Former Amateur Champion Ryan Mccormick Ready For Asian Tour
The 25-year-old from Middletown, N.J., has literally come a long way since winning the New Jersey State Amateur Championship in 2012.
On Jan. 14, he earned a spot on the Asian Tour for 2017, the third highest-ranking tour in the sport behind the PGA Tour and European Tour, when he tied for 19th for the week at 16-under in the Final Stage of Asian Tour Qualifying School at Suvarnabhumi Golf & Country Club in Bangkok . The top 35 earned Asian Tour full-time status.
McCormick had performed steadily throughout his time in Thailand, registering just six bogeys over his eight rounds of play.
“We got favorable conditions. It wasn’t that windy. It was relatively soft and was score-able. It was so hot and humid, the ball was just going forever. The grass was similar to what you see in Florida, so I was pretty comfortable there,” said McCormick, who led St. John’s University to the Big East championship his senior year. He also won the 2012 Met Amateur. McCormick is a former NJSGA Caddie Scholar Foundation recipient and the first to acheive tour statu since Kevin Foley of Somerville, N.J., played on the PGA Tour in 2013.
Before getting to the final stage of Asian Tour Q-School, McCormick had to make a mark in the earlier round of Q-School. He ended tied for second and among the top 26 finishers (and ties) who earned advancing positions from Windsor Park Golf Club in Bangkok.
During that event, McCormick posted scores of 70-69-66-67 for 16-under-272, showing only two bogeys the entire week.
“The good thing was that one stage came right after the other. I knew the scores would be low for the final stage. I kept doing the same things I was doing. I didn’t try to force a low score. Birdies happened. I stayed patient knowing I’d have plenty of chances to score,” he said.
Just before arriving in the Far East, McCormick attempted to earned status on the European Tour. He traveled to Spain for the first round of Q-School and after four rounds, missed advancing by a single stroke.
He would have liked a chance a Q-School for the Web.com Tour, but missed a connecting flight from Spain to the U.S. by a matter of hours. So it was on to the Asian Tour where he figures to play in 11 or 12 events.
His first venture on the Asian Tour was Feb. 2-5 in Bangladesh where he finsihed No. 53.
http://www.asiantour.com/tournaments/574/leaderboard/?leaderboard=4
Last summer, McCormick had no tour status. He did qualify for one Web.com event by shooting a 64 in Wichita, Ks.,, but played in a variety of events such as the Cape Cod Open, Massachusetts Open, New England Open and the 72-hole Quebec Golf Association event.
“I played really well last summer and had a bunch of top 10s in those events, making some money. Scoring-wise, I played really well. I had an unofficial 59 playing with my buddies at Charlestown Springs in Millstone (N.J.). It was my best year as a pro as far as scoring went,” McCormick said.
Last summer, he worked with Bernie Najar , the Director of Instruction at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Md.
“Bernie is a really smart guy. We worked on everything. He is in the bio-mechanical field, and we were using high-tech equipment. He made me more aware of my body. He hooked me up with Mark Sweeney, the AimPoint guy,” he said.
Sweeney is the founder and developer of AimPoint Golf and inventor or the AimPoint Virtual Putting Line and the AimPoint Green-Reading Method, which McCormick now employs.
“I worked with him for two days in August and my next round was the 59 at Charleston Springs,” he said.
McCormick is represented by Lagardère Unlimited, which also reps PGA Tour pros Phil Mickelson, Brendan Steele and Keegan Bradley, a fellow St. John’s alumnus.
“I’m really happy to be playing on a worldwide tour. As far as getting out there, I knew my game has been good. I just needed somewhere to play. Getting through Q-School like I did is big for me. I’m excited about the opportunities I’m going to have out there,” McCormick said.
“I’m really looking forward to it.”
