Tom Gillis practically vanished off the face of the earth after falling to Jordan Spieth in a tightly-contested playoff at the 2015 John Deere Classic
Tom Gillis fell to Jordan Spieth at the 2015 John Deere Classic(Image: Getty Images)
Tom Gillis and Jordan Spieth followed two vastly different career trajectories following their tightly-contested battle at the 2015 John Deere Classic.
Last month, Spieth was forced to withdraw mid-tournament for the first time in his 297 career PGA Tour starts upon aggravating his levator scapulae muscle during the opening round of the Travelers Championship.
After walking off the course at TPC River Highlands, Spieth issued a sincere apology to his playing partner, Luke Clanton. The 31-year-old was notably absent from the Rocket Classic one week later, and is also not making the upcoming trip to TPC Deere Run — the site of his maiden PGA Tour title victory.
Back in 2015, Spieth narrowly fended off Gillis in a thrilling playoff at the John Deere Classic — marking his fifth title in the span of two years and second victory at TPC Deere Run.
Gillis, who’s 15 years older than Spieth, was still in search of his first win on the PGA Tour. At age 47, he would’ve become the oldest first-time winner on Tour in 20 years — though saw his title hopes ruthlessly crushed upon sinking his approach shot into a hazard.
Due to the gut-wrenching defeat, Gillis was unable to secure a much-needed two-year exemption and eventually faded off into irrelevancy.
Given Spieth’s role in Gillis’ downfall, fellow players on the PGA Tour couldn’t help but poke fun at the Dallas, Texas native. “There’s a funny story a handful of years ago. Jordan Spieth was in a playoff with Tom Gillis, who doesn’t play professionally anymore,” Justin Thomas said while making an appearance on ‘Pardon My Take.’
“And Jordan beat Tom in a playoff, and for the whole year, Jason Duffner was grilling Jordan. He’s, like, ‘Man, you just ruined Tom Gillis’s career. He would have had a two-year exemption.
Tom Gillis and Jordan Spieth followed very different career paths after their clash at TPC Deere Run(Image: Getty Images)
“‘He would have been Mali Kapulua. He would have taken his family there. They would have been swimming with the Dolphins at the Tournament Champions, but you had to beat him in a playoff and ruin his life.’”
Though Gillis ultimately didn’t get the end result that he would’ve liked, the 56-year-old still looks back fondly on his experience at 2015 John Deere Classic. “The most fun I’d say, being in a playoff with Jordan Spieth, who is probably playing better than anybody in the world right now. I think that was really exciting,” he told the Detroit Free Press in July 2015.
“I take the confidence away from the tournament itself, how well I played for the four days there. Getting back into contention and hanging in there, playing well during it.”
While Gillis acknowledged it was always a “big dream of mine” to win on the PGA Tour, he asserted that a runner-up finish was still sweet.
“It’s a big dream of mine to win on the PGA Tour. I’ve been trying to do it for eight years,” he explained. “That was my third week on the road and I think I would have just enjoyed it (the win) back home on the lake, in Lake Orion, with the family and just take it all in.
“It would be a big high, and it was still a big high finishing runner up.”
