After turnaround, Gillis playing with confidence

In every life there comes a low point.

For Tom Gillis it came when he was 39-years-old.

After years of struggling on the main tour, the European Tour and the Nationwide Tour, Gillis went back home to Michigan a few years ago to contemplate his future.

"I sat around there for three months in the winter and didn't know if I would have the commitment level to come back and have no status and start out on the mini-tours," Gillis, 42, said. "I thought, 'Man, I don't know if I can do this with one kid and one on the way.'

"I think the snow and three months in the cold weather, I found this isn't so bad. So I got the commitment level and moved to Florida full-time."

And the rebuilding project began, slowly and steadily, and last week his out-of-the-blue T-5 finish in the Deutsche Bank Championship punched his ticket to Cog Hill and the BMW Championship.

"Well maybe last week was (the turning point)," Gillis said. "Maybe I'll say down the road that this is really what gave me confidence."

And boy does he have it now. In fact, he's had it since the start of the 2010 season.

"To be quite honest with you, I would say I'm disappointed right now," he said. "I would have thought I'd have more chances to win."

He thinks he's got a chance this weekend, and if not a win, a solid finish would be just fine.

"Hopefully I get in that top 30 because I'd really like to plan my schedule out for next year," he said with a smile. "That would be a lot of fun."