Despite missing cut at AT&T Byron Nelson, Tony Romo remains encouraged with golf game
Tony Romo had a few impressive stretches this week at Trinity Forest Golf Club.
The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback — competing in the AT&T Byron Nelson — chipped in on the 570-yard par 5 seventh for eagle on Thursday, and put together seven pars in his opening nine on Friday.
Yet his successes on his home course were nowhere near enough.
Romo followed up an opening-round 76 with a three-over 74 on Friday, which brought him to eight-over for the tournament. He’ll finish in a tie for 148th, well below the cut.
Still, even though he’s near the bottom of the leaderboard and failed to reach the weekend, it marked Romo’s best outing on the PGA Tour to date.
“I think more than anything, I got a sense to be able to hit a lot of high-quality shots under what is a pressure situation for me," Romo said, via ESPN. "That's encouraging and shows that the work you're doing holds up when it counts. And from there, you just got to find the little things that allow you to keep things going and not derail a round. Just small stuff, technique-wise, but we're coming on.”
The AT&T Byron Nelson was Romo’s third attempt on the PGA Tour. He made his debut at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in the Dominican Republic last year and returned in March, though he missed the cut by 17 strokes.
Even though he’s now failed to reach the weekend for the third time on the PGA Tour, Romo isn’t discouraged. He’ll attempt to qualify for next month’s U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, and is still feeling confident.
“This game is small when it comes to your ability to improve from even one day to the next or one week or one month,” Romo said, via the Golf Channel. “You can really make a ton of improvement with the right technique or practice. It's like a puzzle. You can figure it out and you can really improve. It's just you got to go try and dissect it and figure it out. If you can, then you can shoot scores that you're proud of.”
Tour pros impressed with Romo’s game
Despite his struggles, Romo impressed golf pros this week in Dallas.
“His golf is really good,” said Dylan Frittelli, who played with Romo and is 3-under through two rounds. “I've heard from other guys who've played with him in mini-Tour stuff and amateur events in the States, 'Oh, he's pretty good. He can hold his own.' But I didn't expect that, to be honest. He's got all the pieces to the puzzle to be a really good golfer.”
Frittelli said Romo fit in well on the course, too, something that can be a struggle for inexperience golfers.
While Romo had an advantage and plenty of fan support — as the tournament was held in Dallas, where he played the entirety of his 13-year NFL career — Frittelli said he sees a successful future for Romo on Tour.
“He was used to the people and the crowd and the way the course is playing,” Frittelli said, via ESPN. “So a lot more experience will definitely help. If he keeps making jumps like that, I mean I'm not going to say he's going to get on Tour, but he can definitely play some mini-Tour stuff, make some money and get some invites here and there and surely make the cut. If he keeps playing, he's definitely going to be able to make a cut on the PGA Tour.”
Romo’s other playing partner, Scottie Scheffler, fired a 69 on Friday and is currently in a tie for 13th heading into the weekend.
Scheffler has played competitively with Romo before. The pair teed it up last fall at the First Stage of the Web.com Tour’s qualifiers. While Romo failed to advance out of the First Stage, Scheffler said his game was much improved since then.
And that’s really all he can ask for.
“It's drastically different,” Scheffler said, via ESPN. “When we played together at First Stage, he was going through a lot of swing changes, so he didn't really have his best game. But this week, those first nine holes, I was pretty impressed. He's made a lot of improvements. I mean even from when I played with him a couple of months ago, he's gotten a lot better.”
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