DMN Blog: Tony Romo able to break 100 in Torrey Pines challenge

[WoodysGirl]

Tony Romo beats Tiger Woods (wink, wink)

9:17 PM Fri, Jun 06, 2008 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Todd Archer http://www.***BANNED-URL***/blogs/images/email-icon.jpg E-mail http://www.***BANNED-URL***/blogs/images/email-icon.jpg News tips

Not really, but the Cowboys' quarterback was able to break 100 in his round on the South Course at Torrey Pines Friday.

At last year's U.S. Open, Woods, the best golfer in the world, said a top-flight amateur would not break 100 on a U.S. Open set up.

Romo shot an 84 (40-44). Justin Timberlake also broke 100 with a 98.
It will be interesting to see how many professionals have a higher score than Romo's 84 next week. The round will be aired on NBC on June 15 prior to the final round of the real U.S. Open.




http://www.***BANNED-URL***/images/ice3/icons/blog.gif Comments (1) Leave comment | http://www.***BANNED-URL***/blogs/images/email-icon.jpg E-mail entry

 

[WoodysGirl]

They Played Their Hearts Out

No birdies and no putts longer than 20-feet were made, but Tony Romo (84) and Justin Timberlake (98) managed to break 100 while Matt Lauer (100) and Contest winner John Atkinson (114) didn't


Romo and Timberlake give Atkinson (center) a good ribbing on the first tee.

By John Strege
Photo By Scott Halleran/Getty Images
June 6, 2008
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge Friday was instructive, which is to say that it met its own challenge, and in the process proved that Tiger Woods was right.

A year ago, Woods said at Oakmont CC, site of the 2007 U.S. Open, that a 10-handicap couldn't break 100 there. That became the challenge for a foursome of single-digit amateurs, who played the South Course at Torrey Pines, site of the 2008 U.S. Open next week, largely from the back tees Friday.

The damage report: Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo (whose handicap index is 2.2) shot a 13-over par 84; pop star Justin Timberlake (a 6.0) shot 98; Today Show host Matt Lauer (a 6.2) shot 100; and John Atkinson (an 8.1), who was chosen from a pool of 56,000 contest entrants nationwide, shot 114.

"They're inhuman, how well they stripe it," Timberlake said of the professionals who -- albeit better armed on the talent front -- will face the same challenge next week. "We're just proud to be a part of actually showing it."

Not a single birdie was made, and the longest putt holed was a 20-footer Lauer made for par at the last hole. Atkinson failed to make a single par, yet he was the winner by anyone's measure. A year ago, Atkinson was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer.

His own personal gallery included an estimated 60 people, family and friends from his hometown of Omaha, who spent the six hours, 15 minutes it took the foursome to complete the round loudly encouraging his every swing. So did the the celebrities in his group and their caddies, who included Greg Norman (looping for Lauer) and Butch Harmon (working for Timberlake).

"I had a great time," Atkinson said. "I had a certain score that I wanted to hit, but that wasn't going to happen. But I feel it's like life -- you've just got to keep going."

Atkinson bogeyed each of the first four holes, according to a game plan that called for him to hit hybrids off the tee to keep the ball in the fairway and to play for bogey. After that, "the wheels came off," he said, and he was unable to reattach them.

"For a guy who's played one member-guest [tournament] in his life it was pretty impressive," said his own caddie, renowned sport psychologist Bob Rotella. "I think he felt very good about it."

The course also won, incidentally. "It's hard to tell anyone how thick that rough is," Rotella said. Atkinson played one shot from the rough when he couldn't actually see his ball, he said.

Romo, clearly the best player in the group and one who has entered U.S. Open qualifiers, was in thick rough off the tee at 18 and swung as hard as he could with a sand wedge and advanced the ball only about 20 feet and into a fairway bunker.

"I think we've got the rough about right," said Mike Davis, the USGA's senior director rules and competition.

 

[Rampage]

hey Romo, Tom Brady said an undrafted free agent qb could never win the superbowl. (wink,wink)

 

[reddyuta]

hey Romo, Tom Brady said an undrafted free agent qb could never win the superbowl. (wink,wink)

lol.that was a good one.

 

[kmp77]

Timberlake looks like he's about to eat 3 children in the audience.

 

[dcfanatic]

I know Romo said he wanted to break 80. I think shooting an 84 is impressive for Romo and it wouldn't surprise me if his score isn't better than a lot of named Pro's next week.

 

[the kid 05]

imagine how good he'll be when he is done playing football and spends everyday playing golf, the next tiger

 

[slotshot]

Has Timberlake given up his singing career for one as a MIME?

Maybe that's a good thing...

 

[jobberone]

Those kinds of courses are the hardest to par. Not only are they a challenge as far as striking the ball but they are incredibly hard to score on. Lots of people can strike the ball well enough to play professionally. Obviously a lot of those same people cannot score despite that. That 84 would likely be around par on most courses.

 

[dbair1967]

awesome round for Romo...the guys got skillz

as an aside, golf is something I wished I'd have listened to my father about and picked up at an early age. I hated it for years and thought it was a waste of time, two years ago I took a couple of clients for a round and for whatever reason became absolutely hooked. I have a L O N G way to go before I ever see a 2.2 handicap though

David

 

[Hostile]

Timberlake looks like he's about to eat 3 children in the audience.

I was thinking he looks like the Hamburglar.

Impressive feet by Romo. No doubt about it. That course is murder.

 

[sago1]

While Romo probably glad he hit an 84, suspect he also somewhat disappointed cause he usually hits from the low 60s to high 70s. Also bet Jerry loves all the attention Romo gets as he plays golf, throws out a pitch at the Cubs game, etc. Jerry's a great businessman/marketer of the Dallas Cowboys & Romo's activities (which always cite Dallas Cowboys in front of Romo's name) constantly keep/draw a lot of focus on America's team; we all know Jerry loves free advertising.

 

[Jimz31]

Imagine how could he would be if he were JUST a golfer. Tiger who?

 

[WoodysGirl]

As promised, Justin Timberlake took to the links yesterday afternoon for Golf Digest's U.S. Open Challenge. Justin wasn't the only celebrity present, of course - he shared the links with the likes of Dallas Cowboys QB/noted Jessica Simpson paramour Tony Romo and Today Show host Matt Lauer.
Fortunately for the pop star, he managed to exceed Tiger Woods' expectations - barely - by shooting a 106 - or a 98 after taking his 8.1 handicap into consideration. More importantly, he had a grand old time out on the course, horsing around the whole day and smiling more than we've seen him smile in months - well, except for when he was lining up a shot, of course!

The fourth member of Justin's foursome was a contest winner named John Atkinson - and as you can see, John's three famous golf buddies made sure he got plenty of attention, too!

(By the way, how crazy is it that Tony shot an 84??!?! That's an insanely low score for an amateur to rack up on a course like Oakmont!)

http://x17online.com/celebrities/justin_timberlake/justin_tony_open_up-06072008.php

 

[CrazyCowboy]

hey Romo, Tom Brady said an undrafted free agent qb could never win the superbowl. (wink,wink)

I like it.....:starspin