Michael Gligic knows that most golfers on the PGA Tour would say their goals are to keep their cards and win tournaments. He wants that too, of course, but he doesn’t typically make results-oriented goals for himself.
Instead, he focuses on just getting better every day.
“I just see it as a long journey,” said Gligic on Wednesday. “I’m just trying to get better each day and if I just keep doing that, then I think everything else will kind of take care of itself.
“I’m just kind of along for the ride and hoping that I can improve each and every day and be satisfied when I go to bed at night that I did everything I could that day to try and get better.”
Gligic, from Burlington, Ont., has been playing steady golf at the PGA Tour’s last two events. He tied for 36th at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on April 24, then fired a 4-under 67 on Sunday to tie for 24th at the Mexico Open, a season-best performance. Those two solid finishes have moved him up to 189th on the FedExCup standings.
“I think I’ve been playing pretty good for a while now and just haven’t really got the results to back it up,” said Gligic, the only one of five Canadians in the Mexico Open’s field to make the cut. “Hopefully, it’s a sign of things to come.”
Next up for Gligic is the Wells Fargo Championship at TPC Pomotac at Avenel Farm. He’ll tee off on Thursday afternoon in a group with Americans Bo Hoag and Gregory Odom Jr.
“I’m almost surprised they don’t play here more often,” said Gligic after playing a practice round at TPC Potomac. “There’ll be a good challenge this week. It’s pretty tough. So scores won’t be crazy low, like most weeks. It’ll be nice to have a good test.”
Gligic will be joined by six other Canadians in Maryland, with Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Toronto’s Drew Nesbitt, who qualified for the tournament on Monday, also in the field.
It’s Nesbitt’s first PGA Tour event in nearly two years, having last played at the Mayakoba Golf Classic in December 2020. He said that he has learned a lot as a person and as a golfer since then.
“I’ll just try to execute as best I can, you know?” said Nesbitt. “This is not something to be afraid of, or scared of, it’s just golf.
“They can’t hurt me. It’s not like I’m going into a boxing ring or anything like that, right? So I’m just gonna go out there and execute what I know I can and we’ll add them up at the end of the week.”
KORN FERRY TOUR — Toronto’s Albin Choi is 82nd on the Korn Ferry Tour’s rankings after tying for 31st at the Huntsville Championship. He’ll lead the Canadian contingent into this week’s Simmons Bank Open for the Snedeker Foundation. Vancouver’s Stuart Macdonald and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., will join Choi at the event in College Grove, Tenn.
CHAMPIONS TOUR — Vancouver’s Stephen Ames is the lone Canadian at this week’s Mitsubishi Electric Classic, which will be contested on The Pines and The Meadows courses at TPC Sugarloaf in Duluth, Ga. Ames is sixth on the Charles Schwab Money List with $384,605 in earnings, $671,356 behind New Zealand’s Steven Alker.
PGA TOUR LATINOAMERICA — Myles Creighton of Digby, N.S., is the highest ranked Canadian on the Totalplay Cup standings, sitting 37th after tying for 19th at the Diners Club Peru Open. He’ll be in the field at this week’s Quito Open at the Quito Tenis y Golf Club in Ecuador. He’ll be joined by Toronto’s Matt Kang, Étienne Papineau of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., Ziggy Nathu of Richmond, B.C., Henry Lee of Coquitlam, B.C., and Noah Steele of Kingston, Ont.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 3, 2022.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press