April 22, 2018

HILLIARD, OH — The Carl Spackler Open practice round begins in 45 days with 88 participants at Legends Resort just west of downtown Myrtle Beach, SC. There are guys who have not been practicing much including Jeff Miller who will be returning after nearly a decade.

Jeff Miller, a 6-year player from Ohio, is one of the highest profile golfers to be silent with a 13 stroke handicap. Miller, a.k.a. J, was asked for his thoughts on practice and how much value it really has in a major championship.

Reporter: "Could you clear the air about your practicing habits since we don't see you practicing?"

Miller: "I have decided to skip the practice and that's that. I play quite a bit and might miss practice this year, but if somebody says I missed one practice of all the practices this year, then that's enough to get the media started. The Carl Spackler Open deserves a winner regardless of practice. It's simple as that."

Reporter: "So Spackler has no problem with a high profile participant not practicing?"

Miller: "If I can't practice, I cannot practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the key participant, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a tournament, not even a scramble, but we're talking about practice. Not the major championship that I will go out there and die for. We're talking about practice man. How silly is that?

Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example, but I am a 6th year player with a comprehensive list of course tips. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. [laughter from the media crowd] We're talking about practice. [pause] We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the tournament. We're talking about practice. When you read the website, and you see my scores, you've got the idea of my skills, you've basically see me give everything I've got, but we're talking about practice right now. [more laughter]

Reporter: "But it's an issue with course knowledge that Spackler continues to question?"

Miller: "Hey I hear you, it's funny to me to, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about practice man, we're not even talking about the tournament, when it actually matters, we're talking about practice."

Reporter: "Are you aware that rookie Mark Wray skipped the practice round in his rookie season and wore the Carl Spackler Outfit?"

Miller: "No."

Reporter: "Are you aware that rookie Mike Herron skipped the practice round at Mountain Valley in 2005 and wore the Carl Spackler Outfit?"

Miller: "Nope, but I plan to be there for the practice round."

Reporter: "Are you aware that Mike Watkeys skipped the practice round at Tanglewood Park and wore the Carl Spackler Outfit?"

Miller: "Nope."

Reporter: "Are you aware that rookie Jon Munksgard skipped the practice round at Thunder Hill and wore the Carl Spackler Outfit?"

Miller: "No. This is totally ridiculous. We are talkin about practice."

Reporter: "Jeff, Is it possible that if you practiced, not you but you would make your foursome better?"

Miller: "How in the hell can I make my foursome better by practicing?" Reporter: "So they can learn some things from playing with you."

Miller: "There should be plenty of lower handicaps participating. So their tournament is going to deteriorate because I'm not practicing with the field of players? Is my game going to get worse? I'm asking you, is anybody's game going to get worse? So what about my golf game? Is my game going to get better or worse because other players are hurt by my absence, I mean, does that hurt me or them? I'm being honest, people are hurt, but does that hurt Spackler? Does that help Spackler if I go out there and play hard for 5 hours? Does that hurt me as a player? Does that hurt me if this person is hurt or that person is hurt? Does it hurt me?"

Reporter: "Yes. I think it does."

Miller: "OK. You win. I will try to get out there and practice. I am done with this meeting. I will see you guys on the range June 6."

The 2018 Carl Spackler Open is set for June 6-9 with 88 players.  Pairings and roommates are scheduled to be published in late May.