The Victorian’s play in recent times, and the hard work of his manager, are to thank for these opportunities, but Micheluzzi’s chances on the biggest stage are to be considered a massive boost for what the PGA Tour of Australasia are trying to achieve.

“Pathways” is the term that has been repeated so often by the Australian circuit in the post COVID era, the partnership with the DP World Tour offering three cards via the Order of Merit and a spot at The Open to the winner, the key ingredients.

There are also spots at final stage of qualifying for the Korn Ferry Tour, and having committed himself to playing at home to earn his spot overseas, Micheluzzi should be considered something of a poster child for what Aussie players can achieve.

The DP World Tour of course is in a strategic alliance with the PGA Tour, and a soon to be member with three wins on his home circuit inside 12 months, plus an Order of Merit win, surely did no harm in earning his next fortnight of starts.

“I think it's really cool to see what the PGA of Australia has done with the pathways now,” Micheluzzi said from Texas this morning.

“All credit to the guys and PGA of Australia and DP and PGA Tours for being able to give the PGA of Australia these pathways.” - David Micheluzzi.

“Then I think I was in a pretty fortunate boat where I've been with my manager just before I turned pro, and he's based in the States. He works with Sport Five, who manage Jon Rahm and Tom Kim and all these boys.

“I think having the success, he can now say, look, he's done this over here. Let's get him some starts.

“All credit to the guys and PGA of Australia and DP and PGA Tours for being able to give the PGA of Australia these pathways.”

Although he gracefully gave credit to his home circuit, and special mention should be made of Nick Dastey and Kim Felton for their stewardship of The Players Series concept that fills a significant part of the schedule, the credit mostly goes to Micheluzzi.

The former No.2 amateur in the world decided to exclusively focus on home this past summer, and was rewarded with a first win at the WA PGA, subsequently grabbing the TPS Sydney and NSW Open titles.

After a few years of learning the ropes of play-for-pay golf, Micheluzzi would have been forgiven for allowing negative thoughts to enter his mind over the journey. And especially when passing up chances to go to Tour schools around the world to fast track his progress.

“There was a little bit of doubt. I wouldn't say I was like, oh, I see all these guys going to Q-school and potentially going to get their card and all that,” he said.

“But in the back of my mind, they were missing events in Australia; I wasn't. It was like, oh, I'm going to miss it, but hang on, I've got events here, and I feel like over a season, I back myself more than just a week.

“I had that one-second doubt, and then it just went out of my mind, like no, this is the right decision. I feel like my game is in a great spot. You never know, I could have gone and won Q-school and I could be out there right now. But I think the way everything has played out, I think I made probably the best decision to stay back home and just play.”

It certainly looks that way as he prepares to tee it up at TPC Craig Ranch and Oak Hill over the next two weeks. Who knows, by the time his DP World Tour card becomes active at the Australian PGA later this year, Micheluzzi may have taken what he has learnt, and opportunities, from the Aussie Tour even further.

“It's my first PGA Tour event, so even if I miss the cut I don't think I'm going to be too down on myself,” Micheluzzi said. “But obviously I want to play as well as I can, and hopefully it's not one of the last PGA Tour events. Hopefully I can get many more in the future.”