Romo leads in celebrity challenge at Torrey Pines
Dallas quarterback Tony Romo, left, and singer Justin Timberlake wait on the first tee during the Golf Digest U.S. Open Challenge at the Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, Calif.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo failed to qualify for the U.S. Open, but he showed up Friday at the Torrey Pines South Course anyway to prove that he can at least break 100.
Romo joined a foursome that included singer Justin Timberlake, Today host Matt Lauer, and a regular guy from Omaha, in an effort to disprove Tiger Woods' theory that it takes a pro to beat the course.
The beefy quarterback, who boasts a 2.2 handicap index, played the first nine holes in 5-over 40, barely breaking a sweat despite the pounding midday sun.
Lauer, with a 6.2 handicap index, came back from an early quad to make it to the second nine at 13-over 48.
"It's pretty clear what I'm doing wrong," he chuckled at the fifth hole. "I've got to hit bogeys instead of quads."
Timberlake, outfitted in a dashing black trilby hat and tuxedo-stripe pants, started hamming it up with the gallery once his taut dancer's swing started to go south, blowing on the ball as it rimmed the seventh hole without any luck and asking the crowd to approve his re-drop into the rough at the edge of the fairway.
A 6.0 handicap index, Timberlake finished the front nine at 17-over 52.
He couldn't blame his troubles on Mother Nature, either, after he skipped off the course after teeing off at the first hole and making a beeline for the men's room.
"Excuse me! I knew I forgot something," he called out to laughing spectators in his soft Tennessee drawl.
But the biggest cheers went to medical salesman John Atkinson, who was chosen from 56,374 essay applicants to play in the challenge. Atkinson, who is undergoing treatment for advanced inoperable lung cancer, brought a 56-person cheering section with him, who shouted "C'mon, Johnny!" when his ball hit the green and gave sympathetic claps and "awws" when he disappeared into the bunkers.
His friend, Dave Leahy, said the crowd joined Atkinson as he trained in Omaha to prepare him for the pressure playing in front of an audience.
"He was out there every Saturday with 50 people pretending to be the gallery and wearing a mike so he'd get used to it," said Leahy.
Atkinson, a lanky, loose player with an 8.1 handicap index, started promisingly, matching Romo and Timberlake bogey-for-bogey, but was trailing by the ninth hole, when he hit 10 coming out of sand for double-par. That brought him to 24-over 59.
He didn't seem fussed, giving his caddy, sports psychologist Bob Rotella, a sweet shrug after chasing the ball around the green before making his putt on the fifth hole.
"It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience for him," said his wife, Lori. "It doesn't matter."
Woods told reporters last year at Oakmont, generally considered the toughest golf course in America, that no 10-handicapper could break 100. With Torrey Pines refurbished into a par-71, 7,643-yard "monster" — the longest in U.S. Open history — it served as a suitable stand-in for the challenge, hosted by Golf Digest magazine and NBC.
Torrey Pines, named for the rare gnarled trees that dot the cliffside course, will be the first city-owned golf course to host a U.S. Open starting next Thursday