Tony Romo finishes last in PGA Tour debut

Maybe NFL quarterbacks shouldn’t test their golf skills against some of the best players in the world.

Tony Romo didn’t embarrass himself on a Mark Rypien level in his PGA Tour debut at the Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship in the Dominican Republic this week, but he certainly didn’t threaten the leader board. The top, that is. Instead, Romo found himself in last place after a disappointing 10-over 82 in the second round on Friday. He finished the tournament with a two-day total 159 (15-over) and missed the cut of 1-under by 16 strokes.

He was 28 strokes back of leader Brice Garnett (-13). Fellow amateur Rhadames Pena of the Dominican Republic finished second to last at 9-over — six shots ahead of Romo.

For Romo, his tournament began to unravel on the back nine Thursday. He was evenpar through 12 holes, but finished with a 5-over 77.

He had an even tougher go of it Friday.

Romo, who started on the back nine, had a par putt on his opening hole lip out. That marked an opening stretch of six consecutive bogeys. A double-bogey on the par-4 18th led to an 8-over 44 on Romo’s first nine.

The second nine didn’t treat him much better. Romo double-bogeyed the par-3 second, although he carded one of two birdies on the par-5 fourth. That momentum didn’t last long. Romo double-bogeyed the fifth, birdied the sixth and then closed out with three consecutive pars.

Romo, who earned entry into the tournament as a sponsor’s exemption, gained the respect of his playing partners and those within the golf world for attempting to compete at golf’s top level.

And he fared better than Rypien. Rypien had a forgettable PGA Tour outing at the 1992 Kemper Open. The former Washington Redskins quarterback posted a 29-over par and missed the cut by 28 shots.