Tony Romo entered PGA TOUR Q-School presented by Korn Ferry pre-qualifying this week at The Club at Forest Ridge in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. But his first two rounds have left him outside the projected qualifying positions, with only 18 holes remaining.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
The attempt is the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback’s first public appearance since his July 23, 2026 arrest in Wisconsin on suspicion of OWI after leaving a golf tournament. He pleaded no contest on Sept. 1, and CBS and Romo have now mutually agreed to part ways. Amid all these struggles, Romo is attempting to turn his golf ability into a second professional career, but he is already facing an uphill battle.
He opened with a four-over 76, which featured six bogeys and two birdies. The bogeys came on holes 1, 4, 6, 8, 12, and 16, while he carded birdies on the 14th and the 18th. His second round was slightly better, as he finished with a three-over-par 75 despite a double bogey on the par-five seventh. Collectively, he is seven over par across the two rounds and sits tied for 49th on the leaderboard.
Q-School is a multi-stage professional qualification process. Pre-qualifying is just the start, and advancing requires a finish of 37th or better, including ties. The projected cut line is four over par. Romo now has only 18 holes remaining, and he needs a round of three-under 69 to make the cut. Even if he makes the cut, he will still have to get through the first, second, and final stages.
The Final Stage awards PGA Tour cards to the top five and ties, while other finishers can earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour or PGA Tour Americas. Romo still has a long way to go.
Romo has repeatedly shown that he is an unusually strong celebrity golfer. However, his appearances at competitive events have exposed a substantial gap between being elite among athletes and being good enough to progress through Q-School.
He did advance once, in 2018, when he got through pre-qualifying after shooting 2-over 218 at Lantana Golf Club in Argyle, Texas. But then he failed to advance through First Stage, shooting 13-over 297 at the Garland, Texas site. In fact, he played the first two rounds of the First Stage alongside the current World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler.
In 2022, he finished tied for 65th at a pre-qualifying site and did not advance. In 2023, Romo returned to Q-School pre-qualifying at The Bridges Golf Club in Gunter, Texas, but withdrew after two rounds of 6 over. Back in 2005, he even attempted to qualify for the U.S. Open but fell short by one shot. This shows that he is a persistent golfer who keeps coming back to the competitive game.
He also played at the 2026 Wisconsin State Amateur Championship. He carded rounds of 79-78-80-82 to finish at 35-over par, tied for 73rd. His closing 82 was 12 over par, and he earned $60 prize money from the event.
Golf is his attempt at a second professional career. Before pursuing golf professionally, he was an NFL quarterback. He joined the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2003. Later, in 2006, he became the franchise’s starting quarterback and public face.
Romo was one of the NFL’s most productive quarterbacks of his era, but he also suffered multiple injuries. He missed much of the 2015 season with a broken collarbone and then fractured a vertebra on the third play of his only preseason appearance in 2016. That back injury cost him his standing: he lost the starting job to rookie Dak Prescott.
With Prescott leading the Cowboys to a 13-3 regular-season record, Romo remained the backup and did not appear in a regular-season game in 2016. In April 2017, the Cowboys released Romo at his request after deciding to retire and pursue broadcasting.
Romo moved into broadcasting almost immediately. CBS Sports hired him as its lead NFL game analyst for the 2017 season, pairing him with play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz. However, he never stopped competing in golf, except during his NFL playing years.
Tony Romo’s latest Q-School attempt reflects both his continued passion for golf and the steep challenge of turning that passion into a professional career. With 18 holes left, he still has a chance to advance, but his history in competitive golf shows how difficult the path ahead is. Romo remains an elite celebrity golfer, but competitive professional golf demands a different skill level.