-- USGA photo by Stephen Morton
The United States Golf Association today
named
John “Spider” Miller, of Bloomington, Ind., as
the captain of the USA Team for the 2015
Walker Cup Match at Royal Lytham and St.
Anne’s Golf Club in Lancashire, England.
Miller is a two-time U.S. Mid-Amateur
champion, winning in 1996 and 1998, and a
member of the 1999 USA Walker Cup Team.
“I’m very excited about it,” said Miller, 63. “I
am extremely thrilled and honored. It’s one of
the goals that amateurs aspire to and I’m very
fortunate to have been selected to follow Jim
Holtgrieve. I will be reaching out to former
captains, all of whom are my friends, to help
me
prepare.”
“Spider Miller has the experience as a
competitive amateur at the highest level as
well
as all the requirements necessary to provide
superb leadership for the USA Walker Cup
Team
in 2015,” said USGA vice president and
Championship Committee chairman Thomas J.
O’Toole Jr. “Tapped as guardian of one of
golf’s
greatest traditions, Spider’s patriotism,
competitive spirit, camaraderie and passion
for
the game will help make the 2015 competition
exceptional and memorable,” O’Toole added.
The Walker Cup Match is a 10-man amateur
team competition between the USA and a
team
composed of players from Great Britain and
Ireland. The 2015 Match will be played Sept.
12-13. The 44th Match will be played Sept. 7-
8,
2013, at the National Golf Links of America in
Southampton, N.Y., which was the site of the
first Walker Cup in 1922. The USA leads the
competition, 34-8-1.
Miller defeated Randy Lewis, 3 and 2, to
capture
the 1996 U.S. Mid-Amateur title at Hartford
Golf
Club, in West Hartford, Conn. In 1998, he
became the oldest Mid-Amateur champion at
the time, by winning at age 48. Miller posted a
1-up victory over Chip Holcombe in the final
at
NCR Country Club’s South Course, in
Kettering,
Ohio.
Miller, who played in two Masters
Tournaments
as a result of his Mid-Amateur victories,
represented the United States at the 1999
Walker Cup Match, played at Nairn Golf Club
in
Scotland. He teamed with Hunter Haas to win
a
pair of foursomes matches before losing to
Paul
Casey, 3 and 2, in singles. Miller also led
Indiana to a tie for third at the 1997 USGA
Men’s State Team Championship by carding a
54-hole score of 209 (four under par).
A native of Bloomington, Ind., Miller was
inducted into the Indiana Golf Association
(IGA)
Hall of Fame in 2000. He twice was chosen
IGA
Player of the Year and is a two-time IGA Mid-
Amateur champion. He and partner Jerry
Nelson
claimed five IGA Four-Ball championships and
he was the low amateur at the Indiana State
Open three times.
Miller also won the 1999 Crump Cup at Pine
Valley Golf Club and has won the Gasparilla
Invitational and Tri-State Championship twice
each.
A 1973 graduate of Indiana University, Miller
owns Best Beers, Inc. He and his wife, Kathy,
have four children.
ABOUT THE The Walker Cup
The Walker Cup Match is a biennial 10-man
amateur
team competition between the USA and a team
composed of players from Great Britain and
Ireland
and selected by The R&A. It is played over two
days
with 18 singles matches and eight foursomes
(alternate-shot) matches.
The first United States Walker Cup Team, which
in
1922 defeated the GB&I side, 8-4, at the
National Golf
Links of America, is considered among the best
teams
ever and included Francis Ouimet, Bob Jones,
Charles
“Chick” Evans and Jess Sweetser. Many of the
game’s
greatest players have taken part in Walker Cup
competition, including U.S. Open champions
Jack
Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth for
the
USA
and Graeme McDowell, Rory McIlroy and Justin
Rose
for Great Britain and Ireland.
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