WATCH: PGA Tour and DP World Tour stars take on hilarious Snappy Gilmore golf challenge
Golfers from the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour tried the "Snappy Gilmore" challenge this week. They are in the United Arab Emirates this weekend for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on the European Tour. Ahead of that, they took part in the viral golf challenge with the creator himself, Eliezer Paul-Gindiri aka Snappy Gilmore.
Snappy Gilmore does what Adam Sandler's titular character did in the movie "Happy Gilmore." He swung his drive with one hand, blasting it off the tee with precision, power, and accuracy. That's what Paul-Gindiri has aspired to perform, and he's become famous for his one-handed drives.
In Abu Dhabi, he got several stars of the tournament, including Min Woo Lee, to give it a try. They were all thoroughly impressed with the swing, but none of them did it as well as him.
Most golfers were able to make contact, but many of them sliced or hooked their drives. They also didn't register as much power as Paul-Gindiri for the most part. Occasionally, someone would strike it well and elicit a giddy reaction out of Snappy Gilmore.
He was asked during the video if he could play with two hands and if he just chooses to do it his way for fun. Paul-Gindiri answered that he can't do it that way, so the one-handed swing is the only method that works for him.
When Snappy Gilmore spoke about the "uniqueness" of his skills
Snappy Gilmore, whose real name is Eliezer Paul-Gindiri, is one of the most popular golfers around but doesn't play professionally. He has achieved his fame by adopting the one-handed drive from "Happy Gilmore.
Reflecting on how he got to this point, he said in 2022 that he tried hilding and swinging a golf club the standard way, with both hands, but he didn't feel comfortable. Removing one hand, however, seemed to be "comfortable and waggly." Reflecting on that moment, he said (via CNN),
“Now that I think of it, I’m like, ‘what made me do that?’ It’s God. God blessed me with a talent that just came out of nowhere.”
As for why it's so popular, he said,
“I think it’s just the uniqueness of it and it being something new to golf. You’re seeing the same stuff over and over again, it gets boring. So once people saw it, they were like, ‘what the hell?’. They’ve never seen anything like that.”
Paul-Gindiri has shown off his unique swing to several golfers. He once showed it to Bryson DeChambeau, who is one of the longest drivers in golf.
Reflecting on how professional golfers have reacted to his skills, the content creator said,
“They were trying to figure out how I do it. I’ve met a couple of PGA Tour players and they just tell me what I do is crazy sick, and I should just keep doing what I’m doing.”
The neat trick netted him a significant gain on his swing drive distance. He said he was averaging about 250 yards but reached 330 by using just one hand.