A good portion of the follow-along-with-anything mainstream golf media has gone gaga over the Dallas Cowboys’ playoff-choking specialist Tony Romo shooting an 84 at Torrey Pines in supposed U.S. Open conditions. What’s gone largely unnoticed though is that it took Romo nearly seven hours to play his round and record that 84.

Seven hours for a round in which the foursome of Romo, real celebrity (and all-around good golf guy) Justin Timberlake, news reader Matt Lauer and courageous regular guy John Atkinson basically had the course to themselves. Sure, there were NBC TV cameras there and maybe they had to wait a few times for the TV guys, but nearly seven freaking hours to play one round of golf? A round in which Romo had nothing on the line except his seemingly unquenchable desire to make a public spectacle of himself?

And people get on PGA Tour guys for playing slow? At least, they’re playing for a living. Romo’s out there, trying to make sure that everyone knows he once dated - or is still dating (who cares either way) Jessica Simpson, hoping they caught him singing - ok, that’s the wrong word for it - Take Me Out to the Ballgame at Wrigley Field and just genuinely pleading for people to notice him for something besides his great playoff choke jobs.

Tony Romo didn’t do something great by shooting a birdie-less 84. He set golf back nearly 100 years by showing the worst of the game - some self-important gasbag who thinks his every meaningless putt is for the Masters turning golf into an endless crawl. Yeah, great 84. Maybe if you took 16 hours, you could have shaved it down to a 79.

Are you kidding? Almost seven hours for a celebrity golf exhibition.

I could play two and half rounds on that U.S. Open tricked-up Torrey Pines in that same time span Romo spent trying to catch a reflection of himself on one of those TV cameras. Sure I’d shoot a 125, 114, losing about 54 balls in the kikuyu grass rough, but I guarantee you my playing partners would appreciate the pace a lot more than an afternoon with someone like the turtle Romo.

And don’t try to tell me that Justin Timberlake slowed the group down. I’ve seen Timberlake play golf and he doesn’t take himself too seriously. He understands he’s there to entertain people - many who don’t care at all about golf. No, there is only one prima donna in that foursome. And I don’t think it’s the regular guy fighting lung cancer.

Shame on you, Romo. You’re not just the author of two of the NFL’s greatest gag jobs ever - the Bill Buckner muffed extra point hold and the fling-the-ball-everywhere freeze up vs. the Giants. You are the example of all that’s wrong with golf: A guy who’s so self important that he ruins the game for every other group on the course.

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