Winning any golf tournament involves battling nerves down the stretch, but one Korn Ferry Tour pro had to overcome a different type of nerves while flying over that final stretch.
Such was the case at Saturday’s inaugural Orange County Fall Classic at Osiris Country Club in Walden, New York. After earning a spot in a playoff, Ryan McCormick and fellow tour pro and friend Mike Miller hopped in a helicopter to ride back to the 18th tee. Yep, a helicopter.
Ryan McCormick @McCormick__Ryan being interviewd by Averee Dovsek @Averee_dovsek after winning the Orange County Fall Classic at Osiris Country Club In Walden, NY. #golf #OCFC pic.twitter.com/RIuynRZD0L
— Edward Diller (@edillerjr) October 25, 2020
“It (the helicopter ride) had me a little rattled,” McCormick told the Times Herald-Record. “I hit a terrible tee shot. I got lucky that it was in play. I never thought that (the helicopter) would be something I would be doing going into a playoff.”
Minutes later, McCormick’s par had wrapped up the win and a $US7,000 cheque. He also got to slip on this autumn brown jacket from the club’s PGA director of golf and Jim Nantz ring-in Brian Crowell. You gotta hand it to the event for having quite a flair for the dramatic.
https://twitter.com/bcrowellpro/status/1320470929705717760
McCormick, who finished 66th on the Korn Ferry Tour points list this past season, may go on to win bigger events, but we’re pretty sure he’ll never forget this one. He just might opt to walk to the tee next time.
