OVER THE YEARS, various people have been called the Next Nicklaus, with varying results. By birthright, Jack Nicklaus II was the Next Nicklaus. But Jackie grew up to be tall, slender and easy-going, and much more like his mother, Barbara, than his father, Big Jack himself. Ben Crenshaw was a Next Nicklaus, at least for a while. Eddie Pearce, Hal Sutton, Bobby Clampett and John Daly all carried the mantle at various times.
And then there are two special-case Next Nicklauses, Gary Nicklaus and Johnny Miller. Johnny, now 72, retired last year after 29 years as a broadcaster for NBC Sports. In the mid-1970s there was a stretch when nobody played better golf than Johnny, except for Nicklaus, and Johnny looked like he could be the next Nicklaus. Gary, now…
