Latin American tour pays dividends for Tyler McCumber of Ponte Vedra Beach

Tyler McCumber has hit the road again for Latin America.

There's much more at stake this time.

McCumber, a Nease and University of Florida graduate, plays in his first Web.com Tour event as an exempt member on Thursday in the Panama Claro Championship. McCumber earned his 2015 Web.com Tour card by finishing third on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica money list in 2014 with $86,164, $6,230 behind leader Julian Etulain.

The top-five players on the Latin American tour earn spots on the Web.com Tour. Once that status is secured, players can start working in earnest for their PGA Tour cards.

The top 25 on the Web.com Tour money list at the end of the regular season earn Tour cards, and another 25 will come from the four-tournament Web.com Tour Finals, which end with the Tour Championship at the TPC Sawgrass Dye's Valley.

McCumber won twice among his six top-10 finishes last season (in Mexico and Ecuador), was among the top 25 12 times and made 14-of-17 cuts, which is all the more impressive because PGA Tour Latinoamerica cuts are to the low 55 players, plus ties, as opposed to the top 60 on the Web.com Tour and the top 70 on the PGA Tour.

Building on that experience during the offseason began with an increased focus on physical conditioning. McCumber works with personal trainer Jeffrey Fronk, who also counts Billy Horschel, Jim Furyk, David Lingmerth, Nick Flanagan and LPGA player Amelia Lewis among his clients.

"My physical conditioning kind of got out of whack playing down there, and you can't eat and drink the right things all the time," McCumber said. "I feel pretty good about where I am with that. Now it's a matter of getting better mentally. I'm in a real good state of mind right now, as long as I stay positive and in the moment. My game is pretty solid."

McCumber is well aware that he's on a tour where almost everyone can bomb 330-yard drives and hit greens. It's the shots with wedges, around the greens and putting that will make the difference - especially the latter.

"There are times when I didn't get the results I was looking for," he said. "It comes down to putting and finding a way to score. I had to make putting a priority."

His father Mark McCumber, a 10-time PGA Tour winner and the 1988 Players champion, said one of the many things he's most proud of about his son is that Tyler came to the realization that he had to focus on putting long before he had to say anything - rare for some young players who fixate on driving the ball.

"He had to work on his putting and stay focused and committed to it," Mark McCumber said. "He came to that conclusion completely on his own, and he's made very good progress on it."

Mike Blackburn, the golf coach at Jacksonville University who worked with Mark McCumber for more than 30 years, said Tyler has developed good course management, especially late in the round.

"When you get to the Web.com Tour and PGA Tour, it's not about how far you hit it or how close you hit it to the pin," Blackburn said. "It's standing on the 18th tee with a one-shot lead and knowing how to make a par."

Mark McCumber said his son came back from Latin America with another key attribute: the ability to put bad shots behind him.

"He's very good about staying in the process," he said. "You can't win at this level if you hit five or six angry shots per round. Tyler plays a very even emotional keel."

McCumber has another edge. The Web.com Tour is not only a place for players to further develop their games for the PGA Tour but to also prepare them for the life: travel, accommodations, pro-ams, sponsor obligations and dealing with fans and the media.

McCumber plans to play in the first six Web.com Tour events, five of which are in Panama, Colombia, Brazil and Chile. But he's been there and has the T-shirts.

"I feel very well-rounded by having played on the Latin American tour," he said. "Living in Ponte Vedra can be like living in a golf bubble. Everything is a little easier, playing, practicing and being at home. Out there, you're exposed to different cultures, food and conditions. Not everything goes smoothly when you travel. You have to be able to deal with the differences and the inconveniences and still focus on your practice and playing in tournaments. I've already dealt with those situations so nothing will come as a surprise to me."

Mark McCumber said the experience has been highly beneficial to his son.

"Tyler won't get frustrated if he's in customs in Bogota for three hours," he said. "He knows the routine. He could have played the eGolf Tour or the [National Golf Association] Tour and maybe made more money and been closer to home. But he wouldn't have had the experiences that are going to help him down the road. The PGA Tour is a global game, and Tyler has a head start on that."