Cut prediction: AT&T Byron Nelson

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – Johnny Miller is retiring, and cheese whiz will never be the same. Miller and his longtime broadcast partner, Dan Hicks, met the media Friday as they brace for the final telecast of Miller’s illustrious career at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Saturday. Miller reminisced about his 29 years in the broadcast booth and his illustrious playing career before that, but the atmosphere was one of raucous laughter more than tears. Asked if there was a Miller quirk that he will miss after sitting next to the outspoken legend for the last three decades, Hicks didn’t hesitate. His answer: liquid cheese. “If had to single out one thing that I think typifies Johnny is and it’s going to sound crazy see but it’s cheese whiz,â€� Hicks said. “Easy Cheese whiz, there’s a brand.â€� The assembled media laughed uneasily as Miller, a World Golf Hall of Famer and eight-time Emmy nominee, nodded in agreement. “So, Johnny would get in,â€� Hicks added. “I would look over there and he would have the nozzle of the cheese whiz thing implanted, basically mainlining cheese whiz like — and I go, ‘You’re actually sticking that in your mouth. The rest of us probably shouldn’t be using this.’ So, our illustrious stage manager, Kathy, would actually put a piece of gaffer’s tape on it, on the cheese whiz bottle.â€� Miller also did almost half of his 232 telecasts in bare feet, Hicks added. And Miller said his TV career almost last just a single day at the 1990 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. “I quit after the first day,â€� he said. “It was like, Holy mackerel, what have I got into? I’m not an announcer, I’m a player. They said, ‘It would be good if you could at least finish out the tournament, you know.’â€�  But it was the cheese whiz story that stole the show. Miller has about 20 friends and family members here this week, and many of them assembled at the NBC crew’s hotel Thursday night to toast the departure of a broadcast legend. The twist: They raised cans of Easy Cheese. “This week has just been This Is Your Life,â€� Hicks said, “and we have been just kind of going over all the great memories of having Johnny at 18. But I would say cheese whiz is at the top of the list, believe it or not.â€�

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PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. — Justin Thomas nearly holed a wedge that got him into a playoff, and then hit 3-wood over the water and onto the 18th green for a two-putt birdie to beat Luke List on the first extra hole Sunday to win The Honda Classic. Thomas closed with a 2-under 68 and won for the second time this season. He also won in a playoff at the CJ Cup in South Korea last fall. Thomas and List matched birdies and tough pars over the final eight holes, and List appeared to have a big advantage on the par-5 18th when he hit a big drive that left him a 4-iron he hit onto the back of the green. Thomas was in the left rough and had to lay up instead of taking on the water. He hit a wedge from 117 yards that landed a few feet in front of the hole and rolled some 6 inches to the side of the cup, settling 2 feet away. List, going for his first PGA TOUR victory, blinked first in the playoff by missing his drive well to the right amid palm trees. He blasted that out left and against the grandstand, and then he watched Thomas take on the water and hit the green in two. Thomas tapped in a 4-footer for is birdie and the eighth win of his career. He is now No. 1 in the FedExCup standings. Alex Noren was tied for the lead playing the 18th and caught an awkward lie from the side of a bunker. He made par for a 67 and finished one shot behind. Thomas and List finished at 8-under 272. It was the seventh playoff in 15 PGA TOUR events this season. Tiger Woods was briefly within three shots of the lead on the front nine. He closed with a 70 and finished 12th. He led the field in proximity to the hole on his approach shots at just over 29 feet.

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