Child Prodigy Takes a Mighty Swing at Golf

Jakarta Globe, Ami Afriatni, Apr 24, 2015

Tommy Morrissey plays an exhibition game at Royale Jakarta Golf Club
on Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Image Dynamics

Jakarta. Thomas Morrissey crouched down onto his knees and focused on the golf ball in front of him.

With dozens of eyes watching his every move, the four-year-old confidently swung his club with his left hand and hit the ball.

As the ball flew yards away, the enthusiastic crowd of spectators, including nine young golfers from Indonesia, clapped their hands and cheered him on.

“Do you want more? Do you want more?” Tommy asked the children.

Their rousing response spurred Tommy to take another swing — to slightly disappointing results this time.

“Sorry. One more,” he apologized as he placed another ball onto the tee.

Tommy is a well-known golf prodigy. Not only could he hit golf balls over 100 yards as a toddler, he could do so with only the use of his left arm. The young athlete was born without a right hand, his arm extending only to the elbow.

When asked why the 4-year-old had chosen golf, his father Joe conceded to lacking a definitive answer to the common question.

“We wish we knew that answer. We watched golf every Sunday and he literally got the ball off the couch at about

18 months or so and started swinging just like the guys on TV,” Joe told reporters during an exhibition game on Wednesday, ahead of Enjoy Jakarta’s CIMB Niaga Indonesian Masters at Royale Jakarta Golf Club in East Jakarta.

“The next thing, we got him some plastic club and he showed all the fundamentals of golf. Tommy probably plays golf five times a week. He also hits balls pretty much every day. He chose golf.”

Tommy’s mother, Marcia-Lee, said she realized Tommy was special the day he was born.

“Thomas was born with one arm. After he was born, the doctors met with us and said [...] that he would [still] have exceptional eye-hand coordination,” she said, adding that in other sports, such as baseball, Tommy preferred to use the right-handed stance.

Joe added: “He kicks the soccer ball right-footed. His ability to adapt is pretty spectacular.”

The American couple conceded that they had a lot of help from the Internet in developing their son’s athletic skills.

“He watches a lot of YouTube. He does it all on his own. When he was two years old, he grabbed Marcia’s iPad. He was in his crib. When I walked into his room,

[I asked him], ‘Tommy what’s going on here?’ He said: ‘Hey daddy, I’m taking a golf lessons from Tiger Woods,’ ” Joe recalled. “So he’s been fascinated with the golf swings for a long time.

“Right before we went to the Ellen de Generes show, Tommy said, ‘Daddy, daddy from my knees!’ I said ‘Tommy what are you talking about?’ I’m on my knees and thinking he was telling me to get on my knees. He said: ‘No daddy, me.’

“He got on his knees and he smacked the ball for the first time. Literally my hand was shaking, trying to put the ball back on the tee and thought, ‘My God, I can’t do that.’ So it’s a wonderful story.

“One day we were playing golf with some friends. Marcia had the game of eye-hand coordination as well. She did her own version of Happy Gilmore. The next thing you know Tommy took some running stuff too,” Joe said, adding that golf has dominated Tommy’s life ever since.

Marcia added: “We don’t have cartoons in the morning; it’s golf channel. Not because we don’t want him to watch cartoons, he just gets upset and watches golf.

“He likes putting every night before bed. He always sleeps with his golf club. He loves them. Golf balls or tees.”

Tommy’s physical limitations have not put a damper on the young golfer’s confidence in the least — nor have they discouraged his parents. The family even gave his right arm a special name: Nemo.

“The story of Nemo goes back to the Disney cartoon where [a young fish named] Nemo has a short fin. Nemo’s father raises him with fear. We actually looked at that and said that’s not how we will raise our child,” Joe explained.

Marcia continued: “Because Nemo in the movie said, ‘Dad, I can swim, I can do all the things that all other fish can do.’ We called his arm ‘Nemo’ once and it’s stuck. So we have a golf cart with Nemo all over it. We drive that around.”

Tommy’s inspiring story reached the ears of Masters champion Bubba Watson, who was incidentally also the young prodigy’s favorite golfer. Watson reached out to the family and met with them.

“Bubba is one of the kindest men we’ve ever met in our lives. He was a fantastic man. He welcomed us in his home. He brought us to his home golf course. Truly a great guy. He was genuinely moved by Tommy’s capabilities,” Joe said.

“When Bubba saw Tommy hit the ball for the first time, he made the support that shook me up. In a tournament, I was holding Tommy by the ropes and Bubba was on his way to the tee box. He turned and looked at Tommy and came down, he grabbed my arms with tears in his eyes and said, ‘Take care of my little man.’ He genuinely has strong feelings towards Tommy and so does Tommy.

“We’ve been really, really fortunate to meet some of the greatest players that have ever played the game. We have Tommy as a blessing in our lives. We’ve never restricted him. We’ve never looked at him as fundamentally unable to do [what] any other child does.

“He doesn’t understand limitations. That’s why he’s really good at almost every sport he does. He’s quite a soccer, baseball player. He has a skill set that every other child has. He’s just a bit different.

“Once Tommy played  his first tournament, sponsors said they had never seen a child play down the fairway with so much confident. All the kids were following him. It’s like he grabbed that moment of time and said, ‘This is it boys, let’s go, you follow me.’ As parents, showing leadership skills and inner strength, we just couldn’t be more proud of that.”

Asked if he expects his son to turn pro one day, Joe replied: “I expect Tommy is going to go to kindergarten next year. After that, who knows.

“He’s 4 years old. He’s driving his shift. We’re not pointing him in any direction.