McCumber riding wave of momentum

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This article was published 16/08/2018 (2778 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He’s gotten used to living under the shadow of his famous father. But Tyler McCumber is quickly making a name for himself this summer on the Mackenzie Tour — PGA Tour Canada.

The son of former PGA Tour pro Mark McCumber is the leading money winner on tour and coming off an incredible three-week stretch of play that includes back-to-back wins in Ontario and Edmonton, followed by a third-place finish last week in Calgary. Overall, McCumber is 100 strokes under par for his last five tournaments.

He’s earned more than $99,000 this season, giving him a $25,000 cushion on the next best pro. With just two events left including the Players Cup this week, he’s a lock to finish the year in the top five and earn an automatic full-time card on the Web.com Tour next season, putting him just one level away from the ultimate goal of the PGA Tour.

“I’m definitely playing well and would like to keep the momentum going,” McCumber, 27, said Wednesday before heading out to the range at Southwood Golf & Country Club for some practice. “Obviously golf is a game of momentum. Within 18 holes it’s just about trying to get the momentum to go your way. I think right now, I’m not only playing well but doing everything pretty solid.”

He’s the definite favourite when the four-round tournament kicks off this morning, with the first players hitting the course at 7:30 a.m. McCumber is set to tee off at 1 p.m. No. 2 Zach Wright, No. 3 George Cunningham, No. 4 Sam Fidone and No. 5 Corey Pereira are also among the 156 players who will compete for the $200,000 prize.

There are also eight Manitobans, along with Winnipeg Jets centre Mark Scheifele, who will be one of the featured attractions as he was given a sponsor’s exemption. He’ll start his first round at 9:30 a.m. this morning.

McCumber’s season includes winning two weeks ago at an Edmonton course his father helped design, and then being joined by his dad last week in Calgary.

“We worked a little bit on some stuff. He just wanted to hop up and see what it was looking like. We had a great time, enjoyed a few dinners and just kind of went over the game plan for the rest of the year and kind of how we were going to mentally approach it. He had lots of good advice, just to not let the expectation get too high but just keep doing what you’ve been doing and stick to the process and the recipe that’s been working,” said McCumber.

McCumber got a taste of the PGA Tour in March when he shot a four-under 67 in Monday qualifying to get into the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship event. He was 12-under through three rounds and in the final trio on Sunday, only to struggle to a 3-over 75 and finish tied for 19th. He still cashed a US$39,000 cheque.

“I feel like it was a big week for me, just knowing what it feels like to be out there, and that really is where I want to go. That was a big week for me, momentum wise,” he said.

This is McCumber’s third year on the Mackenzie Tour and he’s excited about the challenge at Southwood, which is the longest course they players will have faced this year.

“It’s about as links as you’re going to find in the area. You can run up greens. Obviously it depends on the weather and whether it plays firm or not. The greens are really good, so you can definitely make some putts this week. They don’t seem too tricky to read, either, the land’s pretty flat. I think there’ll be a lot of birdies if the weather holds up. So stick with the game plan of being aggressive,” said McCumber.

One of the key pieces of advice his father has given him is to “stay in the present” and not think too far ahead. That can be challenging, given McCumber’s success this season.

“I think right now I’m just really focusing on my weeks and how I’m managing them at the tournaments. That’s kind of consuming my focus, on resting properly, getting the workouts that I like to get in at the right times, and just pretty much gearing up to be fresh for Thursday,” he said. “That’s really my main goal, and I feel like I’ve done a good job of focusing on that and done a good job at preparing.”

McCumber only began focusing seriously on golf while in high school, saying his primary sporting interest as a kid was baseball. But when he began to realize he could have a future in the game, he began to put in the necessary work.

“I kind of kept hitting the goals — making the high school team, playing well at a national junior level, getting to that mode where you get looked at by colleges, stuff like that. I was checking off these boxes and I think it just all culminated into something serious, where, OK, I’m going to work at this and it’s going to kinda become my job,” he said.

He battled inconsistency and injuries during his first two years on tour in Canada but said it’s finally all come together this summer.

“You can’t half-ass it,” he said. “My goal the last seven, eight months has been just to be the best competitor I can be. Just go out every day and leave it all on the course. Do everything I can to give myself the best shot. If that winds up in 20th place or fifth or first, so be it. I’ll find comfort in the fact I did that.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg