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

Tensions are high this week during the final stages of the PGA Tour Q-School. Host locations Sawgrass CC and the Dye Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass are the battlegrounds where professionals compete to earn 2026 PGA Tour cards.

With each successive round, the pressure on the competitors continued to increase as their careers hung in the balance. For one pro, Ryan McCormick, the pressure seemed too much.

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

Ryan McCormick throws a putter into the lake at Q-School

Heading into this week’s event at TPC Sawgrass, McCormick hoped to make 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 who 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 major leagues was short-lived.

In 25 PGA Tour events in 2024, he missed 15 cuts and had just one top 10, 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 this season 91st in the season standings.

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

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

But in the second round things went sideways. Playing Sawgrass Country Club, McCormick made bogeys at 3, 8, 13 and 14, putting him over par for the tournament. He got one shot back with a birdie on 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 on 18 found the rough side and he couldn’t reach the green in regulation. But a solid third shot gave him a short putt to save par.

As his par-try burned the left edge of the cup, McCormick let out a frustrated sigh. Like the video shared by Monday Q Info As could be seen, he calmly walked around the hole and tapped in his second putt for bogey.

Then, after removing his ball from the hole and examining the cup closely, McCormick turned, threw his putter underhand into the lake at the green, and continued walking away from the green.

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

But Sawgrass CC once again proved to be the perfect foil for McCormick in Sunday’s final round. He made double bogeys on the second and tenth holes, shot a six-over 76 and fell well out of contention.

McCormick’s anger at the course led him to tape his mouth shut

This isn’t the first angry incident McCormick has experienced on the court during his professional career. Persistent problems with frustration were more likely to lead the professional to try an extreme solution.

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

In an interview, he explained that his taping strategy was an attempt to stop his outbursts on the track.

“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 it might help me. I can’t say whether it did or not.”

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

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

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