a round with Will

Connell Barrett (writer for Golf Magazine) recently had the priveledge of playing a round with Will Ferrell and his college frat buddies. He documented the day and published it in this month's issue. What a priveledge it must have been. Here is a summary of it:

Will begins the day by walking up to the tee and proudly proclaiming "I'm currently 127,000th in the world...Tiger can hear my footsteps. He knows I'm coming for him. This is my secret weapon." Will then cradles his treasured 4-wood with a sweet-spot the size of a postage stamp. "She's a bee-yoot. I keep her in the bag to psyche out my opponents. Make's them think I'm 87 years old. this baby is goin in the Smithsonian."

As he 'warms up', Barrett begins the interview, "Hey Will, what's your power secret?" Ferrell responds "Every morning I put a half cup of steroids into my Sanka. And I grip the club as hard as I possibly can, until I see the whites of my knuckles." Barrett follows up with, "What about your first-tee Jitters?" Chauvinistically, Will says "Simple. Before my opening drive, I throw up for two minutes in the bushes. That calms me right down."

A round with Will is much like it would be in a movie, full of sarcastic skits throughout the round. Ferrell doesn't get to play much, but he only plays with his college Frat bro's. It's just a normal eight-some - Ferrell says "yeah, it really speeds up the play." They joke around, drink lots of beers, and shed clothes throughout the round. Ferrell says, "yeah, we don't get asked to play much anywhere...I can't figure out why?"

As he stands on the tee, he makes good contact hitting a good 240 yard fade down the right side of the fairway. "Sweet mother's milk!" he yells. "Right from the teat!" But oh no, it's in the middle of the fairway. Will walks to his ball and says "This lie always gives me trouble, I'm never here." He then shanks his approach 50 yards short of green into a downhill bunker. Barrett says "Will, you know this is the hardest shot in golf, right?" Ferrell says "Yeah, and I love it. I relish the opportunity...hahah....how do i hit this?" As he finally reaches the green, he stands over a 20 foot putt and then asks "Is this a par 8 or par 9?" His friends respond, "Par 9". "Sweet," Ferrell responds, "Then this is for eagle!"

As they walk off the green, Ferrell sulks b/c he three-putted "for par." He notices an unmistakable white and orange storefront sign glaring in the near distance, a sign only found on a public course. "hey, anybody want anything from Home Depot? A circular saw? Power drill? It's on Golf magazine?"

The group jokes around the entire round, with Ferrell performing bits throughout. But all his friends say that is is Will 'just being Will'. One friend says "he's always been like this, ever since I've known him." In fact, Ferrell testifies that it was his fraternity brothers who urged him into acting. They say he was constantly pulling stuff that made every laugh hard enough, that they urged him to do full time. At USC homecoming one year (at the Coliseum mind you) he showed up in only a bath robe stumbled down to the front row swigging a bottle of tequila (it was actually apple juice) and kept shouting "GO TROJANS! RUUUUUUUUN! RUUUUUUN!!" Another time many of his friends were in an English Literature class together. The professor was lecturing on something boring and they hear a knock on the door. Ferrell walks in wearing a janitor's uniform, welding goggles, a hard hat, big rubber gloves, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, and holding a bucket. He said, "Someone puking in here? I got a call someone puked!"

Ferrell is the same in person as he is on the screen. He never leaves character, in fact his frat bro's just drag it out more with him. He's a classy guy with them, never flaunting anything or boasting in his success. In fact one of Will's friends is a cancer survivor who lost both of his legs from the illness. Will befriended him throughout and plays with him to help raise money for cancer awareness. As they play the round, Will's cancer surviving friend Craig Pollard wins the most skins and takes home the big pot. He sunk a put on the 16th to seal the win. "Not bad," Ferrell says. "Think how good you'd be if you had your feet!"