Texas golfer Tommy Morrison has big star potential written all over him | Bohls

They do, indeed, grow ’em bigger in Texas.

Even if they didn’t grow up in Texas.

That’s the case for Maryland-born, one-time Duke commit Tommy Morrison, a big potential star and golf prodigy if Longhorns coach John Fields has ever seen one. And he has.

Morrison didn’t arrive in the Lone Star state until his parents, James and Alison Morrison, moved with their family of three boys to Dallas in 2019. That’s three big boys, including Tommy, who competed fabulously on a rain-soaked Monday at the UT Golf Club. The Texas sophomore turned in a 4-under-par 67 to help the third-seeded Longhorns take a first-day lead in the opening round of their three-day NCAA regional, two shots ahead of Notre Dame at 11-under.

"It wasn't my A game. It's hard to stay in a zone for five hours. More like seven hours," Morrison said of Monday's three-hour rain delay during which he slept, ate barbecue and crawfish and played Ping Pong. "But I think I did a good job."

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After a pair of bogeys on holes No. 7 and 8 following wayward drives, Morrison went on a rampage with five birdies over the next six holes. On two of them, he came within inches of eagles. His newly adopted claw putting grip has steadied that part of his game, and he's one of six golfers tied for the individual lead heading into Tuesday's second round.

“He may be the prototype of the new golfer in collegiate athletics and then on the professional level,” Fields said. "He's evolving into a great player. He’s 6-foot-9, but he’s a very good athlete. He has tremendous hands, and I think he’s a new version of the Big Easy, which is the nickname of Ernie Els, who was 6-3, almost 6-4. But this guy is bigger. He’s stronger.”

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Yeah, Morrison’s a big, strong guy from his short blonde hair to his custom-made size 17 Nike shoes. He was 6-foot-4 when he was in the sixth grade. He’s at least 6-9 now and towers over his opponents and teammates, including UT's Christiaan Maas, the No. 23 ranked amateur in the world who is also his roommate. Morrison is No. 78.

Well, he’s “6-9 and find a measuring stick to see if there’s some more there,” kidded his mother. She dutifully walked all 18 holes on this gray, muggy Monday alongside Tommy’s grandparents Steve and Donna Skrenta, cheering on Tommy, and graciously doled out water bottles and peanut butter snacks to everybody in the gallery of a dozen or so.

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James Morrison couldn’t make the trip. He was home in Frisco tending to their youngest son Mac’s middle-school exams.

Oh, Mac’s big, too. He’s already a 6-foot-2, 285-pound, fixin-to-be freshman at Trinity Christian Academy. He’s a center in football, and Alison said, “He dreams to be on the line at Texas someday.”

Their other son, Jack, is a 6-foot-7 sophomore golfer at Santa Clara University.

Clearly they all get their height genes from 6-foot-5 James, a corporate immigration attorney, and Tommy’s 6-foot-5 grandfather who bought him and Jack their first miniature golf clubs when they were 3 and 4 and introduced them to the game at Nissequogue Golf Club on Long Island. Tommy’ great grandfather, “B.B. the Bomber,” was a catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Mom’s 5-foot-11 and a regional executive for a cosmetics brand company, but she doesn’t play golf. Neither does her husband. But she is an astute student of the game and follows Tommy’s career intently.

“I just smile and support him,” she said. “That’s my main job.”

Coach: Morrison 'has another gear'

There’s a lot to follow. Morrison's not only a budding star in college. He was the first alternate at the local U.S. Open qualifying last week at Escondido when he made six birdies but also three double bogeys and lost in a playoff to a golfer who holed out from 60 yards away in the fairway.

Morrison hasn’t won a college tournament yet. But he tied for fourth at the Western Intercollegiate this spring, tied for sixth at the Southern Highlands and has five top-12 individual finishes. Even at 19, he’s a big-time player with huge game and even bigger stature.

But he knows he doesn’t have it all figured out. He’s still got plenty to learn about course knowledge and game management and his own game, which Longhorn top assistant Erik Henson calls “effortless.”

“He’s very powerful and has another gear, but he hits with so much control,” Henson said. “He has such touch and feel for someone his size.”

He's got friends in high places

Fields has seen his share of budding golf talent come through Austin like current world’s No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and former No. 1 and three-time major champion Jordan Spieth. They, like Morrison, cut their golf teeth in the Dallas zip code, and all three have played together at Royal Oaks and elsewhere.

Morrison also enjoys an occasional game of pickle ball with Scheffler. "No, I can't beat him. He's unbelievable," Tommy said. "There's probably not much I can beat him at right now."

Of course, the former No. 1 junior golfer in the class of 2023 hangs with all sorts of royalty. He’s played in a four-ball tournament with part-time golfer/full-time NFL analyst Tony Romo. Morrison counts among his swing coaches Long Beach’s Jamie Mulligan, who works with LPGA dynamo Nelly Korda and PGA golfer Patrick Cantlay, and Corey Lundberg, regarded by Golf Digest as one of the best young teachers in the game.

And one of Tommy’s best buds is Arch Manning.

As early enrollees a year ago, they both bypassed the rest of their prep years to become Longhorns prematurely. And just this semester, Morrison and Manning both became Texas Cowboys. Maybe they’ll even get to fire Smokey the cannon at events unless, of course, he and Arch are too busy.

“They’re great friends,” Alison said.

Neither of them is accepting NIL deals because the two high-profile Longhorns prefer to concentrate on their sports and their studies.

As good a golfer as he is, those who know Morrison insists he’s an even better person.

“He’s one of the greatest people you will ever meet,” Fields said.

Showing balance on the course

But he’s also a fighter as his parents learned when he was born 9 pounds, 8 ounces but with a congenital heart defect. Just days later, Tommy underwent corrective heart surgery to repair a leaky pulmonary valve and he still requires regular wellness checks.

“Tommy learned how to fight before he even learned what fighting was,” Alison said. “That’s part of his DNA.”

So is complete control of his emotions. He’s so level-headed, he didn’t even wince after his consecutive bogeys or celebrate following his string of four straight birdies on the back nine Monday.

While Arkansas’ Matthis Lefevre on one hole slammed his club to the ground after failing to get out of a sand trap and berated himself in his native French, Morrison quietly went about his business without so much as a fist bump. He did have a rocky first nine, burning the edges of the cup at least four or five times before routine tap-ins, but he never lost his cool.

“His eyes are always just straight ahead,” Alison said. “They’re not dropping yet, but when they go, they’ll start flowing.”

Mom clearly knew best.

Hours later, he was putting the wraps on a special if not spectacular round of golf under rumbling skies and completed the day with six birdies.

To which, Alison said, “He’s flowing.”

In a big way.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas golfer Tommy Morrison takes first-round lead for Longhorns