McCormick's U.S. Open hopes continue

By Joe McDonald
RIGA Senior Writer

LINCOLN – Tom McCormick walked down the 18th fairway Tuesday at Kirkbrae Country Club when his emotions nearly got the best of him. He was on the brink of advancing to the sectional round of U.S. Open qualifying when he thought about his mother, Laura, who passed away last month after a brief battle with cancer.

McCormick focused, thought about his mother, then dropped a par putt to post a 3-under 69 to finish in a four-way tie for second place in the U.S. Open local qualifying round at his home course. The top five finishers advance, led by Fletcher Babcock’s 4-under. Nicholas Pandelena, Jim Renner, James Driscoll all joined McCormick at 3-under. He was overwhelmed after his round.

“I wasn’t going to play today,” he said. “I’m not ready to play. My mind isn’t into it. I lost my mom April 18, so almost a month ago. I was going to punt this entire season. My wife and I just had a baby, my dog just passed away, so I was not going to play.”

McCormick asked the advice of those closest to him, and the response was the same from family and friends.

“She would want me to,” McCormick said as he fought back tears.

Since he was focused on taking care of his mother, along with his wife and new-born daughter, McCormick previously played only twice this season, which normally doesn’t bode well for someone attempting to qualify for the U.S. Open. He felt like it was divine intervention.

“I’ve practiced precisely zero, and I’ve played terribly, but I got in,” he said after Tuesday’s round. “I don’t know what to tell you. It’s very strange."

At one point during his round, McCormick stood on the tee box, waiting for the group in front of him to advance up the third fairway. No one in his group asked about his mother, but McCormick decided he wanted to talk about it. So, he mentioned what the last few months have been like for him and his family. Everyone in the group, including the caddies, listened intently. When it was time to hit his tee shot, McCormick was not happy with his drive and just started walking up the fairway.

When asked why he brought up his mother to the group, he said: “It motivates me. It totally, totally, totally motivates me to bring attention to her life. She didn’t deserve what she got. It was horrible, so to bring attention to her, I don’t give a (expletive) about me, but talking about it makes me angry because she got a raw deal. You might think it makes me think one way, but it actually does the opposite. It makes me lock in. I was absolutely locked in today – mentally. Talking about my mother brings me back to center.”

While losing his mother still hurts, he was happy to play the way he did in her honor. Last month, McCormick gave the eulogy at his mother’s funeral. He read a parable about an old man and his horse. No matter what happened in the man’s life, or to his horse, the old man would always tell others, “We’ll see.” McCormick asked his family and friends to act, for one day, as his mother did her entire life – be kind to strangers and do something to help another human being.

“Can you do that?” he asked everyone at the service.

He added, “We’ll see.”

McCormick gained confidence in his self-described sub-par golf game from his mother’s memory and it helped him take another step closer to realizing the ultimate accomplishment for any amateur golfer – the U.S. Open.