On Grand Strand Golf: Gillis hoping runner-up is a precursor to more success

A playoff loss to Jordan Spieth on Sunday in the John Deere Classic kept Tom Gillis from earning the spoils that come with a PGA Tour victory. Luckily for Gillis, there are multiple consolation prizes for finishing second.

The Coastal Carolina alumnus, who played at CCU in 1990 shortly before turning pro, missed out on the two-year tour exemption for winners, which would have taken him through the 2016-17 season and nearly to his 50^th birthday, when he’ll be eligible to compete on the Champions Tour.

But the runner-up finish earned Gillis $507,600 and 300 FedExCup points, which move him up to 122nd in both 2014-15 earnings with $616,409 and FedExCup points with 384.

The top 125 in points will qualify for the first of four playoff events – the $8.25 million Barclays from Aug. 27-30 – and there is another cut to the second playoff event at the top 100. The points and earnings provide a much-needed boost to Gillis’ season.

He turns 47 Thursday, and was attempting to become the oldest first-time winner on the PGA Tour in 20 years. Last week’s start was his 172^nd on tour.

“When you're going to be 47, the window is closing, you know, so anytime you get into a playoff or you could have avoided the playoff maybe late in the round, you think about it,” Gillis said Sunday in a post-tournament press conference. “… You start to get to the point where you wonder how much more is there? But what I saw today and the last three days, I would have to say maybe I still think I’ve got some time left. Overall I'm pleased really. I saw some things that I hadn't seen in a while.”

As the top John Deere top-five finisher who wasn’t already qualified for the British Open, Gillis also earned a spot this week in the season’s third major at St. Andrews and caught a flight Sunday night. Prior to the John Deere, Gillis was convinced he wasn’t going to make the trip even if he managed to grab the spot, and he didn’t pack adequately for an immediate overseas flight from Silvis, Ill.

“I think I was just talking big,” joked Gillis, who spent several years playing in Europe and several other parts of the world before earning his PGA Tour privileges. “But I spent five years over there, and went back and forth. … So I kept saying all week that I'm past that chapter in my life. I wouldn't go if I got that spot. Then I find myself looking at that board thinking, ‘Man, I wouldn't mind getting that spot.’ So I don't have any sweaters, I have nothing. I have a passport, but that's it.”

He didn’t think a trip to St. Andrews would even be a consideration. “I haven't shown a whole lot of form,” he said.

If he can carry the momentum from his final-round 64 Sunday into Thursday’s opening round, another healthy pay day could await, as the British Open purse is $6.3 million pounds, the equivalent of about $9.7 million U.S. dollars.

“The next couple days I'm going to be pretty tired, just the whole up and down and the flight and the lag, and I haven't dealt with jet lag in a while,” Gillis said. “But it's very exciting overall. It's the home of golf. Every time you walk up that first tee, it's emotional. I've never been like that anywhere else. I've never been to Augusta. But when I walk off the first tee at St. Andrews, it's very euphoric.”

Gillis has played St. Andrews numerous times, most recently in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship a few years ago. He has played in two previous British Opens.

Gillis was 8 under through 15 holes Sunday and 21 under for the tournament before making a bogey on the 16^th when his approach shot flew the green. Spieth birdied four of his final six holes to force the playoff at 20 under, and Gillis attempted a risky approach around a tree from rough on the second playoff hole and it found water.

“I think when you're playing No. 2 in the world or a top player like that, you can't keep giving them opportunities, you know,” Gillis said, “so I tried to force it, and I'd do the same thing again in a playoff. I wouldn't do that in regular play.”

It was a generational battle in the playoff, as the 21-year-old Spieth won for the fourth time since mid-March. Gillis has a 9-year-old son, Trevor, and 7-year-old daughter, Aubrey, and he wasn’t sure if he had the full support of his daughter in the playoff.

“My daughter has a crush on Jordan Spieth,” said Gillis, who two years ago was voted the funniest PGA Tour member by his peers in an anonymous Golf.com poll. “I wasn't sure during the playoff whether she was pulling for me or Jordan.”

If Aubrey was rooting for Spieth, she wasn’t alone, as he was clearly the fan favorite in the playoff. “Our sport is so different in that way that, you know, they identify with the favorite, and that's just the way it is,” Gillis said. “If it was Tiger, they'd be doing the same thing. You need to break the ice and become a household name before they're really, really on your side. But I understand that.

“… When I'm standing there watching him putt in the playoffs, I'm like, this is a moment you need to think about and remember the rest of your life because the kid's that good. It was kind of neat. I'm like, ‘This is the future of the game.’”

Gillis, whose only other PGA Tour runner-up came at the 2012 Honda Classic behind winner Rory McIlroy, has led a nomadic tour life.

The Michigan native and resident was unsuccessful in his first 13 attempts at the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, then qualified for the tour through Q-School after playing five years overseas, predominantly in Europe.

