Golf: Wolverine on the march

A starry eyed seven-year old attended the 1985 U.S. Open at Oakland Hills.

"It was amazing," reminisced Michigan golfer Michael Harris. "Seeing the best players in the world up close and how good they were was really something. I remember watching Chi Chi Rodriguez give a clinic. Everything about it was incredible."

Little did the Troy native know that 15 years later he would qualify for the 2000 event at Pebble Beach. Although he missed the cut, it was an impressive place to make his pro debut.

Introduced to the game two years before Oakland Hills, the affable Harris remembers hacking it around the backyard and having highly competitive matches with his brothers at the local club. His parents would drop him off early in the morning and he would play 36 holes a day.

Still, it was not all golf growing up.

"Troy had a big soccer program so we were quite involved with that and I really enjoyed it," said Harris." I also played baseball but golf quickly became my focus. I like the fact that you're on your own and there is that quest for self-perfection. It's a game where you can constantly improve and there is a lot of camaraderie in it which I like."

The self-effacing Harris claims he didn't win any significant junior titles other than a couple of Michigan Junior titles. "I wasn't a nationally renowned player. I played events around Michigan and the Midwest but that was pretty much it until I went to Michigan."

His first year at the football powerhouse was on a partial scholarship and he earned full scholarship honors his sophomore season. His freshman campaign was a revelation. He remembers: "I was a good junior but it was a lot harder in college -- the competition was much better and I realized I needed lots of improvement if I was going to get anywhere. I developed a stronger inner drive and that helped me from then on."

His newfound resolve paid handsome dividends. Over his college career, he garnered 15 Top-five finishes, 16 Top-10 finishes, and 33 Top-20 finishes in 50 tournaments. As a Wolverine, Harris posted 20 rounds below 70, with a career-best round of 64, and had 58 rounds below 72. He also twice served as the Wolverines' captain. A two-time All-Big Ten First-Team award winner, Harris captured eight individual titles, including four his senior season. He was twice named to the All-Big Ten Tournament team, and he finished as co-medallist at the 1999 Big Ten Conference Tournament when inclement weather cancelled the playoff.

The summer of 1998 he won the prestigious Northeast Amateur title. The event boasts such past champions as Ben Crenshaw, John Cook (twice), Hal Sutton, and David Duval.

He recalls: "It's an invitational and I was one of the last guys to get in. The field was strong and included some guys that are on the PGA Tour now so it was a great win. My dad caddied for me that week which made it even better."

Yet, his drive wasn't limited to the links. A two-time National Golf Coaches Association Academic All-American Scholar, Harris earned four Academic All-Big Ten and University of Michigan Academic Achievement citations and graduated from the school's business program.

Following his pro debut at the U.S. Open, Harris played a number of regional tournaments and a Hooters Tour event in preparation for the demanding three stages of PGA Qualifying School. An important test was winning the Michigan PGA Tournament of Champions in the summer of 2000 and a fifth in the Michigan Open.

"The Tournament of Champions was a great way to start my career--I won $20,000 and the win gave me a lot of confidence," remarked Harris.

After sinking in the mire at Q-School in 2000 and his career in neutral, Harris headed for British Columbia and the Canadian Tour's 1981 Spring Qualifying School where he shot two under over five rounds and a playoff to earn full playing privileges for the remainder of the season. However, he made only four of eight cuts and finished 65th on the money list. That fall he failed to get past Q-School's second stage. Reluctantly he was headed back to Canada.

"Nowadays, the second stage has the most pressure," Harris noted insightfully. "If you get to the third stage you're guaranteed a spot on the Nationwide Tour. If you don't get there (final stage) you end up playing in Canada or elsewhere and the money is a lot less."

The 2002 Canadian Tour opened down south and Harris couldn't do anything right.

"The first three tournaments that year were a real low point," he remembers. "I missed three straight cuts and wondered what I was doing. I was frustrated and mad and everything else. Fortunately, I was traveling with my girlfriend who was also my caddy. She told me to think long term and to keep things in perspective -- that it was only a game."

The medicine worked and Harris started firing on all cylinders. The next week he opened with a sizzling 65 and a closing 66 earned him a decent 22nd place finish and an end to the slump. The remainder of the year Harris finished outside the top-twenty just three times while earning two seconds (one a playoff loss to Hank Kuehne) and a third.

His outstanding play leapfrogged him to seventh on the money list and a 70.40 scoring average. Asked if a pair of runner-up finishes was frustrating, Harris responded: "No, not really. Without taking away from anyone that wins, it takes a lot of luck to win in a given week. You have to play well and catch the breaks while the others don't. That's just the way it is."

Coughing up another $4,000, Michael Harris headed to his third PGA School in the fall of 2002. Once again, he breezed into the second stage before hitting the brick wall. An opening 77 set the tone for the week and Michael finished well back in the pack. It was back to Canada for 2003.

"Yeah, it was really frustrating last year, he said. "Hank Kuehne and others I had competed against were heading to the PGA Tour and here I was, heading to the Canadian Tour again."

Michael Harris has nothing against Canada, in fact, he speaks highly of his experience; but given a choice between playing for $150,000 Canadian or four million American, is it any wonder he was disappointed?

Ever the professional, Harris did the wise thing -- he took his frustration out on the golf course. He began the year with a win at the Beck's Open in Fort Myers. The event, a fixture since 1963, has an impressive list of champions including Lee Janzen, Nolan Henke, and Tommy Tolles -- all winners on the PGA Tour. His stellar play continued all season as he opened his Canadian Tour season with another pair of seconds, nine straight cuts made, and five top 10s in that span. Overall, he finished fifth on the money list.

The Troy native easily passed the first stage of 2003 Qualifying School and as he headed to Kingwood, Texas, for the next level, he may have been thinking of Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day." Would history repeat itself? A rain delay before the first tee shot was hit furthered his anxiety.

"I needed to make it through, otherwise it was back to Canada," he noted.

Once the skies cleared, Harris shot 69-71-70 to sit comfortably inside the number. Final round jitters contributed to a 76, It didn't matter--the cycle was over. He graduated to the final stage by two strokes -- one step away from the big show. While he fell short of his ultimate goal for 2004, he is now learning the ropes and teeing it up for $500,000 purses on the Nationwide Tour.

At 26, Michael Harris' game is just beginning to ripen. He has slowly but steadily climbed the ladder toward the PGA Tour. His experiences in Canada and at failed Q-School's will pay dividends in the end. Most important, he hasn't forgotten his roots.

"I'm very grateful for all my friends, family, and sponsors who have helped me play golf," says the appreciative young man. "It's all those people in Michigan that have made this all possible, I can't thank them enough."

Eventually the USGA will award another Open to historic Oakland Hills and Michael Harris will be there. However, don't look for him in the gallery staring at the pros going by. You'll find him in the middle of the fairway.