Romo pulling away at American Century Championship

Tahoe Onstage
The 17th hole is the place to be on Saturday at the American Century Championship.

Tony Romo is pulling away from the pack at the American Century Championship. 

Romo led the way on Day 1 with 26 points on the modified Stableford scoring system. The defending ACC champion followed it up with 25 points on Friday. 

Mardy Fish and Derek Lowe are tied for second place and trail Romo 51-42 on the modified Stableford scoring system heading into Sunday. 

“I felt good about the game coming in and it’s held up this week,” Romo said. “The swing feels the same. It’s nice when you’re not tinkering and trying to find stuff to fix, you just try to play the shot and sometimes you execute it sometimes you don’t. Overall, it was a good day. … You just have to be aggressive.” 

Romo lagged behind on the back nine with a bogey on 13 and a double bogey on 14. He rebounded with two birdies on 15 and 16. Lowe had an opportunity to close the gap on 16, but missed a gimme birdie putt and settled for par. 

“You’re going to go through adversity in 18 holes and for sure in a golf tournament,” he said. “That was the one little stretch where I felt like the momentum shifted a bit. …. There’s going to be things that don’t go your way and you just go right back in.” 

The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback has a chance to grasp back-to-back ACC championships. He plans on sticking to his normal routine. 

“I try to take the same approach everyday regardless of finish,” he said. “I’ll look up at (Hole) 13 to see where I’m at, but until then I’m just going to play golf and birdie every hole. That’s the plan.” 

Tahoe Onstage
A young fan gets an autographed golf ball at the American Century Championship.

Fish jumped up the leaderboard with 25 points on Day 2. He was tied for ninth on Day 1. Fish overcame two bogies on the front nine and strung together three birdies and five pars over the final nine holes. 

“A couple of things went in for me,” he said. “I still missed out on some 6-foot putts but I hit it closer to the pin today than I did yesterday. That made all the difference for me.” 

With Romo holding a nine-point lead, Fish is hoping a few things bounce his way. 

“I’m just hoping for a little bit of luck,” he said. “I’m gonna need quite the round tomorrow, that’s for sure.”

Lowe improved one spot for a tie to second place. He totaled 19 points on Friday with two birdies and 10 pars. 

“I started off rough and ended rough,” he said. “I was into the weeds on Hole 1 and was able to make a (bogey). … I didn’t putt as well as I did yesterday and couldn’t stretch some holes into birdies.” 

Lowe and Romo have introduced themselves over the last two days. Now, Lowe’s  prepared for a battle against the defending champ. 

“I look forward to tomorrow,” he said. “Having now been around (Tony) for a bit we don’t have to talk about where we live and the normal talk. I know what I have to do and I may have to force the issue at some point, but we’ll see.” 

There was plenty of movement along the leaderboard on Friday. 

Former Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams jumped all the way to sixth place with a 24-point outing. He was tied for 19th entering today’s contest. 

Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson tumbled all the way to 19th place, going -1 on the day. Peterson was second on Friday with 24 points.

Mark Mulder moved to fifth place with an 18 point finish on Saturday. Jack Wagner and John Smoltz remain in the mix. Wagner is fourth with 38 points. Smoltz is tied for sixth with 36 points. 

No matter the outcome, Dell and Stephen Curry always make things interesting at Edgewood Tahoe. 

Stephen hit a shot from the hospitality tent on Hole 14. The Golden State Warriors point guard followed it up with a second consecutive eagle on Hole 18. He has the only two eagles of the entire tournament. Dell  nailed a 40-foot putt to keep a three-point lead heading into Sunday.

“I was really upset with him that he chipped it in the water to begin with,” Stephen said.  “But in sweet Curry fashion, he knocked down a nice par about 50 feet — 40.”

There will be plenty of action on Sunday as the ACC heads into Round 3. 

— Isaiah Burrows

Notes: Dallas Stars forward Joe Pavelski and Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen don’t wear the same jerseys, but they share a few things on the links. Both players have 32 points and are tied for 11th. Pavelski and Thielen each had 15 points on Day 1 and 17 points on Day 2. … Charles Barkley fell back down to 87th place with -29 points. He had his best Day 1 with -12 on Friday … 14 contestants have 30 or more points through two days.

  • American Century Championship Leaderboard
    Tony Romo                 51 points
    Derek Lowe                42 points
    Mardy Fish                  42 points
    Jack Wagner               38 points
    Mark Mulder               37 points
    John Smoltz                36 points
    Kyle Williams            36 points
    Case Keenum              35 points
    Jeremy Roenick          34 points
    Dell Curry                   33 points

    Tahoe Onstage
    Tony Romo is in command seeking his second straight American Century Championship title.
    Michael Smyth / Tahoe Onstage photos

    Tahoe Onstage

    Tahoe Onstage
    Andrew, Mitch, Haley and an assortment of others arrived before dawn to claim their spots

    Tahoe Onstage

    Tahoe Onstage

ABOUT Isaiah Burrows

Isaiah Burrows
Tahoe Onstage sportswriter Isaiah Burrows also is a general assignment reporter for CarsonNow.org, an online news source in Carson City. He is a journalism major at the University of Nevada, Reno, where is the sports editor of the Sagebrush student newspaper. He is the Reno Aces beat writer for Tahoe Onstage.

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