Tony Romo’s latest attempt to reach the Korn Ferry Tour ended with a disqualification, not a score. The 46-year-old was DQ’d from a Korn Ferry Tour Q-School pre-qualifier for signing for a lower score than he made on two holes, GOLF.com reported.
The final round was played Friday, Oct. 2, at The Club at Forest Ridge in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. That was the same day CBS and Romo announced they were parting ways after nine years with Romo as the network’s lead NFL analyst. He was arrested in Wisconsin in July on suspicion of operating while intoxicated and has since pleaded no contest to the charge.
The pre-qualifier is the first step in a series of tournaments for golfers without status chasing Korn Ferry Tour playing privileges. Romo has taken that step several times. He opened with rounds of 76 and 75 and sat 13 shots off the 36-hole lead, but a strong final round would have put him inside the top 37 and ties and sent him to the first stage of Q-School.
Romo played the final round alongside Ethan Smith, a college golfer from Nebraska playing as an amateur, and Brandon Rice, a pro from Louisiana. Smith shot 80 and Rice shot 75, taking both out of the running. Romo was the best of the group, turning in 1-over 37.
The threesome’s pace was slow enough that the group was put on the clock. Romo made no birdies on his second nine and posted another 37. He signed for a 74, which gave him rounds of 76, 75 and 74 and left him three shots short of advancing.
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Rice served as Romo’s marker. In a phone interview with Ryan French of Monday Q Info, Rice said he believed Romo made a 5 on his 16th hole, but Romo told him in scoring that it was a 4. Romo signed for the 4.
Rob Keller, a PGA Tour rules official for 12 years who oversees the pre-qualifier, walked GOLF.com through what happened next. The event is run locally by Oklahoma’s South Central PGA section, and one of the section’s pros had monitored Romo’s group as it dragged toward the finish. Keller did not name the pro.
That pro checked Romo’s hole-by-hole scores online Friday night. He recalled Romo three-putting for bogey 5 on both his 16th and 17th holes. Romo had signed for a 4 on each.
Keller interviewed Smith and Rice by phone, and one of them confirmed Romo made 5 on both holes. Keller then called Romo and asked him to recall his play on those two holes.
Under the Rules of Golf, signing for a higher score than you made means the higher score stands. In PGA Tour-sanctioned play, and by modified local rule, a player who signs for a lower score and does not fix it within 15 minutes of leaving the scoring area is disqualified.
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Keller described a rushed scoring process in which Romo signed the card Rice handed him without checking it carefully. Keller suggested Romo was frustrated by the slow-play warning, his inability to get a birdie run going and everything else happening in his life. Keller said Romo took responsibility for the incorrect card and spoke highly of how the event was run.
“The [procedure] I like is, we want eyes on the scorecards,” Keller told GOLF.com.
Keller noted Romo would not have advanced either way. Romo’s agent did not immediately respond to GOLF.com’s request for comment by email and voicemail.
Romo’s previous high-profile professional start came in 2018, when he played a PGA Tour event in the Dominican Republic on a sponsor’s exemption as an amateur. He shot 77 and 82 and missed the cut by 16 shots. At Forest Ridge, the official result is a DQ, and per the Rules of Golf, Romo does not have a third-round score.
