Boy with 1 hand imitates world’s best golfers; US hoops team spending Olympics on boat

(Pinehurst Resort, YouTube)


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SALT LAKE CITY — Three more stories from the world of sports in today’s From Left Field.

1. 5-year-old boy swings golf club just fine with one hand

Tommy Morrissey, 5, is an inspirational story in the golfing world. He was born without much of his right arm, but that hasn’t stopped him from playing golf.

The youngster qualified for the U.S. Kids Golf World Championships at Pinehurst Country Club, which got underway Thursday. Morrissey shot 6-over in the opening round, tying him for 50th in the Boys 6 and Under field.

In advance of the event, the officials at Pinehurst brought Morrissey to the Pinehurst Golf Academy, where he imitated some of the golfing greats in a video posted on the club’s YouTube Channel. As you can see, he’s pretty talented and he’s able to hit both righty and lefty (Phil Mickelson).

He also has Arnold Palmer’s swing down perfectly.

2. U.S. hoops teams ditch dorms for cruise ship

Plenty has been said about the conditions of the Olympic village in Rio, and perhaps none more than by the Australians. Former Ute Andrew Bogut has had some funny tweets, by the way.

However, the U.S. men’s and women's basketball teams have found a way to avoid all of that. The men’s team will spend nights at the Rio Olympics aboard a luxury cruise ship instead.

According to USA Today, both teams are staying on the Silver Cloud (perhaps an unfortunate name for a team going for the gold). The boat has 160 rooms in all.

"It’s just like we would be staying in a hotel," USA forward Carmelo Anthony told reporters. "It’s the same thing. It’s not like we’re cruising around. We’re docked. We have the same amenities as if we’re staying in a hotel, so I don’t really see what the (discussion is about). The beds are not big. The rooms are small. There’s some disadvantages to staying on the ship.”

Avoiding Olympic village isn’t new to the basketball teams, though.

"USA Basketball teams haven't stayed in the Olympic Village since the 1988 teams did," says the federation's chief media officer, Craig Miller, according to NPR. "Our teams are extremely active in supporting their U.S. teammates."

The men's basketball team opens Olympic play Saturday against China. The women's team opens with Senegal on Sunday.

3. Former S.L. Bee robbed of third homer

Ji-Man Choi had a solid Thursday night at the plate against the Los Angeles Angels, but Athletics outfielder Coco Crisp made sure it couldn’t get better than it was.

Choi homered in the second and third innings for the Angels against the A’s.

In the fifth inning, Choi launched a ball to the left-field wall, where a running Crisp jumped up and made a spectacular grab while leaning into the seats to rob Choi of a potential go-ahead home run.

The nice snag proved helpful for Oakland. The extra run would have been handy for Los Angeles, as the two teams ended up playing in extra innings. Oakland eventually won, 8-6, in 10 innings.

Choi hit .327 in 45 games for the Salt Lake Bees earlier this season before the Angels recalled him on July 9 to replace former Utah Ute C.J. Cron on the team’s 25-man roster after Cron was placed on the disabled list with a broken hand.

Most recent Sports stories

Related topics

Sports
Carter Williams

    ARE YOU GAME?

    From first downs to buzzer beaters, get KSL.com’s top sports stories delivered to your inbox weekly.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast