News
Champions player, thinking he missed cut at Senior PGA, flew home, only to realize he made cut upon landing
Stan Badz
The only thing worse than missing the cut at a golf tournament? Finding out you made it some 350 miles from the tournament site.
That was the fate of one Tom Gillis this weekend. Through two rounds at the Senior PGA Championship at Oak Hill, Gillis was nine over par. The current projection for the cut line was six over, so the 50-year-old packed it up, headed to Rochester airport and flew home to Detroit.
But when Gillis arrived in Michigan, he discovered the cut had drastically moved, meaning he would get the chance to play on Saturday.
"I landed and saw it," Gillis told the Detroit News, "and said, 'Now what?'"
Gillis, who at first didn't want this story told publicly because he was understandably a bit embarrassed, was faced with two choices — get right back on the airplane and head back to Oak Hill and finish the tournament, or withdraw, stay home and enjoy his final Memorial Day weekend at his lakeside home in Lake Orion before moving with his wife and kids to Florida.
Gillis made the decision many of us would've made.
Lake, boat, beers — and family and friends.
"I wasn't going back," Gillis told The News on Sunday, as he enjoyed a holiday gathering with friends and family. "I chose family over golf.
"It was more about spending the weekend with family."
It's been a rough go for Gillis in 2019, as the PGA marks his third WD in six events. He also made plenty of news off the course by calling out Matt Kuchar for the caddie incident in Mayakoba. Of course, judging by his Twitter account...
...Gillis seems to be doing just fine.