Slimmed-down Tommy Morrison makes Walker Cup statement after stroke play at 2025 U.S. Amateur

USA Today

2 days ago

(Editor's note: Golfweek's Cameron Jourdan is following all the action from Olympic Club. Check out his updates from the first round here.)
SAN FRANCISCO — It didn't take long for Tommy Morrison to notice the changes in his body.
While competing in the Amateur Championship and European Amateur earlier this summer, Morrison thought he was eating cleaner while in Europe. He started losing weight and felt better than he has in some time.
When he got home, he decided to go on a diet. He has stuck to it, and the results are showing on the golf course.
Morrison, who held the co-lead after the opening round of the 2025 U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club, followed his opening 66 with a 2-under 68 on the Lake Course, finishing at 6 under heading into the weekend. Morrison, the 6-foot-8 rising senior at Texas, trails only world No. 4 Preston Stout after the morning wave Tuesday and is safely into the match-play portion of the championship, which begins Wednesday.
Maybe Tuesday night will bring a bit of celebration from the Morrisons, as on Monday, Morrison turned 21. What did he do in the short amount of time between his tee times?
"My mom and I went to Outback and got a steak, went to bed, but probably 9:30," He said. "Was probably reallyboring."
His play has been nothing but at Olympic Club, where less than 20 players are under par as the stroke-play portion of the championship progresses. Perhaps the most notable moment in his round happened after his final putt dropped.
Morrison is the highest-ranked American in the World Amateur Golf Ranking not on the Walker Cup team. Captain Nathan Smith watched Morrison tee off Tuesday morning and watched numerous shots throughout the round. As Morrison scaled the hill behind the 18th green to sign his scorecard, Smith was lurking to give him a fist bump and congratulate him.
"I don't think it was on my mind that much," Morrison said of trying to make the Walker Cup team. "I think just just wanted to have two really solid days. And that was probably a boring answer, but it wasn't on my mind too much."
He gave Smith a good show through stroke play. In four weeks, the Walker Cup will commence at Cypress Point Club, the No. 1 course on Golfweek's Best Classic 200 list, which sits about two hours south of Olympic Club. While a good showing during match play would make him a shoo-in selection, Morrison didn't leave any doubt as to how he could help the Americans in a few weeks time.
The slimmed-down Morrison still towers like the cypress trees lining the fairways at Olympic Club, but his game is beefed up to start the week. He said he's down about 25 pounds doing a carnivore diet consisting of a lot of protein and light dairy.
"No carbs, no sugar. Just did it for like, a month and a half when I got back from Europe," Morrison said, "and I think I needed to lose some weight. I was getting pretty chubby."
He said the weight started falling off fast after he changed his eating habits.
His game, however, is shining at the biggest amateur event in the world.