Wake Forest Athletics
Heart of a Champion
4/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 29, 2008
by Stan Cotten
While doing a little homework prior to an interview with Wake Forest senior golfer Webb Simpson, I noticed that he had been involved with Young Life and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in high school. That caught my eye because I was also involved in both of those ministries while I was in high school thirty years ago. I was a golfer, too, but while I simply played for fun, Simpson was a star in the making. Now he's the ACC Champion and the number one ranked amateur in the world.
And it's his faith that Simpson credits for his recent success.
"Ever since this past Christmas I've had a huge change spiritually," explains Simpson. "Growing up it was all about what I could do - I wanted to win all of these tournaments and make this amount of money."
"But I really feel like God has changed my heart. He's revealed to me that the only reason I have a gift for playing golf is to bring glory to Him. These past few months have really been cool for me to play in tournaments and have a different feeling about why I'm out there."
Simpson's newfound motivation has brought him to a level of golf far beyond that of his modest beginnings on the links in and around Wilmington where he would "mess around" with his dad, Sam. He also hung around a local kid who was a good player (Kevin Larson, future Georgia Tech player), and after his dad had a set of clubs made for him the game began to just come naturally.
"I was out there all day at that point," Simpson admits. "I picked up the game real quick and loved it from the start."
And as the years rolled by three professional golfers began to catch his eye. The first was Chad Campbell.
"He was an early favorite of mine," says Simpson, "simply because his swing was similar to mine. He's been the guy I look at when I'm working on my swing. I try to model my moves after his."
The second is Davis Love, III.
"I obviously liked him because he went to Chapel Hill," Simpson admits, almost apologetically. "Growing up I liked UNC so I like to see him do well."
And the third is nearly a given.
"I really don't have a favorite golfer now," Simpson says. "But obviously my favorite golfer to watch is Tiger Woods."
And as Webb Simpson begins to lead the Demon Deacons toward the NCAA Tournament, unfortunately his days of wearing the Old Gold and Black are numbered. I have the feeling, though, that we'll be seeing a lot more of him in the not too distant future.
"I've always been a goal-setter," Simpson says." "[After turning pro] I'm going to try to get a lot of experience this summer. As long as I can keep improving I feel like my chances will come to hopefully win some professional events and do well in the majors if I can get in them."
"My goal one day is to play with Tiger on the back nine at Augusta and see if I can take it to him."
A match made in heaven? Only God knows...
Players Mentioned
