BY ADAM MANGUM
He’s just trying to perfect his strokes, whether while golfing or painting.
BYU All-American golfer Andy Miller thrives off creativity. Like golf, Miller’s other hobby of painting requires both patience and imagination.
Maybe not the stereotype hobby of a golfer, but Miller said his two pastimes fulfill similar desires.
So whether on the course or on the canvas, the No. 9-ranked golfer in the country likes using his mind to create.
“That’s one thing I love about golf — the creativity aspect,” Miller said. “Before a shot, I love trying to figure out in my mind exactly what I’m going to do.”
For the last four years Miller, a senior from Napa, Calif., majoring in geography, has been a major factor for BYU golf. This year he’s the captain of the team that is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation.
Like his father Johnny Miller, who was an All-American on the BYU golf team from in 1967, the younger Miller has re-energized the program.
“He’s done what his Dad did … for the BYU golf program,” BYU head coach Bruce Brockbank said. “The environment he’s helped create in the golf program is a very healthy one.”
Miller started his environmental adjustment as a freshman by winning the WAC Championship with a three-day total of 208, including a 68 on the opening day.
“He’s not intimidated by a lot of people,” Brockbank said of Miller’s freshman performance. “He feels like he can win every time he tees up.”
The WAC title also started something else for Miller. He flossed the night before his victory, which has prompted him to adopt it as a ritual before each tournament.
“Not that I don’t floss at other times,” Miller said jokingly, “but I make sure the night before (tournaments).”
Brockbank said Miller wasn’t highly touted as a junior golfer, so BYU was able to keep him away from bigger golf programs, luring him to a place with less-than-perfect golf weather.
And for four years, Miller and BYU have been a perfect match.
“My experience here has been a great experience,” Miller said. “The education in the classroom and out on the course has been great.”
Brockbank said part of Miller’s contribution to the golf program has been his uncanny ability to remain well-rounded.
He works hard at school first, and then it’s off to the fairways. Sometimes that’s four hours of practice in a day, sometimes 10, Brockbank said. Miller expects this from both himself and his teammates.
As hard as they work as a team and with the raising expectations of a national ranking, Miller said his teammates are one of the reasons he’s enjoyed his experience as a Cougar.
“We enjoy going to tournaments together,” he said. “I can’t really tell you what a difference that makes.”
Pressure and expectations are nothing new to Miller. When your father won the U.S. Open (1973), the British Open (1976) and was named PGA Golfer of the Year (1974), it could put an inordinate amount of pressure on a young golfer.
But Miller said his father’s status has been nothing but a benefit to his career.
“I look at it like a bonus,” he said. “I don’t see any downsides. I get instructions from one of the best.”
Hoping to follow his father’s professional path, Miller said his goal is to raise his game to the level of the PGA Tour.
“I think I’m headed in the right direction,” Miller said. “I just have to keep up the pace I’m going.
“You just have to be patient after you turn pro.”
Brockbank said he thinks Miller has the makeup as a golfer and as a person to move to the next level.
“He’s a very stable young man. He knows what he wants and he goes about that everyday,” he said.
But before he gets going as a pro, Miller said he still has things he wants to accomplish while in Cougar blue.
“It would be great to cap off my career with a national championship,” Miller said.
