[imagesource: YouTube / PGA Tour]

Eliezer Paul-Gindiri can hit a tee shot that most mere mortals would be proud of.

He’s long off the tee, generates very good club speed, and leaves onlookers in awe.

Averaging roughly 250 yards (228 metres), Paul-Gindiri claims his best-ever one-handed strike flew 330 yards (more than 300 metres).

For a point of comparison, the PGA Tour’s average drive this season is around the 300-yard mark.

22-year-old Paul-Gindiri’s game comes with one major caveat, which has helped him go viral – he only uses one arm.

Under the name ‘Snappy Gilmore’ he has racked up more than 150 000 followers on Instagram and close to two million on TikTok.

His first brush with virality came in February of last year with a short clip showing him crushing a devastating drive into the Arizona night sky, reports Vigour Times:

Paul-Gindiri barely gave it a second thought as he posted the clip to his newly created TikTok account that night.

The next morning, he woke to the buzzing of a phone lighting up with notifications. Overnight, the video had surged to 1.5 million views.

That was February 2021. A year and half later, Paul-Gindiri is a certified TikTok sensation putting up engagement numbers as eye-watering as his one-handed swing.

It’s all thanks to this clip, since uploaded to YouTube:

For marketing purposes, Snappy Gilmore is a home run:

The account name, Snappy Gilmore, was born after a friend advised incorporating a run-up into the swing. The moniker is a nod to 1996 comedy “Happy Gilmore,” which sees Adam Sandler star as a failed ice hockey star turned pro golfer — with the help of a booming, radical swing.

Whisper it quietly, but Paul-Gindiri had never seen the cult classic before blending the technique with his own. Naturally, that was quickly amended, with Paul-Gindiri soon meeting up with Christopher McDonald, who played the film’s antagonist Shooter McGavin, to show off his skills.

“It was awesome,” said Paul-Gindiri, who coached McDonald to an impressive one-handed attempt. “Really nice guy, we had a blast.”

Yes, there’s footage:

 

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A post shared by @_snappygilmore

Snappy’s exploits soon caught the attention of the PGA Tour which did a somewhat in-depth analysis of his technique:

You’re probably thinking he’s rubbish with irons and on the green.

Sorry to disappoint you, but he’s put up some solid 18-hole scores:

Incredibly, Paul-Gindiri even used to putt-one handed, though he has since switched to the conventional two-handed hold as he seeks to master both grips and improve upon his personal-best 76 round, achieved completely one-handed. That edges his current two-handed best — a six-over 77 carded last week — by a stroke.

The man shot a 76 with one arm and you’re delighted if you break 90 at Westlake. At least you made it out of the house and enjoyed some exercise.

Paul-Gindiri, who is originally from Nigeria but moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2017, has dreams of making it as a pro footballer. He also believes he can inspire people who may never have picked up a club, such as amputees or people with disabilities, to give golf a bash.

[source:vigourtimes]