Tour pro throws putter into lake at Q-School in viral incident

Tensions are high this week at the Final Stage of PGA Tour Q-School. Host sites Sawgrass CC and the Dye Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass are the battlefields as pros fight to earn PGA Tour cards for 2026.

With each successive round, the pressure on competitors continued to build with their careers on the line. For one pro, Ryan McCormick, the pressure appeared to be too much.

After a missed putt to end his second round on Friday, McCormick threw his putter into a greenside lake. The incident was caught on camera and quickly went viral after being posted on X.com by Monday Q Info.

Ryan McCormick tosses putter in lake at Q-School

Heading into this week’s event at TPC Sawgrass, McCormick was hoping to earn his way back to the PGA Tour. At the very least, he could secure full status on the Korn Ferry Tour for 2026.

McCormick, 34, is a New Jersey native and played well enough on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2023 to earn his PGA Tour card for the 2024 season. But his stint in the big leagues was a brief one.

In 25 PGA Tour events in 2024, he missed 15 cuts and only earned one top 10, finishing 169th in the FedEx Cup standings and forcing a return to the Korn Ferry Tour for 2025.

Though he qualified for the 2025 U.S. Open at Oakmont, where he made the cut, McCormick’s struggles continued on the KFT. He finished 91st in the season standings this season.

As a result, he entered Q-School with only conditional status for 2026. Obviously, a top-5 finish this week would see McCormick reclaim his PGA Tour card. But a top-40 finish would also give him full KFT eligibility for next season.

In the first round of the Q-School finale, McCormick fired a three-under 67 at the Dye Valley Course to get off to a solid start.

But things went sideways in the second round. Playing Sawgrass Country Club, McCormick made bogeys at 3, 8, 13 and 14 to fall to over par for the tournament. He got one shot back with a birdie at the par-4 17th hole.

Then came the 18th. It was there, at Sawgrass CC’s closing par-4, that McCormick sent his putter to the bottom of the lake, as confirmed by tournament officials.

McCormick’s tee shot at 18 found the rough and he was unable to reach the green in regulation. But a solid third shot left him with a short putt to save par.

As his par try burned the left edge of the cup, McCormick let out a frustrated sigh. As the video shared by Monday Q Info shows, he proceeded to calmly walk around the hole and tap in his second putt for a bogey.

Then, after removing his ball from the hole and examining the cup closely, McCormick turned around and under-hand tossed his putter into the greenside lake and continued walking off the green.

He eventually signed for a four-over 74, and things turned around when McCormick returned to the Dye Valley Course on Saturday, where he shot a third-round 69.

But Sawgrass CC again proved the perfect foil for McCormick in Sunday’s final round. He made double bogeys at the second and 10th holes to shoot a six-over 76 and fall well out of contention.

McCormick’s on-course anger led him to tape mouth shut

This is not the first angry incident McCormick has experienced on the course during his pro career. Continued problems with frustration previously led the pro to try an extreme solution.

Earlier this year at the Korn Ferry Tour’s Club Car Championship, McCormick played the entire second round with his mouth taped shut.

In an interview, he explained his tape strategy was an attempt to stop his angry outbursts on the course.

“At this point, I’ve tried about everything. I’ve read a lot of books. I’ve talked to people. Just too angry on the golf course. So I have run out of ideas,” McCormick said at the time. “I was hoping maybe it would help me. I can’t say that it did or didn’t.”

He added, “I’m having a tough time, and that was my solution today.”

Following his disappointing Q-School finish, McCormick will head back to the Korn Ferry Tour in 2026 with conditional status.

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