Fun is not a word associated with q-school

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Tom Gillis, 40, has been going to q-school every year since 1990. Twice he's made it through the final stage.

Nobody has ever associated the word "fun" with PGA TOUR National Qualifying Touranment. So when Tom Gillis heard the reference, he didn't wait for the sentence to be completed. He started to laugh.

No, it's not fun.

"Q-school is just a different feeling," said Gillis, who returns to the final stage next week for the fourth time in his career.

"For me, my legs ache. That's my stress point. I never feel like that any other time throughout the year, not even when playing in majors. It's like that every day for two weeks."

Mind you, Gillis has had more success than most once he's reached the 108-hole final stage. He's 2-for-3 and on each occasion -- in 2002 and 2004 -- he earned his TOUR card when q-school was held at PGA West in La Quinta, Calif., where the final stage will be played once again this year.

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"I love it there," Gillis said. "That stadium course is really difficult. There is a serious choke factor there. You are pushed to the highest level, and that's how it should be. There is a lot of trouble lurking. It's a wonderful test."

The golfers will tell you that the hard part is getting to the final stage. That's the case with Gillis, who has been trying every year since 1990 with only a couple of exceptions when he was embedded on the European Tour.

Gillis, 40, is a Michigan native whose best year on the TOUR was 2003 when he won $432,100. Back then, that was mighty close to earning playing privilege the following year. Today, it wouldn't even get you in the top 165.

Gillis made his mark on the European Tour from 1998-2002. He was the only American regular in Europe during that span. At the end of 2002, he earned his way to the TOUR through q-school. His career has been interrupted with medical issues but he still managed five career top 10s in Europe with a T3 at the 2000 Belgacom Open his best.

Gillis is at a point in his career where golf is no longersomething he can't get his arms around. He knows his game and, more importantly, he knows himself. Gillis, with a wife and two small children, ages 3 years and 10 months, is in a good place. He plays golf now because he wants to and because he knows he can. If that sounds like he's distancing himself from the reality, that's not the case at all.

The reality has never been clearer for Gillis. For the last two years, he's had no status. For some, that's a lethal injection of hopelessness, especially at his age. For Gillis, it was a challenge.

"I keep getting better," Gillis said. "Plus, I have a tremendous passion for the game like most of us.

"In '06, I lost all status. I was at rock bottom and about ready to quit. I had to sit around a few months and decide what I was going to do. I decided to sacrifice and do what I needed to do to get better. That's what I wanted to do. It's a real challenge when you don't have any status. You claw back."

Gillis found a place to live in Florida and went to work. He mapped out a game plan for his efforts on and off the course. He went to work in earnest on his mind-set and confidence level.

Gillis has had a decent '08 campaign for somebody in his category. He returned home to win the Michigan Open for the second time in his career and returned to Europe to make the cut and finish T58 at the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

"Of my opportunities on the TOUR and Nationwide, 80 percent have been successful," Gillis said. "There have only been a few when I didn't make the cut. When you see those kinds of results, you know you're getting better."

In nine events on the Nationwide Tour this year, he made the cut six times. His worst finish was a T18 at the Miccosukee Championship and the best a T10 in April at Livermore Valley. He made the cut in two of three TOUR events. Ironically, the one he missed was at the Buick Open in his home state.

Gillis passed the second stage of q-school at Hombre Golf Club in Panama City. It was a seminal moment.

"I had never been successful coming out of (Hombre)," he said. "I played there in the mid-90s, just before I went to Europe and got my card. I wanted to go back (to Hombre). I wanted to see how much better I am."

Gillis tied for sixth with rounds of 65-68-70-73--276, 8-under-par.

That's how much better he is.

"Every part of my game is better," Gillis said. "Tee-to-green and I have more confidence. I wish I had this much confidence when I was 30. But it's an ongoing process."

The process will continue for Gillis and the others at PGA West.

"It's a battle within," Gillis said of the final stage. "It's not about the golf course, it's not about other players. Everybody has game.

"It's about a quiet inner self. Who can trust and have faith in their abilities? That's very hard when you're so emotionally attached to something. Trying to separate that is a real challenge."

But is it fun?

Gillis won't use that word. No sense in tempting fate. But there is no question he is enjoying what he's doing more than he ever has. Call that what you will.

Swing thoughts

Somebody needs to familiarize Ian Poulter with the concept of carrying a few extra clubs when he travels.

After traveling thousands of miles, the Englishman withdrew from the Shanghai stop on the European Tour when his driver went missing. Next time, maybe he should add an extra driver and putter to his traveling set.

Still, it's hard to believe he couldn't have played a round of golf with a 3-wood, especially on a tight golf course, until a back-up driver arrived. It's not a good start to Poulter's season, just as it hasn't been a good start at all for his favorite team, Arsenal.

Vartan Kupelian is a freelance columnist for PGATOUR.COM. His views do not necessarily represent the views of the PGA TOUR.