ST. SIMONS ISLAND, GA. — Tyler McCumber admits there was a time in his life where he wasn’t the most patient person.
“I didn’t have any,” he said on Wednesday, prior to playing in the RSM Classic Pro-Am at the Sea Island Club’s Seaside Course. “My Dad [10-time PGA Tour winner Mark McCumber] told me many times that I had to learn more patience.”
But the 30-year-old second-generation PGA Tour player has shown that attribute in abundance since turning professional in 2013.
Few players with current PGA Tour status paid more dues and traveled more of the world to do it than McCumber.
He got a Korn Ferry Tour card two years later when he finished third on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica, but then lost it in one season, the product of 12 missed cuts in 20 starts.
McCumber regained his Korn Ferry status in 2018 by winning the Mackenzie Tour-Canada Order of Merit, with three victories and he only lasted one year again — but for the right reason, coming in 22nd on the 2019 money list to earn his PGA Tour card
He then retained it by finishing 99th on the 2020-21 FedEx Cup points list, with two top-10s and five top-25s.
RSM: Tee times, TV | Fantasy | Strokes gained data
“I feel like it was a big learning year,” he said. “Learning all the courses, getting comfortable on Tour … it’s such a fun process, but there’s a lot to take in. Having this sort of weird, hybrid rookie season, with two years under my belt, I’m going to take a step back this offseason and go over what I’ve learned, make a plan for going forward and make the necessary adjustments. But also, sort of soak it in. It was a big year-and-a-half.”
It was an odd situation for everyone. The Tour suspended play because of the pandemic in March of 2020, just two weeks after McCumber posted a 20th-place finish in Puerto Rico. When play resumed in June, he missed six cuts in a row and had to withdraw from another tournament as he battled through a prolonged bout with a stomach virus.
In February, McCumber nearly withdrew from the Genesis Invitational after cutting his finger on a sliding glass door. He shot 67-68 in the first two rounds to get a spot in the final group on Saturday but then shot 77-74 on the weekend and tied for 52nd.
The good news is that the Tour froze the membership status for another year and McCumber was able to rally with a series of strong finishes.
That included a tie for 22nd in The Players Championship, the tournament his father Mark won 33 years before, and a second in at the Tour’s event in the Dominican Republic when Harris English birdied the final hole to win by one shot.
McCumber hasn’t gotten off to the best start in 2021-22. He’s missed four of his first five cuts entering this week’s RSM Classic but he said he’s at peace with the process.
His pattern has been to miss cuts in bunches but rebound quickly. In early 2021, he missed four cuts in a row but rallied at The Players, then tied for 33rd at the Honda Classic and tied for 12th in the Dominican Republic.
After six missed cuts in a row, he tied for 15th at the Wyndham Championship.
“I don’t know why, other than it’s kind of my pattern,” he said. “I’m trying on every shot. Golf is a wild game. There are a lot of variables that are out of your control. I try to focus on what I can control and give my best every shot. But missing a few cuts and then coming back to have chances to win is not a bad pattern. I hope I can flip the script and go in the right direction.”
Paying dues is sort of a family tradition. McCumber’s father needed eight attempts at the PGA Tour qualifying school under the old system to get his card, won his first tournament at the age of 28 and won The Players at 36.
McCumber doesn’t regret the road he’s taken through Canada and Latin America to get to the PGA Tour. Indeed, he’s an avid outdoorsman and surfer and once spent six weeks hitch-hiking in New Zealand and Australia with nothing but his board and his backpack.
He also remains the answer to a trivia question: he’s the only player to earn Korn Ferry Tour status off the money list of two of the three PGA Tour’s international circuits.
“I think golf demands patience and perseverance,” he said. “The path to the PGA Tour took that, plus a strong belief in myself. I’m still figuring out what works but I have a pretty good formula in mind and I’m going to play with that plan and trust and believe it.”