Bulletin E-Edition:
Madras golfer hopes third time is the charm
Brian Miller is trying to improve his finish at the second stage of the PGA Tour’s qualifying school
By Zack Hall / The Bulletin
Published: November 18. 2009 4:00AM PST
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Brian Miller has been here before.
The professional golfer from Madras will begin play today at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, for the 72-hole second stage of the PGA Tour’s National Qualifying School.
This is the third time in Miller’s career that he has advanced to the second stage, which is a pivotal four rounds for a journeyman golfer such as Miller who is looking for a professional tour to call home. And this year will mark the second time he has played the second stage at Craig Ranch, one of six second-stage sites — and where he lost his bid for a PGA Tour card in 2007.
If Miller, a 29-year-old Madras High School graduate who now lives in the San Diego area, makes it through this week he is guaranteed at least part-time status on the developmental Nationwide Tour. And more enticingly, he will advance to Q-School’s 108-hole final stage with a chance to be among the fortunate few to earn their way onto the 2010 PGA Tour.
“It is definitely a key stage,” Miller said last week. “And I’m much more confident (than in his previous two second-stage appearances) and much more on the right track.”
Miller, the 1995 and 1998 Oregon Class 3A-2A-1A boys high school state golf champion, will have to be among the top golfers from the field of 80 at his site to advance to the final stage. TThe exact number of qualifiers will be determined later this week.
In 2007, 20 of 79 golfers advanced from Craig Ranch. Miller, who played the four rounds in Texas that year at 6 over par, was not among them.
But he should be able to draw on that experience this year.
“This is my third time in the second stage, so the experience factor really helps,” said Miller, who also qualified for the PGA Tour’s 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii.
“Part of the problem with golf and Q-School is guys start looking at the leaderboard and predicting what they have to shoot, and before they know it, they are not really concentrating on their golf game. They are looking at their score.
“We’re just going to play all week and (play) just one shot at a time. All you can do is do the best you can on every shot.”
It seemed unlikely earlier this year that Miller would get this far in Q-School.
At a U.S. Open local qualifying stage in May at Langdon Farms Golf Club near Portland, Miller shot a 9-over-par 80 to land in a seven-way tie for 57th place out of 83 golfers.
Not exactly the result he was looking for.
“I went through a bad stretch where I really struggled, and I was just about ready to give it up,” said Miller, adding that he had received some bad advice from golf teachers that contributed to his poor play. “I ended up going up to the U.S. Open qualifier in Oregon ... and I actually played like crap again.”
But at Langdon Farms, he ran into Jim Wilkinson, the teaching pro at Langdon Farms and an old friend of Miller’s family from Wilkinson’s days as a pro in Central Oregon at Kah-Nee-Ta High Desert Resort & Casino near Warm Springs.
Wilkinson, who also worked a stint as the head pro at Bend Golf and Country Club, last week remembered Miller’s performance at Langdon Farms.
“He didn’t play very well that day,” said Wilkinson. “I ran into him after he finished, and he was not happy.”
Wilkinson persuaded the frustrated golfer to stay in the Portland area an extra night so the veteran instructor could look over Miller’s swing.
“I saw Jim the next day and he fixed me,” Miller recalled. “He just gave me one of the best lessons I ever had.”
Miller has spent the months since then working with Wilkinson, who said he was not so much overhauling Miller’s swing as fine-tuning his elementary skills.
“We’re just working on basic fundamentals and he’s made a lot of progress,” said Wilkinson. “He had some issues with his fundamentals. Now we have a better grip, better posture, better alignment. Everything is better.”
Until the last week of October, Miller had few chances to show his improvement.
At Lantana (Texas) Golf Club, one of 13 first stage Q-School sites around the country, Miller shot a 4-under-par 68 for the first round. In the second round, he fired a 70.
Miller’s start helped him to overcome a 2-over 74 in a rainy third round, and he finished the job to advance to the second stage with a 3-under 69 in the final round.
“I’m getting better,” said Miller, who adds that he has given himself a five-year window — including this year — to make the PGA Tour. “I still have some work to do. But I am finally on the right track. It’s good. Hopefully, I can get through the next stage and get a tour card.”
Miller is trying to accomplish one of the most challenging feats in golf — making it through all three stages of Q-School to earn a PGA Tour card.
The top 25 players and ties at December’s final stage, which will be played Bear Lakes Country Club in Palm Beach, Fla., will earn their PGA Tour card for 2010. Those 25 and ties will have made it of out of the more than 1,000 golfers who tried this year.
And Miller has confidence that he could be among those qualifiers if he gets through this week.
“When I first went (to Q-School) a couple of years ago I was decent, but I didn’t have half the game that I have now,” Miller said. “I figure I am just going to go over there and play my game and do the best I can on every shot, and whatever happens, happens. I am not going to go over there and put a bunch of pressure on myself.”
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