Tony Romo easily defends his title at the American Century Championship

Ryan Young
·Staff writer
Updated ·3 min read
For the second-straight year, former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo won the American Century Championship at Lake Tahoe.
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Tony Romo easily fended off the field at Edgewood Tahoe on Sunday to defend his title at the American Century Championship, picking up his second straight win at the celebrity golf tournament.

Romo finished with 71 points in the Modified Stableford scoring system, the same score the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback recorded last summer. He picked up 20 points on Sunday alone, and cruised on the back nine en route to the win.

“I knew it was going to be tough for guys to get a lot of birdies on that back nine,” Romo said, via the Reno Gazette Journal. “I knew pretty much we had it locked up from that point. So from there, you enjoy the day and try not to do anything silly and just protect — probably a little too much coming in.”

Mark Mulder came in second place with 61 points in the annual event. Mardy Fish and Derek Lowe were close behind with 56 points. The three-day event was full of big names in the sports world, like Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry, Arizona Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, Philadelphia Eagles coach Doug Pederson and NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice, among others. Alfonso Ribeiro and Justin Timberlake hit the course, too, but neither gave Romo a run for his money.

The former quarterback-turned-CBS announcer has long attempted to break into the professional golf world. He has attempted to qualify for the U.S. Open multiple times, but to no avail, and failed to qualify for the Korn Ferry Tour — the PGA Tour’s developmental Tour, previously known as the Web.com Tour.

He’s played in the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in the Dominican Republic twice and at the AT&T Byron Nelson earlier this year on the PGA Tour, too, however has yet to make the cut.

But this time out — especially with his big lead — he was able to just enjoy himself out on the golf course.

“[Sunday] felt like the back nine, we were just kind of having fun. So it almost felt like we're kind of walking in — because I think the tournament had ended a little bit by that point," Romo said, via the Reno Gazette Journal. “Last year it was much more every shot mattered, but that's the goal. I think you want to walk up the last nine and just enjoy it and not really have to spend eight minutes studying this chip or putt or this shot. You know, we're going to be OK.

“That's why you try and practice so much so you can come out and enjoy a day like today and try and end the tournament early. I came out and played really, really well early in the round today. I was 3 under through the first four, and I missed a four-foot birdie putt on 1. So it was pretty systematic.”

Romo is now the fourth person to defend his title at the celebrity event, joining Rick Rhoden, Dan Quinn and Mulder.

While he said he loves the tournament, Romo is excited to get back home and kick his feet up before the football season starts.

“I think I deserve a day off from from golf,” Romo said, via the Reno Gazette Journal. “I played well all week, good enough to give myself a chance to enjoy the back nine walk.”

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