December 5, 2014 – The Englishman Joe Miller, European Long Drive Champion in 2014, has won in Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Italy, Spain, France… every single tournament of the Long Drive European Tour (LDET) in which he has played this season. His incontestable superiority is a result of his exceptional physical strength, and his hard training for six days per week where he invests 3 to 4 hours daily with weights, cardio, endurance and body-building, focused on maximizing his long driver power. So he, with his golf ball, has become a regular visitor to the 400-and-many-more yards off the tee.

The only blot this year for the Brocket Hall Golf and Callaway Golf ambassador happened in the Finals of the RE/MAX World Long Drive Championship in Las Vegas, where he lost in the semi-finals against the new world champion, the American Jeff Flagg, who was using the same driver model as his, a Callaway Golf X2 HOT. Miller was world champion in 2010, second in 2013, now third in 2014, and in 2015 he’ll try to repeat the feat of becoming the ‘bête noire’ of the Americans hitters with a new fight for the world championship belt, and the coveted check for $ 250,000.

Not at all put out by this, we interviewed him for MyGolfWay.com at The Masters LDET Cup, the final round of the European Tour 2014, held last November in Lumine Golf (Tarragona), where he came to support the Tour, collect his trophy as European Champion and the corresponding prize – a cheque for 10,000 euros.

MYGOLFWAY: We’d like to know what you think about the 2014 season. You are European champion, but not World Champion… 

JOE MILLER: It’s been a great year for me. I’ve won 14 out of 14 competitions in the last two years in Europe. That means I’ve won every competition I’ve entered in Europe in the last two years. So, it’s been great.

The LDET tour has really grown this year, with some really good, big competitions. Obviously I’ve won the Order of Merit, which is great. So I’ve come here to Lumine Golf really just to support the guys and to take the trophy and the cheque.

The World Long Drive Championships in Las Vegas went ahead as planned. It’s a weird tournament when there’s a month gap between the qualifying round of the top eight, but it did work out. As long as I give myself a chance every year, that’s all I can ask for. But to be European Champion is really nice.

MGW: It looks like the level is increasing in the World Championship. More players are appearing who train hard to be at the top.

JM: There are always new guys in the Top-8, which is the weird thing. And like you say, every year there is someone new who is training hard and that is just the way this sport goes. There are always new guys turning up, competing and doing well. So the whole Long Drive thing is growing and doing well, and getting lots of publicity, thanks to guys like yourself, and magazines, etc. So it’s growing, and it’s good to see.

MGW: As the King of Europe in this golf discipline, how are you seen by your U.S. opponents? Are they fearful of you?

JM: Well, the guys over there are not as good as the guys over here, ha, ha… It’s just that there are a lot more of them. The standard here is as high but we are fewer. They know that when we go over there, we are trouble. Unfortunately this year didn’t work out, but next year we’ll get them!

MGW: And what about your plans for 2015?

JM: More of the same. Hopefully win again in Europe. Keep the good run going. To win like this for three years would be great. I also hope to go to the World Championships and try to do better there. But I’ll just continue to do what I do. I do lots of corporate activities, like with Callaway where there are new clubs coming out next year. So, basically more of the same, but hopefully bigger and better for the LDET tour and everyone else.

MGW: Are you going to change to the new Callaway driver then?

JM: It hasn’t been released yet, and I don’t know the specs to come out, but we are going to go with the Callaway XR, which is the new driver for next year. It’s going to be a lot better, it’s going to be longer. Obviously they have to take the information that we give them for the Long Drive equipment, and design a driver for that. The X2 HOT was the best driver by far this year, and the XR will be even better. So I’ll stick hopefully with the Callaway XR next year, and we’ll see what happens.

MGW: Also in 2014 you are getting more social, I’ve seen you more often in the networks…

JM: Yes. It’s been a really good year for me. Media-wise, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter… getting a lot more recognition. And it’s thanks all we do, and thanks to Xavier Eusebio and the Long Drivers European Tour. Couldn’t ask for better. Shame about the World Championships, though.

Thanks, and we’ll keep watching you next year to see how far you can go beyond the 400 yards line!

Por Miguel Angel Buil