One-armed 7-year-old golf prodigy inspires people
at the Wilshire Country Club course to reach a total of eightunder 134.
“I just tried to hit fairways and greens. That’s the key for this week. That’s what I try to do,” the former LPGA rookie of the year Moriya said.
American Marina Alex is alone
major winner Ryu So-yeon is in the hunt two shots back of Moriya Tommy Mor-
born with one arm, is no stranger to the spotlight.
He appeared on “The Ellen Show” when he was 3 years old.
inspire other children with physical differences. He challenged PGA pros at the Honda Classic last year to raise money for his UnLIMBited Foundation.
On Sunday, he’ll star on “Little Big Shots,” a show created by Ellen with the “Little Big Shots” team in Los
time we watched the show, Tommy would say, ‘I want to be on ‘Little Big Shots.’ He had a good feeling he would qualify,” Tommy’s dad, Joe Morrissey,
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difference to appear on the show.” hitting at a target while a camera mea-
“He was really funny. He didn’t -
A PGA instructor watched a screen that recorded measurements that indicated that Tommy puts 200 pounds of pressure —or four times his weight— into hitting his golf ball with one arm.
Tommy’s dad ticked off a list of his
neat part about his golf is that “he’s not breaking records. He’s making records. We’re really proud of him,” Joe Morrissey said.
Tommy also plays baseball. ( He leads his Little League team in batting.)
It’s his charitable work that keeps him grounded, Tommy’s mom, Marcia, said. His UnLIMBited Foundation workes with the Paley Institute at St. Mary’s Medical Center. The founda- surgeries for children born with complex limb differences, Marcia Morrissey said.
The foundation has been registered shows them how to play golf, she said.
“He knows that his game of golf is so much bigger than himself,” Marcia Morrissey said. “Tommy asks me all the time, ‘How many kids are we helping today?’”