SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Just think if Dennis Miller had made that 8-foot birdie putt on the next-to-last hole of U.S. Open qualifying.
He would be just another long shot in the field at Olympic Club, a burly, 42-year-old teaching pro from Ohio who got into this major on his 12th attempt.
One putt that hung on the lip changed everything. Miller was famous even before he arrived.
In a four-man playoff for three spots into the U.S. Open, Miller rapped a 20-foot putt from the fringe and watched it graze the front of the cup and stop there. He took one step, then two, and turned his back to the cup on the fifth step when gravity took over the ball dropped into the cup.
Twelve years trying to play in his national championship, never coming particularly close, and now this.
