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U.S. Open 2019: How the remarkable third round at Pebble Beach explains why Johnny Miller retired
Harry How
A remarkable day of golf requires a summation to match, and it was delivered by Brandel Chamblee on Golf Channel’s "Live from the U.S. Open" on Saturday evening.
“It was an incredible day of clutch performances,” Chamblee said. “It was mind-boggling, when you think about it. There were all these moments when you thought there was going to be a mini-collapse or a giant collapse. I understand now why Johnny Miller retired. Nobody chokes any more. There’s nothing for him to talk about.”
Miller, of course, was renowned for his frequent use of the word “choke” during his long NBC career.
There was another point to make, too, and Frank Nobilo made it, that the USGA has gotten the course setup right.
“I want to go back 12 months ago. The USGA had a bad day,” Nobilo said. “Complained about the golf course. Players were unanimous in that. It went over the edge. Twelve months later, boy have they learned their lesson. This was tremendous. They knew that it was going to be hot on Monday and Tuesday. They poured water on the golf course. They gave the guys a chance on Thursday and Friday. These conditions here, they expected them, they got them. We had a great test today. More importantly, we’ve got a great leader board.”
David Duval called it “one of the more enjoyable rounds I’ve seen in a long, long time. Forget the last few years, maybe the last decade.”
Said Chamblee: “Everybody was shooting 68, everybody was shooting 69. Gary Woodland was doing his best Brooks Koepka imitation. Justin Rose was doing his best Jordan Spieth imitation. And Brooks Koepka was just doing his thing.”
“A fascinating day of golf,” Duval said.