Miller is the always-critical analyst for NBC and Golf Channel telecasts

Miller is the always-critical analyst for NBC and Golf Channel telecasts, which include USGA tournaments. I can summarize the essence of his commentary in a sentence:

Either that player just choked or he's going to choke.

People who know little about golf think Miller's caustic criticisms are great and that he tells it like it is. In truth, he is so insecure that he rips players in the hope that they'll falter and make him look smart.

Occasionally, he is right. When he's wrong, he doesn't own up to his mistake. Just like he doesn't admit that during his playing career, when he won 25 PGA Tour events, including two majors, there were plenty of times he failed to come through in the clutch.

Take the 1975 Masters, which Jack Nicklaus won by one shot over Miller and Tom Weiskopf.

Everyone remembers Nicklaus sinking a 40-foot birdie putt on the par-3 16th. Most people forget that Miller missed a 2-foot par putt on No. 11.

He and Weiskopf also missed birdie putts on No. 18 that would have put them in a playoff with Nicklaus, although Miller wasn't so good in sudden-death matchups. He had a 1-5 record. But you'd never know that by the way Miller announces.

Weiskopf, at least, was honest as a commentator. At the 1986 Masters, which Nicklaus won at age 46, Weiskopf uttered one of the greatest lines in broadcasting history.

Nicklaus was on the 16th tee Sunday in the midst of his stirring back-nine charge when Jim Nantz said, "Tom Weiskopf, what is going through Jack's mind right now?"

"If I knew the way he thought," Weiskopf said, "I would've won this tournament, Jim."

Nicklaus is the best golf analyst ever because he understands the game and what it takes to win — he has 73 PGA Tour victories — better than anyone.

Whenever I've listened to Nicklaus on TV, he always calls the shot correctly. He might say that the player wants to hit his approach left of the flag to leave himself a birdie chance or a safe two-putt for par. If that's what the player does, invariably he will make that birdie or that par.

It was comical to listen to Miller and Nicklaus at this year's Honda Classic as Michael Thompson was grinding his way to his first PGA Tour win. On one hole, Miller criticized Thompson for taking too much time to select a club for his approach shot. Nicklaus astutely pointed out that Thompson was simply making sure of where he wanted the ball to go. Sure enough, Thompson hit a good shot and got his par.