Larry Fitzgerald holds youth golf camp at Hiawatha Golf Course, 24 years after Tiger Woods did the same
MINNEAPOLIS – Before he became one of the most proficient pass-catchers in NFL history, Larry Fitzgerald first picked up a golf club when he was 13 years old at Hiawatha Golf Course in Minneapolis.
"I was an inquisitive young person just like a lot of these kids are," said Fitzgerald. "Just wanted to have an opportunity to do things that I wanted to do. And be exposed to experiences that I probably would never have access to."
Fitzgerald's first lesson came from an overqualified teacher.
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"Tiger Woods had a First Tee event here in 1999," said Fitzgerald. "Right here on the driving range over here, he put the club in my hands and showed me how to grip the club. I didn't start playing immediately at that time, but I always had a great affinity for the game."
In 1999, just weeks away from his second major championship, Woods hosted a golf clinic in South Minneapolis. Twenty-four-years later, Fitzgerald is presenting his own First Tee camp, at the same course.
"It's very surprising for me because I've never met a football player before and I can't wait to meet him," said Alexis Gilbert, an attendee at Wednesday's camp.
Fitzgerald's foundation awarded 10 scholarships to the First Tee.
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"We're teaching life skills and leadership training," said Jim Triggs, the First Tee Minnesota CEO. "So we have a whole full-year curriculum that these kids, these 10 kids that will be chosen will not only learn the game of golf, but they're gonna learn some great life skills along the way, through First Tee."
Like the generation before, some new golfers, picking up a club for the first time.