One-armed Gardens golfer, 7, to be on NBC’s ‘Little Big Shots’
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Tommy Morrissey, a 7-yearold golf prodigy born with one arm, is no stranger to the spotlight.
He appeared on “The Ellen Show” when he was 3 years old. He traveled to Indonesia at age 4 to 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 DeGeneres and Steve Harvey with the tagline “Never too young to be amazing.” Tommy’s episode airs at 8 p.m. on NBC.
The family spent a week filming with the “Little Big Shots” team in Los Angeles in November.
“We can remember from the first 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, said. “Tommy fit in really well. I Tune into NBC 8 p.m. Sunday to see Tommy’s episode of “Little Big Shots” believe he’s the first child with a limb difference to appear on the show.”
Tommy has a 200-yard drive. In the episode, he and Harvey take turns hitting at a target while a camera measured their body movements.
“He was really funny. He didn’t even hit a target,” Tommy said of Harvey. “I hit the par and the hole-in-one.”
A PGA instructor watched a screen that recorded measurements indicating 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 competitive accom- plishments. The 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 works with the Paley Institute at St. Mary’s Medical Center. The foundation provides financial aid packages to families who would otherwise have to choose amputation over life-saving surgeries for children born with complex limb differences, Marcia Morrissey said.
The foundation has been registered as a 501c3 nonprofit since January 2017 and raised more than $98,000 last year. Tommy visits with the children and shows them how to play golf, she said.
“He knows his game of golf is so much bigger than himself,” mom said. “Tommy asks me all the time, ‘How many kids are we helping today?’”