Miller’s long wait

Press, 18 March 1983, Page 34

Miller’s long wait

NZPA-ReuterLauderhill,

Johnny Miller has turned back Jack Nicklaus’s late bid with a no-bogey three-under-par 69 to score a two-stroke victory in the Honda-Inver-rary Golf Classic.

Miller acquired the twenty-second victory of his American tour career — a career that reached a peak in his glory years of the mid--705 — with a 278 total, 10 strokes under par on the wind-swept Inverrary Country Club course, Florida.

Miller’s victory, worth $72,000 from the total purse of $400,000, was his second at

Inverrary. He started his comeback from a four-year. non-winning slump with his triumph at Lauderhill in 1980.

Nicklaus. in a farewell performance on a course that has been one of the most productive of his unmatched career, surged past 27 players with a closing 66 and gained second at 280.

“Sure, there’s a certain nostalgia knowing you'll never play another tournament round here," said Nicklaus, holder of a record 17 major .professional titles and generally regarded as the finest player the game has produced.