Pro Tour throws pretty into lake at Q-School in viral incident

Tensions are high this week The final stage of the PGA Tour Q-School. The host venues Sawgrass CC and the Dye Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass are the battlegrounds as the pros battle to earn PGA Tour cards for 2026.

With each successive round, the pressure on the competitors continued to build with their careers on the line. For a professional, Ryan McCormickthe pressure seemed to be too great.

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

Ryan McCormick throws pretty into the lake at Q-School

Going into this week’s event at TPC Sawgrass, McCormick was hoping to earn his way back into 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 stay in the big leagues was short-lived.

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

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

As a result, he entered Q-School only with conditional status for 2026. Obviously, one A top-5 finish this week would see McCormick regain 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 finals, McCormick shot a three-under 67 on the Dye Valley course to get off to a strong start.

But things went sideways in the second round. Playing Sawgrass Country Club, McCormick bogeyed 3, 8, 13 and 14 to fall under par for the tournament. He got a birdie on the par-4 17th hole.

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

McCormick’s tee shot at 18 was rough and he was unable to reach the green in regulation. But a strong third putt left him one shot short of saving value.

As his first attempt burned the left edge of the cup, McCormick let out a frustrated sigh. like video shared by Monday Q Info points, he continued to calmly walk around the hole and tapped in his second putt for a bogey.

Then, after removing the ball from the hole and examining the cup closely, McCormick turned and hand-tossed his ball into the lake at the edge of the green and continued to walk 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 69 in the third round.

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

McCormick’s regular temper tantrums caused him to tape his mouth shut

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

Earlier this year in the Korn Ferry Tour McCormick Club Car Championship played the entire second round with his mouth shut.

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

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

He added: “I’m going through a difficult time and this was my solution today.”

After his disappointing Q-School finish, McCormick will return to the Korn Ferry Tour in 2026 on conditional status.

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