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TSN Senior Reporter

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For Michael Gligic, getting a second helping of the PGA Tour is proving to be very appetizing.

While recent results might not show it, Gligic is feeling much more comfortable playing the top tour in golf. More than anything, he’s glad to have a second spin after last season was cut short due to the pandemic.

“It was tough originally for everybody,” he said this week from his home in Florida where he was on a week off from the tour. “As a rookie, you’re not getting into the premium events and when you do get in to a tournament, a lot are opposite-field events without as many points. And then you’re watching events get cancelled week after week. It got to the point where it was unfair.”

The PGA Tour agreed and rolled exemptions over into the next season, giving players such as Gligic, who graduated from the Korn Ferry Tour after the 2019 campaign, another shot at retaining their PGA Tour status.

That also provided a huge benefit first-timers don’t normally get – a second look at the courses. One of the biggest disadvantages for rookies is often trying to prepare on a layout they’ve only seen once or twice before the first competitive round. Compare that to an experienced golfer who may have more than 100 rounds on some tracks and it’s easy to understand why so few first-timers keep their status.

“It’s definitely different,” said Gligic. “David [Markle, his caddie] and I don’t have to put in as much work trying to put together a game plan for the course because we already have notes all marked up in the yardage book. It’s so much easier.”

It also allows them to focus on trying to tackle the difficult courses and set-ups on the PGA Tour. Gligic said the difficulty of places like Torrey Pines is significantly higher than courses he played as a member of the Korn Ferry Tour or the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada.

“Torrey Pines was playing about 7,700 yards, with narrow fairways and super-long rough,” he said. “I consider myself to be above average in distance and I was hitting driver-three iron into one hole, into the wind.”

The 31-year-old from Burlington, Ont., has struggled of late, missing the cut in five consecutive tournaments. Two came at the end of last year and three after the Christmas break.

“My game is a lot better than the scores are showing,” he stated. “I think maybe I’m not up to speed after spending a month in Canada [at Christmas]. I’m not worried. It’s just been a weird couple of weeks.”

Gligic missed cuts at the Sony Open, the American Express and the Farmers Insurance Open, racking up a total of 18 over par over the three events.

He predicted brighter days are ahead and has put in lots of work with his team of coaches. That team consists of Sean Foley, with whom he’s worked since he was 12; Foley disciple Ryan Corbin; and short-game coach Gareth Raflewski.

Gligic has worked virtually with Raflewski, who is based in London, Ont., over the past few months by utilizing FaceTime. Both admit isn’t ideal, but it’s all that’s available at the moment.

“Mike’s wedge game has come a long way,” said Raflewski, who has coached 75 PGA and LPGA tour professionals and currently teaches world No. 1 Jin Young Ko.

“He has all the shots, all the tools. When things are going well, he has the ability to do what very few players can and that’s put the foot down and make five, six, seven birdies. But it can also go the other way and he can have a tough time getting it back on track. We want to fix that.”

As a rookie, Raflewski said, there can be plenty of distractions on the PGA Tour compared to other circuits. That’s what the two are trying to eliminate by putting systems in place that will give Gligic confidence in his game when he tees off on Thursday.

The Canadian golfer will try to move things forward when he plays at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am next week.