Whatever it takes.
When golfers are in a slump, they’ll try anything and everything to get out of it. Sleeping with their putter in bed, only playing a golf ball that has an odd number on it… to put things simply, nothing is off the table to try and get your game back on track.
Not even taping your mouth shut.
Professional golfer Ryan McCormick has gone viral for placing a piece of tape over his mouth and keeping it there for an entire round while competing in the Club Car Championship at The Landings Golf & Athletic Club in Savannah, Georgia. The event is sanctioned by the Korn Ferry Tour, and the easiest way to think of the Korn Ferry Tour is that it’s the minor league for the PGA Tour.
In other words, all kinds of great golfers are competing on the Korn Ferry Tour for the right to play on the PGA Tour.
One of those golfers is Ryan McCormick. The 33-year-old from New Jersey played his college golf at St. John’s, and he turned pro in 2014. He’s played in 27 event on the PGA Tour, and he’s currently competing on the Korn Ferry Tour in an attempt to regain his PGA Tour card (which would give him the ability to play in tour events).
But golf is a cruel game, and Ryan has been struggling with keeping his composure while out on the golf course. So today, he resorted to taping his mouth shut while playing in the second round of the Club Car Championship:
“Been having a not-so-fun time this year on the golf course. Pretty angry and mad. So I figured I’ve tried a lot of things, and I figured I’d shut myself up. So I put tape over my mouth. At this point, I’ve tried about everything. I’ve read a lot of books. I’ve talked to people. I’m just too angry on the golf course.”
Iconic move if you ask me.
Anyone that has played golf will tell you that’s its an infuriating sport. One moment, you are hitting the best shot of your life. The next? You are pulling your errant tee shot out of the water hazard. Sometimes it feels like you can’t do anything right out on the golf course, and that’s apparently the stage that Ryan McCormick has reached:
“I’ve run out of ideas, and I thought about the tape thing a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, it came down to that today. I was hoping maybe it would help me. I can’t say that it did or didn’t. Certainly makes you breathe. I felt like Bane in Batman… just muzzling myself. I’m not proud, but I don’t want to create a (negative) experience for my playing partners that’s not fair.”
Golf is hard.
Ryan McCormick resorted to taping his mouth during R2 of @clubcarchamp. pic.twitter.com/rBjreDoNfN
— Korn Ferry Tour (@KornFerryTour) April 4, 2025
If feeling like Bane from The Dark Knight Rises helps your golf game, more power to you. The only problem is that the tape-over-the-mouth move didn’t seem to help McCormick all that much. He fired an even par 72 today, after posting a 1-over-par 73 yesterday.
McCormick is currently tied for… 114th place at the Club Car Championship, which means he’ll miss the cut. Golf is hard, as made evident by Ryan McCormick trying just about everything to get over the hump… but best of luck to Ryan in his future golf endeavors.
If you are reading this Ryan, try to at least secure that Duct Tape sponsorship.
The post Professional Golfer Ryan McCormick Goes Viral For Taping His Mouth Shut During Tournament: “Figured I’d Shut Myself Up” first appeared on Whiskey Riff.