Thiel hires ‘ace’ to coach golfing team; John Daly’s act grows tiresome

Remember the guy who recorded two holes-in-one on the same hole in the same day, while playing some winter golf last year at the King and Bear Golf Club in St. Augustine, Fla.?

Greenville’s Dan McMillen, the only PGA pro to hold that distinction, was named the new men’s and women’s golf coach at Thiel College. He formerly was the club and teaching pro at The Greens of Greenville (formerly Greenville Country Club) for the past 17 years.

Greenville Country Club was purchased by the Weyers Brothers of Greenville who renamed the facility as the Greens of Greenville.

McMillen is a familiar personality in Greenville and surrounding areas. He attended Reynolds High School and later graduated from Thiel with a degree in business administration.

He was a four-year letterman on the Tomcats golf team and often times represented Greenville Country Club as the host pro at Greenville’s annual Industrial Day Golf Outing which each year features a touring PGA tour pro and two other area golf standouts.

McMillen, who has played with such PGA notables such as Fuzzy Zoeller, John Cook and Natalie Gulbis during his competitive and exhibition experiences, has provided individual and clinical instruction to hundreds of area players. His special emphasis has always been on junior golfers. That is probably why he wanted the Thiel position as he has served as Greenville High School golf coach for 11 seasons. Under his leadership of the Trojan golf team he has coached a number of golfers who went on to greater heights on the collegiate and pro levels.

The new Thiel coach will have a staff comprised of Scott Hartle, former interim head coach, and Angelo Giannini.

Pryor a Buckeye

How long does it take a young high school athletic standout to select the college of his choice for the next four years?

Jeannette High School basketball and football standout, Terrelle Pryor, perhaps the finest prep star to come along in quite some time, took his good old time before announcing that Ohio State University was his final selection.

He’s so good that Buckeye Coach Jim Tressel may insert him into the starting lineup as a freshman.

Pryor, however, was involved in the PIAA state basketball championships this season and perhaps wanted to wait until the title games had concluded. Jeannette won its second straight PIAA basketball championship in overtime with Pryor showing the way over Strawberry Mountain.

Standing 6-6, weighing 225, Pryor is the only Pennsylvania player to both rush and pass for at least 4,000 yards in football. He scored

2,285 points in basketball. It appears that Pryor will play only football at Ohio State as playing basketball would interfere with his main goal of becoming a top-flight quarterback. At Jeannette, Pryor was almost anything his coach wanted him to be. He played quarterback, running back and other multiple positions.

Said his head football coach at Jeannette, Ray Reitz, “He is one in a million. A lot of longtime observers [in the Pittsburgh area] say he’s the best athlete to play here. I know he’s the best I’ve ever seen.

“Terrell has tremendous physical skills. You hear the word ‘great’ used to describe a lot of athletes, but it fits him.”’

Perhaps the greatest honor bestowed on the young athlete thus far in his career, was being named Parade Magazine’s Player of the Year. The magazine compared Pryor to some of the greatest quarterbacks in state history, including Joe Montana, Dan Marino and Joe Namath. That’s some mighty good company.

Daly does it again

How many chances can you give a man?

I used to like PGA golfer John Daly, even pulled for him in many of his matches. But enough is enough.

Daly who can hit a golf ball a mile, missed his pro-am time at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (Eventually won by Tiger Woods). His absence came one day after he was fired by his swing coach.

Daly, a personable young man who likes to do things “his way” lost his PGA card two years ago and was invited to Bay Hill on a sponsor’s exemption. Under tourney rules, anyone who misses the pro-am without a valid reason can’t play in the event.

Daly had a huge following wherever he played and thousands of fans used to root for him. Being a no-show at the Arnold Palmer Pro-Am isn’t going to help his career.