Romo stumbles to 5-over 77 in PGA Tour debut

Tony Romo shot a 5-over 77 during the first round of the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in the Dominican Republic on Thursday.

Romo was ahead of only one player, Guy Boros (7-over), when he walked off the course, and was 14 shots behind leader Brice Garnett, who shot a 9-under 63.

“Oh, I was nervous,” Romo told the Golf Channel about his feelings on the first tee. “I think I knew going in that I was going to be trying to rely on your mechanics and your fundamentals and just swing. But I three-putted like three times, twice early in the round … that’s just nerves.”

Playing as an amateur on a sponsor’s exemption, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current CBS Sports analyst was 2-over through two holes, but battled back to get to even par through 12 holes. However, he bogeyed the 13th hole and double bogeyed the par-5 14th hole to fall to 3-over par.

Romo bogeyed each of the next two holes, and was actually fortunate not to fare worse. He pushed his drives on both holes well right and had to hit provisionals. Romo found his initial balls barely in play and did well to scramble for the bogeys.

“Two poor tee balls, just didn’t commit to it,” Romo said. “Ultimately, just got put in a tough spot where you’re just trying to a make par. I hit a lot of good shots, and they ended up a couple of times in poor spots. But you learn the golf course as you play it throughout the week, and then you just have to putt. Three-putts add up. I think that’s something I’ll go back and work on a little bit, and maybe I’ll be better tomorrow.”

He managed to par the final two holes to close his round at 5-over.

“Ultimately, over 18 holes and 72, your flaws start to show at some point,” Romo said. “That’s why you compete, though. You compete to know how to practice, then you go practice so it improves the next time you step out here. I had a chance to be under par there for a while. Then two or three shots on the back nine cost me, but that’s golf.”

The Corales Puntacana Resort & Club event was played on the Web.com Tour the previous two years, with the cut line falling at 6-under and 5-under. With the course now being attacked by PGA Tour players, Romo faces long odds to even approach the cut line after Friday’s second round.

Garnett played in the Web.com event last year and acknowledged that helped during Thursday’s round.

“To me, this is a second-shot kind of golf course,” Garnett said. “Everyone is in play off the tee, then it kind of comes down to a putting competition.”

Garnett is attempting to build on his strong 2017 season on the Web.com Tour, where he was a two-time winner. Starting on the back nine, Garnett birdied six of his first eight holes to make the turn in 30 shots. He added three more birdies on his back nine to complete his bogey-free round.

“It was huge,” he said. “I kind of had to readjust my goals and my mind set going into last year, and kind of start with a happy place. It was great. It gave me all kinds of confidence, and it taught me a lot about my game. When you get to 6-under through nine (holes) out there, it teaches you to keep on the gas pedal, and that’s what I tried to do today.”

–Field Level Media