Inman: John Daly, Tony Romo make striking pairing
By Cam Inman
Bay Area News Group
Posted: 02/11/2010 08:59:21 PM PST
Updated: 02/12/2010 09:29:11 AM PST
PEBBLE BEACH — All square with two holes remaining.
At least that's how the mythical, match-play scorecard looked between golf's zany caricature, John Daly, and his amateur partner in Thursday's opening round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Daly's partner is no CEO schmo. It is Tony Romo, the Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback who moonlights in his offseasons as a scratch golfer.
Daly vs. Romo, it honestly wasn't. They acted like pals all day, read each other's putts and exchanged high fives, and Romo's clothes didn't seem to mind the third-hand smoke from Daly's cigarettes.
But Daly vs. Romo was a fun game-within-the-game story line to track during their 51/2 hour scenic loop at the Monterey Peninsula Country Club.
At times, you couldn't tell which was the pro, which the amateur — which wasn't surprising.
In the end, a slimmed-down Daly (mythically) trumped Romo, soothing any wild notion that the career-in-crisis pro actually could be upstaged by some two-sport phenom posing as an amateur.
"John's a good guy and you want to see him do well," said Romo, who contributed two birdies to their cause. "He's fun, but he's competitive. It's a good combination."
Daly's life seems forever strapped to that gigantic yellow golf bag of his. Two weeks ago, after missing another weekend cut, he vowed, "I'm done."
But his career might never end. He still can wow galleries,
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not to mention corporate sponsors and reality-television producers.
Romo's life is far from ordinary, too. His day job is demanding. Three Pro Bowl appearances and one long-awaited playoff win are enough to keep him in positive favor with that so-called "America's Team."
He's not ready to give all that up for a second career as a full-time golfer, even though he's tried qualifying for U.S. Opens (and should again this year at Pebble Beach Golf Links).
"No, I'm not that good," Romo said with his ever-present smile. "I'm just trying to improve and have fun."
Daly made a birdie putt on No. 18 to finish at 69, and at 1 under he settled in midway among the 156-pro field.
"To hit just about every fairway and be 1 under, especially after being 3 under, it's not a good feeling," Daly said.
His wild scorecard: One eagle, three birdies, 11 pars, two bogeys, one double bogey — plus a few cigarettes, one Diet Coke and a crazy pair of red-white-and-blue pants.
When Daly struggled on four holes midway through the road, Romo carried the team, highlighted by a birdie on No. 10 in front of the Shore Course's largest audience. When Romo birdied the 15th hole, Daly answered with one, too.
Romo's official round (based on the pro-am scoring format): 65.
As had been his M.O. with the Cowboys, Romo let a good round slip away at the end.
On 17, Romo's booming drive — from the white tee, not the pro tips — sprayed right into a small stream. Rather than drop out of the water hazard, he plunged his right foot into the stream and took a death-defying whack at his ball.
And "Clank!" was the sound of his ball hitting a metal bridge — only 6 feet in front of him, and the ricochet easily could have hit Romo in the head. Instead, his ball took a sharp left all the way across the fairway and landed near an out-of-bounds marker.
Romo's ensuing lob shot landed in a bunker, and because this is a pro-am, he picked up his ball rather than try for a sand-saving par. Daly, after all, would be making par for their team, anyhow.
Romo's drive on 18: A screamer straight through the fairway and into the rough near a house party. He recovered nicely and even attempted a birdie putt. Romo missed his birdie short. Daly made his. End of Round 1.
"He's a good player. We had a good time," Daly said. "I had it going for a bit. I putted badly all day. It was nice to finish off with one (successful birdie putt)."
It starts all over again at 9:17 a.m. at Spyglass Hill today, and at 8:22 a.m. Saturday at Pebble Beach. After that, who knows what the future holds for these two fellas.
Contact Cam Inman at
cinman@bayareanewsgroup.com. Follow him at twitter.com/CamInman.
http://www.mercurynews.com/sports-headlines/ci_14386906?nclick_check=1
