Miles Discovers Road Back to PGA Tour Is Rough One

As with most players who have had a taste of golf’s highest competitive level, Huntington Beach professional Mike Miles would like to go back for seconds, or in his case thirds.

Miles spent two difficult years on the PGA Tour, 1986 and ‘89, and since then, with one notable break, he has been struggling to return.

“If you play golf professionally,” Miles said, “the tour is really the only place to be.”

It can be a tough place to reach--and stay--as Miles will tell you. “On the tour, it’s not hard to look like you are doing terrible even if you aren’t,” he said. “In 1989, if I would have averaged one stroke better, I would have made $450,000 and instead I lost my card.

“It’s a really fine line.”

But it’s one Miles believes he can cross over this time. Today and Saturday, he will tee off at the Taco Bell Newport Classic Pro-Am at Newport Beach Country Club against a host of professionals with similar aspirations.

The tournament is basically a pit stop for Miles, who is playing on the Asian Tour for the first three months of 1996. He flew into town Sunday from Malaysia and has a flight Saturday night to Manila.

Miles, 34, who is playing in his ninth Newport Classic, says the tournament is a good time to visit friends and play a nice course. It also offers a $16,000 check for the winner, which is a tidy sum for a two-day tournament.

Usually, he said, he isn’t playing very well at this time of year, but because of his preparations for the Asian Tour, he likes his chances.

“I think I’m going to do a lot better this year,” said Miles, who plays out of Santa Ana Country Club. “But you never know.”

Miles couldn’t have known what a tough road lay ahead of him after starring at Long Beach State from 1980 to 1984. A Cypress High graduate and an All-American for the 49ers, Miles received his first PGA card at 23. “I was young and talented, but I got my butt kicked like 99% of the young guys do,” he said.

Upon returning to the tour in 1989, Miles did better, averaging 72 strokes per round, but that was only good enough for about 170th on the money list, meaning he got bounced again.

After four years on the Ben Hogan/Nike tour, Miles decided he needed a break. His game wasn’t improving and neither were his results. “I knew when I was teeing off that I had no chance of winning,” Miles said, “and you can’t play that way.”

After putting the clubs away in 1994, he came back strong last year and playing mostly local mini-tour events, earned about $60,000. He was the second-leading money winner on the Golden State Tour and finished second at the Queen Mary Open in Long Beach.

But he struggled at PGA qualifying, missing the cut at the first stage. So now his path back to the tour leads through Asia--and Newport Beach. Miles said he returned to the States because “I brought too many clothes with me” and to recharge after three tough weeks of golf in Thailand and Malaysia. “I had something like 12 straight days of golf,” he said. “I was a little burned out. Now I’ll go back with a fresh attitude.”

His 12-hour flight to the Philippines is scheduled to leave LAX at 9:30 Saturday night. Because it’s an international flight, he’s supposed to be at the airport by 7:30, but there’s a chance he will be delayed at the golf course.

“That would be the worst-case scenario--that I had won the tournament and had to talk to people,” Miles said. “So I really wouldn’t mind if I had to miss the plane.”

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Newport Beach Tournament

Here’s a look at the Taco Bell Newport Classic Pro-Am Golf Tournament:

* When: Today and Saturday, 7 a.m. to about 4 p.m.

* Where: Newport Beach Country Club, 1600 East Pacific Coast Highway.

* Admission: Free.

* Background: Tournament, in its 22nd year, includes players from the PGA, LPGA and Nike tours playing for a purse of $80,000. First place is worth $16,000. Professionals are paired with amateurs. The tournament raises funds for Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach.