Mike Weir

Weir ranked third in sand saves in 2007, in part because he has a built-in advantage over the competition. At 5-feet-9, he's a bit shorter than the average tour player, so his swing plane is naturally a little flatter--much like the two best sand players I ever saw, Chi Chi Rodriguez and Gary Player. He doesn't dig deeply through impact; his clubhead skims through the sand. His shots float out of the bunker and land like a tissue dropped from the MetLife blimp.

Weir excels at varying the length and speed of his swing to match the distance of the shot he's hitting. He opens the face of his sand wedge a good amount on the backswing, then merely swings softer or more firmly depending on how far he wants the ball to carry.

HONORABLE MENTION / TIM CLARK

BEST MIDDLE IRONS

Lorena Ochoa

Ochoa led the LPGA Tour in greens in regulation at 73 percent, a full two points higher than the PGA Tour's GIR leader, Tiger Woods. Her percentage actually was down from an incredible 75 percent in 2006, but it still was an amazing performance. For her machine-like precision, she gets the nod over Tiger.

Ochoa has such a beautiful release with her irons. Her clubface is dead square at impact, her divots pointing just a shade left of the target, as they should, with just the right amount of depth. Women aren't as strong as men and therefore tend to get a little tight and bound up on their iron swings, but Ochoa is never guilty of that. She stays in balance and blends everything together nicely on her downswing.

HONORABLE MENTION / TIGER WOODS

BEST SHORT IRONS

Jim Furyk

There are an awful lot of fantastic short-iron players on tour these days, and it's a difficult category to quantify with hard numbers. But Furyk is as good as a player gets. He ranked sixth in greens in regulation, but it's his technique with the short clubs that impresses me.

You're familiar with Furyk's looping swing, where he takes the club back to the outside and then drops it into the slot. Well, that loop is custom-made for short-iron play. He doesn't let the clubface turn over through impact in a handsy, trapping, backspin-producing action. Instead the clubhead glides through the hitting area squarely with no more speed than is necessary. He drags the club through the ball with no "kick" at the bottom. That's the way to do it.

HONORABLE MENTION / PHIL MICKELSON