WEBVTT 00:00:19.515 --> 00:00:22.556 I'm Matt Lees. I'm a golfer by trade. 00:00:22.556 --> 00:00:26.008 You wouldn't think it considering I have one hand. 00:00:26.008 --> 00:00:28.108 I've been doing it for a long time. 00:00:28.108 --> 00:00:31.508 I feel like this is what I was born to do. 00:00:31.508 --> 00:00:32.857 Growing up having only one hand 00:00:32.857 --> 00:00:36.574 and being able to be a golfer at a level that 00:00:36.574 --> 00:00:39.523 most people can't come close to achieving 00:00:39.523 --> 00:00:40.941 even with two hands. 00:00:40.941 --> 00:00:44.574 It's been the drive for me in my personal life 00:00:44.574 --> 00:00:49.125 and in my golf game, the difficulty of it, and 00:00:49.125 --> 00:00:50.874 ...being able to overcome. 00:00:50.874 --> 00:00:55.174 I would use athletics to kind of make myself even 00:00:55.174 --> 00:01:01.124 with the other kids I went to school with. 00:01:01.478 --> 00:01:02.873 People would give me a hard time. 00:01:02.873 --> 00:01:04.541 The way that I would deal with that is by 00:01:04.541 --> 00:01:08.558 excelling at in sports and beating them at sports. 00:01:08.558 --> 00:01:11.857 When it got to golf, golf is the hardest thing 00:01:11.857 --> 00:01:17.057 I could think of that you could be really good at 00:01:17.057 --> 00:01:17.958 with one hand. 00:01:17.958 --> 00:01:22.157 It's funny, most people would think I come from a family that are big time golfers, but honestly 00:01:22.157 --> 00:01:28.941 I'm not. I actually got my own dad involved in the game 00:01:28.941 --> 00:01:30.574 after I had taken it up. 00:01:30.574 --> 00:01:35.958 I grew up caddying, and the thousands of rounds 00:01:35.958 --> 00:01:38.273 caddying...that's the one thing that I picked up... 00:01:38.273 --> 00:01:44.741 ...if you want to learn about a guy, you want to get 00:01:44.741 --> 00:01:47.274 to know somebody, go out and play a round of golf 00:01:47.274 --> 00:01:50.156 with them. Because, by the end of day, you'll know 00:01:50.156 --> 00:01:53.324 exactly the person he is. 00:01:53.324 --> 00:01:57.058 Golf, for any body with any ability starting out 00:01:57.058 --> 00:02:03.823 is very difficult to learn and to get the feel for it. 00:02:03.823 --> 00:02:06.890 Ninety percent of folks out there that want to 00:02:06.890 --> 00:02:09.624 learn how to play golf...they'll give up on week one. 00:02:09.624 --> 00:02:15.224 Because it's just a very challenging thing to do 00:02:15.224 --> 00:02:23.907 The golf ball is only a small ball and you gotta 00:02:23.907 --> 00:02:28.357 hit it with a stick. It requires timing... 00:02:28.357 --> 00:02:31.657 ...it requires hand - eye coordination. 00:02:31.657 --> 00:02:35.274 I have a tattoo that says, "In Golf As in Life." 00:02:36.828 --> 00:02:38.991 The way that you go through life 00:02:40.406 --> 00:02:43.373 ...the decisions you make... the way you react... 00:02:43.373 --> 00:02:45.657 ...to problems that arise... the way you react to... 00:02:45.657 --> 00:02:48.757 ...good things happening to you... 00:02:48.757 --> 00:02:51.374 Throughout the day at a round of golf... 00:02:52.605 --> 00:02:54.890 ...you have obstacles to overcome 00:02:55.752 --> 00:02:58.458 ...somethings go your way...somethings don't... 00:02:58.658 --> 00:03:00.491 ...you catch good breaks... you catch bad breaks... 00:03:00.999 --> 00:03:03.108 Sometimes that guy you're playing gets lucky... 00:03:03.570 --> 00:03:06.990 There's so many things that come up in a round of golf. 00:03:06.990 --> 00:03:08.390 For me, it's almost like my mantra... 00:03:08.390 --> 00:03:10.057 ...what I live by... 00:03:12.642 --> 00:03:16.674 When I'm out golfing, it's so much practicing 00:03:16.674 --> 00:03:17.674 my golf swing... 00:03:17.674 --> 00:03:24.174 ...or practicing pulling off shots or what my score is... 00:03:24.174 --> 00:03:26.224 My goal, when I'm out on the golf course, is 00:03:26.224 --> 00:03:31.103 how well I handle my emotions and how well 00:03:31.641 --> 00:03:34.079 I handle the things I come up to throughout a round of golf. 00:03:34.310 --> 00:03:38.574 Golf is a mental game. 00:03:38.574 --> 00:03:41.458 And it's all about being able to control 00:03:41.458 --> 00:03:45.274 your emotions and it's about believing in yourself 00:03:45.274 --> 00:03:51.491 It's not what your score is or how well you're playing 00:03:51.491 --> 00:03:54.907 ...days when you can handle yourself and your 00:03:54.907 --> 00:03:57.657 emotions mentally... if you can do that... 00:03:57.657 --> 00:04:02.874 then, the scores and the good shots... they come 00:04:02.874 --> 00:04:04.641 with that. 00:04:04.641 --> 00:04:07.791 The one thing that allowed me to stick with it 00:04:07.791 --> 00:04:11.924 and to continue to pursue my dream 00:04:11.924 --> 00:04:15.674 was support that I got from my parents and my 00:04:15.674 --> 00:04:19.874 family. As absurd as it sounds for an 8 or 9 year old 00:04:19.874 --> 00:04:21.924 to say that I'm going to be a professional golfer and 00:04:21.924 --> 00:04:25.258 have one hand... not that I'm a little older and looking 00:04:25.258 --> 00:04:27.724 back, the support that they showed 00:04:27.724 --> 00:04:31.472 when I was younger, that's the reason why I'm still 00:04:31.472 --> 00:04:33.357 here today playing golf. 00:04:33.357 --> 00:04:39.723 They instilled that belief in myself when I was 00:04:39.723 --> 00:04:41.307 ...a little kid. 00:04:41.307 --> 00:04:44.644 And that has always been with me 00:04:44.644 --> 00:04:46.274 ...through the years. 00:04:46.274 --> 00:04:47.941 Everybody's got their story. 00:04:47.941 --> 00:04:51.941 This one's mine.