Miller, Okamoto Have Chance to Win $1-Million Bonus

The chances of an LPGA player collecting a $1-million bonus in the $200,000 J&B; Scotch Pro-Am at the Desert Inn Country Club have doubled.

Alice Miller, recent Nabisco Dinah Shore winner, and Ayako Okamoto, 1984 J&B; champion, both will have that opportunity this week, but only one can succeed.

Miller, currently the hottest player on the Ladies Professional Golf Assn. tour and leading money winner with $131,625 after nine tournaments, could collect for winning the Dinah Shore and J&B; in the same year.

Okamoto could take home to Japan about 250-million yen for winning the Las Vegas event back-to-back.

Miller, 28, and now in her eighth year on the women’s tour, has frequently been in contention, with four top-five finishes. The Dinah Shore win was her first major and fourth career victory.

In addition to her strong golf game, Okamoto, perhaps Japan’s greatest player ever, has tradition going for her. The reign of a J&B; champion has been two years. Donna Caponi ruled in 1980-81 and Nancy Lopez in 1982-83.

Last year, Okamoto rolled over a stellar field with a tournament record 14-under-par 275 and shattered Lopez’s previous mark by four strokes.

One hundred pros and 300 amateurs and celebrities will alternate playing the Desert Inn and Las Vegas Country Club courses Thursday and Friday. A reduced field of the 70 low scores and ties will play the final two rounds on the Desert Inn course.

Okamoto, 34, at 5-5 and 138 pounds derives some of her power from being a natural lefty and playing golf as a right-hander.

In fact, she was an outstanding softball pitcher and hitter in Japan as a lefty, but when she discovered there was more money available in golf, she switched sports. Only right-handed clubs were available then, so she played from that side.

Okamoto had an outstanding 1984 season, also winning the Mayflower tournament and the Women’s British Open. She was second three times and 13 times she placed in the top 10. She was the third highest money winner with $251,108.

In 1985, she almost won for a sixth time in the United States, but Hollis Stacy sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the last hole to beat Okamoto by a stroke for the Mazda championship in Florida. She finished fifth in the Circle K Tucson event and is 14th on the money list with $37,900.

Will the million-dollar contenders be nervous? Through an interpreter, Okamoto said, “If I begin to come close, I’ll start shaking.”

The candid Miller said, “I’m always nervous. I never get to the point where I’m not nervous. I just have to block out the nervousness and tension.”

Do they think they can win? “I’ve done very well on the Las Vegas courses,” said Miller (third in 1983 and sixth in 1984). “I’m playing reasonably well, so I’ve got as good a chance as anybody. If I putt well, anything can happen.”

Okamoto, who was seventh here in 1982 and 11th in 1983, didn’t need an interpreter when asked whether she could win. “She flashed a big smile and answered, “Yes.”