Ryan McCormick perseveres through pitfalls, earns first PGA TOUR card

New Jersey native Ryan McCormick has traveled the globe in pursuit of a PGA TOUR card. He was bitterly close to his dream in 2021. He was bitterly close in 2022. Both times he fell short, so it wasn’t hyperbole when he described the final round of this year’s Korn Ferry Tour Championship presented by United Leasing & Finance – which he entered on the precipice of his card, but not yet secure – as “the most terrifying round of my life.”

McCormick arrived at the par-4 18th hole at Victoria National Golf Club – his ninth hole of the day, with water flanking the entire right side – and backed off his tee shot as a flock of birds flew across the sky. In that split second, he thought back to an appearance at Second Stage of DP World Tour Q-School, nearly a decade ago, when a shot deflected off a flock of birds and fell into the water. That week, he said, he fell one stroke short of advancing.

“That was a moment,” McCormick said afterward, “where I was like, ‘Not today, man.’”

McCormick, 31, hit a good tee shot and even though he chunked his approach into the water, leading to a double bogey, his performance was enough to ultimately cement his first TOUR card. He finished T41 for the week and ultimately No. 27 on the Korn Ferry Tour Points List, after beginning the week at No. 22 on the season-long standings. The top 30 on the Points List after the Korn Ferry Tour Championship earned 2024 PGA TOUR membership.

McCormick’s journey has featured years on mini-tours and competing overseas, time bouncing from couch to couch and essentially living out of his car during the COVID-19 pandemic hiatus. There were weird moments – like at this summer’s NV5 Invitational presented by Old National Bank, where he began the second round with an unintended ball and nearly violated the One Ball Rule, or the time he was forced to pay a $100 bribe to get into Bangladesh.

Never a highly ranked junior player, he has wondered at times if he could hang with the world’s best. He spent years pining for that extra edge – whether it be building video-game versions of Korn Ferry Tour courses to fine-tune his game plan, working with World Long Drive champion Justin James to gain distance, or even locking himself in his apartment – his words – to incentivize putting improvement.

As he stood on the 18th green in the gloaming Sunday evening at Victoria National, minutes after receiving his first TOUR card, the moment infused him. He beamed from ear to ear, the joy radiating from his eyes. It was worth it, after all.

“So many years of hard work, so many people that have helped me, so many things that have gone my way,” McCormick said. “A lot of luck … after a couple years of coming up just short at the end of the year, this is so worth it. To celebrate with my family and friends that are here today, and the people back in New Jersey and all over who have been watching on the app all year, it’s just so awesome. So relieved.

“One of the best days of my life.”

McCormick has long been smitten with the game; in certain ways, his life has built to this point. His dad Mark is a longtime golf professional at New Jersey’s Suburban Golf Club, who qualified for the 2012 U.S. Open and recently for this year’s U.S. Senior Open. The younger McCormick was a four-year golf team captain at Mater Dei High School, which led to a successful college career at St. John’s – culminating with BIG EAST Golfer of the Year honors in 2013-14.

He turned pro shortly after graduation, but success came on a gradual curve. He logged 240,000 air miles while playing the 2017 Asian Tour, after missing at Second Stage of Q-School the autumn prior, and he didn’t make his first Korn Ferry Tour cut until the 2018 Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club.

That week in Savannah, though, could be considered a breakthrough. He holed out for eagle on the 18th hole Friday en route to a T11 finish, a sign he could hang at this level. That finish got him into the North Mississippi Classic, where he played the third round with Max Homa, who struggled that day (as did McCormick) but the scrappy Northeasterner learned from Homa about maintaining composure in the face of struggle.

McCormick made intermittent Korn Ferry Tour starts from then until the 2020 Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass – the “Return to Golf” event after the three-month COVID-19 hiatus. Playing on conditional status, his diligence in honing his game across various TPC properties – in addition to work with Bernie Najar, the director of instruction at Caves Valley Golf Club – came in handy at the event’s Monday qualifier, as he carded 8-under 64 at Eagle Harbor Golf Club to earn a spot in the field at TPC Sawgrass’ Dye’s Valley course. McCormick finished T14 that week, followed by a T6 at the next week’s King & Bear Classic at World Golf Village. These results allowed him to improve his status in the reshuffle and play a full Korn Ferry Tour schedule for the first time.

Fast forward to the 2021 Korn Ferry Tour Finals (utilizing a previous format where 25 TOUR cards were awarded via a three-event Finals Points List), and McCormick entered the season finale at No. 28 on the Finals Points List, after finishes of T20-T45 in the first two Finals events. Then he tested positive for COVID and was unable to start the event. A TOUR card would have to wait.

Then in 2022, he stood No. 22 on the Regular Season Points List with two events remaining (25 TOUR cards available), but he concluded the Regular Season with back-to-back missed cuts and finished No. 28 on the standings. He didn’t make a cut in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. A TOUR card would have to wait.

The 2023 season, though, was different. McCormick started strong and didn’t let up. He began the season with six consecutive made cuts, including three top-25 finishes, then caught fire with a midsummer seven-event stretch that included five top-16 finishes. That stretch moved him from No. 38 to No. 19 on the Points List with just three events remaining.

This time, it was enough for a long-awaited and well-deserved PGA TOUR card.

“So many people who have supported me my whole life, who just have believed in me when I thought that I could do this thing, this crazy thing, and have never stopped believing in me when things have looked bad and things have looked bleak,” said McCormick, when asked what has kept him going through the ups and downs.

“Just had a feeling, and I was thankful that people believed in me and that they helped me along the way. Just continuing to chop away at this thing, and thankfully at the end of the day, it worked out.”

There’s a lot to McCormick’s story, and this story only scratches the surface. The good news though? His TOUR story is just beginning, and there’s plenty yet to unfold.