Monday Mulligan No. 4

I officially call “buzz kill.”

First, congratulations to Rory for his Honda win and rising so quickly to #1.  Kudos, too, to Tiger (for his amazing 62) and Tom Gillis (for his persistence), who tied for second place in the tourney.

But what was Johnny Miller drinking, Scrooge Smoothies?  I mean, I usually love his sniper style of analysis, but today he fell from his perch and plunged into the dark abyss.

Where Dan Hicks expressed his joy and excitement over the great golf before his eyes (albeit always rambling on with two more sentences than he needs to say), Johnny grumbled about every negative thing he could think of.  Instead of rooting for Rory (and each golfer), he put forth scenarios of weakness and failure.

This is a representation of what went on in the NBC booth:

Dan:  We are seeking excellent golf from Rory today.

Johnny:  Yeah, if he doesn’t blow it.

Dan:  He’s striking the ball great.  And Gillis is keeping stride.

Johnny.  I don’t know, Rory just pushed his last two iron shots, and I’m waiting for Gillis to crack.

Dan:  And Rory got up and down easily both times.

Johnny:  Could be a pattern. I want to see his next iron shot. I think the nerves are getting to him, ever since he heard that roar over Tiger’s 62.  He’s more intense now.

Dan:  Rory’s ball is sitting down in that grass by the green.

Johnny:  He needs to hit a chunk and run there, no question. Huh?  He’s laying the clubface open.  No need to open that face. I don’t know what he’s thinking.

And the beat went on, with Johnny speaking in nearly a monotone, objecting to each of Dan’s positive comments with a negative downer.

What did Ian Poulter say about that?  Funny you should ask. Here is one of Ian”s tweets on Twitter:

Can Johnny Miller actually say anything positive, Er No.

A while ago I wrote a series of articles (on this site) suggesting that the LPGA tour broadcast team hire themselves a storyteller to infuse some drama and character into their lackluster commentary.  I suggest that Mr. Miller learn how to build drama, rather than sucking all the fun out of the broadcast with warnings, second-guessing, and negativity.

Still, in spite of an appearance by Mr. Scrooge, Rory’s performance was, let’s face it, less than dramatic.  It was near perfect.

#