Is Johnny's 63 is The Greatest 18 Ever Played?

It is funny how the combination of Johnny Miller bringing up his 63 a few too many times and the lack of great memories/video has actually led to Johnny's 1973 U.S. Open winning 63 becoming downplayed for its historical significance.

Thankfully some smart folks have used stats and historical perspective to refute some of the misperceptions about his great play at Oakmont.

Adam Lazarus and Steve Schlossman have posted a definitive look at the round and attempt to clarify myths, legends and fact. Nice work fellows.

Jaime Diaz files a Golf Digest June issue look at the 63 barrier in golf and sets aside quite a bit of space for Johnny's round.

Miller will tell you about it. His frequent references to the round—especially as a commentator—have caused a backlash. When he says things like, "I mean, it was sort of an easy 63—pretty pure," Miller, now 69, seems a victim of "the older I get, the better I used to be" syndrome. But his playing partner that day at Oakmont, Miller Barber, said, "It very easily could have been 60." A closer look reveals Miller's round has mostly been underappreciated.

Diaz also filed this follow up for GolfDigest.com highlighting some numbers, including these:

He missed two fairways and had 29 putts, including a three-putt on the par-3 eighth hole. Nine of his full-iron approaches (three of them 4-irons) finished within 15 feet of the hole, four of them getting within six feet. In 2014, Golf World’s David Barrett, retroactively applying the PGA Tour’s “strokes gained” calculation, convincingly established that Miller’s is the greatest 18 holes ever shot.

One of the great touches in Oakmont's locker room is the handwritten scoreboard from the 1973 U.S. Open and on. Johnny's 63: