As a youngster growing up in New Jersey, Ryan McCormick once told his mom his life’s dream and he thought it was straightforward enough. First, he would play for the New York Yankees. Then a switch – he’d suit up for the New York Giants. After a multi-decade career over two sports, he was going to transition to PGA TOUR Champions.

Easy, right?

Instead, McCormick realized, as time went on, he couldn’t jump as high or run as fast as the other kids. His passion for the other sports faded away. It was going to be golf.

“I got to college, and I was exposed to some high-level competition, and I just always felt like, ‘Man, I can play with these guys. I can beat these guys.’ And I just started to get better,” he said. “In the pro game every year I felt like I’ve been improving, and I just love the competition.”

The now 30-year-old is more motivated than ever to make the leap to the PGA TOUR, and he’s riding a wave of good play in the early part of the 2022 Korn Ferry Tour season.

McCormick has missed just one cut so far this season and is comfortably inside The 25. The early part of his 2022 campaign was highlighted by a tie for second at the Astara Golf Championship presented by Mastercard.

He says over the last few years he’s been working with Justin James, a World Long Drive competitor, to gain more distance. He’s also been, for the last half-decade, sticking to the process with Bernie Najar, who works out of Caves Valley Golf Club (the host of last season’s BMW Championship, part of the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs). McCormick has gained 40 yards in distance recently, all told, and says his “whole game” has been better since he began working with Najar. McCormick calls the Jacksonville area home now but returns to the Northeast frequently enough – especially when it’s time to go to work with someone who has been so instrumental in his recent golf journey.

“If not for him,” said McCormick, “I would be working some job right now.”

McCormick bounced around golf’s global stage through his 20s with stops in Canada, Asia and Europe. He admits he had some “heartbreaking” qualifying tournament efforts both in the United States and in Asia, and sometimes he’d take a few steps forward but would take one crucial step back at an unfortunate time.

His father, Mark, has been a longtime club pro in his home state (not ‘just a pro,’ however; Mark McCormick was inducted into the New Jersey PGA Hall of Fame in 2020). With his familial connections to the club scene in New Jersey, Ryan McCormick was able to raise “a bunch” of money coming out of college. That afforded him the opportunity to play PGA TOUR Canada for two years. But the money quickly dried up.

Another sponsor stepped up and allowed McCormick to live at his home in Sarasota, Florida for a few years. That timeline reached its conclusion, too.

“He said to me, ‘Look, I don’t know how long I can do this for.’ And then two days later, I Monday qualified into the Travelers Championship,” said McCormick. This was 2019. “It was one of those things where it was like, ‘Alright, I know I’m doing the right thing here.’”

McCormick took out a credit card, paid for Q-School himself, finally got through to Final Stage and then, he said with a laugh, he looked at his bank account. After a Final Stage finish well outside the number to earn guaranteed Korn Ferry Tour starts, the bank balance was, well, not positive.

“There were a few dark years where you feel like you make some progress and then unfortunately if you don’t make it (through Final Stage) there isn’t a lot to show for it,” he said.

McCormick went back to see Najar the following winter. He “flopped” at Final Stage, he said. He didn’t talk to many people who played golf at that point.

“It was a pretty dark time,” he admits. “But Bernie … I talked to him, and he had been through a challenging year. He lost his mom. He gave me some perspective and just thought I could do it. He believed in me.

“People who helped me believed in me. They’ve kept pushing me along here, and I’m pretty grateful for them.”

McCormick turned 30 in November and knows experience has been helpful with his quick start to 2022. He doesn’t feel like he’s getting older – the extra distance and strength he’s built up is proof positive of that – and he feels like aging up has helped with his course management and mental outlook on things.

“I just … love competing,” he said. “Everyone is so good now, and it’s helped me get better.”

He still loves the game just as much as he did when he was young – “I’ll play wherever they send us. Doesn’t matter if we’re playing on dirt with a hole in the ground” – and it’s the competition that drives him. Growing up in the Northeast, the U.S. Open has always been top of mind as a big-time life goal. He has that qualification circled again for 2022, just like every year.

But it’s one step at a time, and McCormick’s feet are moving in the right direction. He’s inching ever closer to a dream-come-true – just different than that one where he found himself at Yankee or MetLife Stadium.

And he’s just fine with that.

“I would love to play the TOUR and win out there,” said McCormick. “I wouldn’t waste my time or, anybody who helps me, their time, if I didn’t think I could do that.”