He has been a PGA Tour member in seven years, including four straight from 2010-13, and played his way back onto the PGA Tour last year through the Web.com Tour playoffs.

Gillis had surgery on Nov. 14 to remove a couple bone spurs from his shoulder, and decided after his third consecutive missed cut at the Farmers Insurance Open in early February to give his shoulder additional rest and the break lasted 3 1/2 months. He’s also had to pick and choose tournaments because he hasn’t been eligible for several events because of his limited exempt status.

Gillis had a pair of top-30 finishes in his first three starts this season before the turn of the calendar, but in 2015 he had missed five of eight cuts without a top-50 finish. The final couple months of the season now have more promise.

”Everything is gravy from here on out for me because it's been a lot of peaks and valleys since 1990,” Gillis said.

McGirt making appearance

Grand Strand residents can take in a day with a PGA Tour member on Thursday with a short drive to Fairmont Golf Club in Fairmont, N.C., which is about 70 miles from Myrtle Beach.

Spartanburg resident William McGirt grew up playing on the semi-private course and still has relatives living there. His appearance will begin at 6 p.m. with a one-hour Q&A session and informal clinic, and he’s scheduled to play a few holes while miked.

The outing is free and open to the public.

McGirt plays Srixon and Cleveland equipment and company representatives will be at the course for a Demo Day beginning at 4 p.m. Course owner Tony Mackey said invitations have been sent to numerous chapters of The First Tee youth development organization in surrounding areas.

“I think it will be an interesting afternoon,” Mackey said. “We’re kind of proud of him. A lot of people don’t realize how tough it is to make it out there and make a good living.”

McGirt, 36, who graduated in 2001 from Wofford, has a pair of runner-up finishes in five seasons on the PGA Tour and has earned more than $700,000 this year with five top-25s in 24 events.

Sessions hosting tourney

NBA player and Myrtle Beach High graduate Ramon Sessions is hosting his fourth annual charity golf tournament Saturday morning at River Oaks Golf Club that will benefit athletic programs at his alma mater through his foundation.

The four-player team captain’s choice event has male, female and mixed divisions. An entry fee of $50 per player includes breakfast, lunch, beverages, a gift bag, door prizes and awards to the top three teams and skills contest winners. Interested players can contact Ann Sessions at 843-467-7146 or Danny Gray at 843-685-5071 or 843-236-2222.

DC&P registration

Juniors ages 6-15 have until 5 p.m. Thursday to sign up for the 2015-16 Drive Chip & Putt local qualifier at Legends Resort next Tuesday. Participants can register at www.DriveChipandPutt.com.

There are 255 open local qualifying locations in all 50 states from May-August. The free competition is supported by the Masters Tournament, United States Golf Association and PGA of America.

Participants will compete in separate gender divisions in four age categories and must be between the ages of 7 and 15 on April 3, 2016, when the national finals will be held at Augusta National Golf Club on the eve of Masters week and broadcast live by Golf Channel.

The top three performers in each division at Legends will advance to a Sub-Regional on Aug. 29 at Fort Jackson Golf Club outside Columbia, and the top two finishers in each division there advance to a Regional at Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., on Sept. 20. Regional division winners advance to the finals, which will feature 40 boys and 40 girls.

Junior opportunities

Junior golf organizations on the Grand Strand have several affordable week-long camp opportunities this summer.

The Myrtle Beach Junior Golf Foundation has camps at River Oaks Golf Club, including one that began Monday. The camps are from 9-11 a.m. Monday through Thursday and are $80. The first camp in late June attracted 33 kids. Interested players can call Russ Brown at 843-450-9034.

The First Tee of Brunswick County has four-day summer camps that feature golf, nine core values and life skills instruction for children ages 7-17. They run Tuesday through Friday from 8:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m., and there is one this week.

The cost is $25 for Brunswick County residents and $35 for non-county residents. There is one more camp in July and two in August.

The First Tee-affiliated Carolinas Leadership Academy in Shallotte, N.C., has five-day, four-night camps for teenagers ages 14-17 throughout the summer at a cost of $100.

The week includes boarding at the academy, three meals per day and seven hours of daily activities that may include golf lessons, leadership skills, volleyball, basketball and excursions including a beach trip.

No golf experience is required and equipment is supplied if necessary at both the First Tee camp and Leadership Academy. Call 910-754-5288 or visit http://www.thefirstteebrunswickcounty.org for more information on either.

“We just want the kids to come,” said First Tee of BC program & academy director Terry Mauney, a former PGA Tour member who oversees the lesson plans. “It’s very unique in the junior golf camps and academies where we’re teaching the leadership skills. They can take that framework for action back into their communities to be leaders not followers and golf is the vehicle for that.”

This story was originally published July 13, 2015 at 9:45 PM with the headline "On Grand Strand Golf: Gillis hoping runner-up is a precursor to more success."