Tony Romo Struggles, Finishes 6-Over at Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational
Scottie Scheffler finished atop the leaderboard in all three rounds, culminating in the Maridoe Samaritan Fund Invitational title at Maridoe Golf Club in Carollton, Texas, on Thursday.
Scheffler and Will Zalatoris were tied for first at eight-under when Zalatoris finished his round, but Scheffler was only through the 15th hole.
Scheffler buried three straight birdies from No. 14 to No. 16, with his birdie at the 16th hole setting him apart from Zalatoris once and for all.
Zalatoris' round could not have been much cleaner with seven birdies and no bogeys to finish seven-under par on the day with a 65. Viktor Hovland enjoyed a similarly impressive final 18. The 22-year-old Oklahoma State product surged from tied for ninth into a tie for first before landing in third at seven under:
Hovland sunk eight birdies, but his bogey on No. 15 prevented him from topping the board. The Norwegian can feel good about scoring a 69 on Wednesday, though—the only player to record a second-round score in the 60s.
While Scheffler will take home the $27,000 pursue granted to the Elite Flight winner, the primary intention of the tournament was to fundraise for Maridoe's caddies, who have struggled to find work during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The golf course was closed to the public and media.
The field was divided into three flights based on handicap with a $250 entry fee for each of the 72 players—51 of whom were professionals and amateurs competing in the Elite Flight:
The sum of all entry fees will be donated to Maridoe caddies.
"We're a caddie-only club, and our caddies have not been working because of COVID-19," Maridoe managing member Alison Morrison told ESPN's Bob Harig. "We thought, why don't we have a little bit of a match, so to speak, sharpen our blades, put on a 54-hole, social distancing event. Leave the pins. No rakes in bunkers. Let's play for them, basically. And within a day, I had 24 members who said yes."
Elite Flight Final Leaderboard
1. Scottie Scheffler (-9)
2. Will Zalatoris (-8)
3. Viktor Hovland (-7)
T4. Austin Eckroat (-4)
T4. Harry Higgs (-4)
6. Travis Vick (-2)
T7. Quade Cummins (E)
T7. Zach Bauchou (E)
T9. Austin Smotherman (+2)
T9. Taylor Moore (+2)
All results are available at GolfGenius.com.
Tony Romo shot a 78 in the first round, 80 in the second round and 78 in the third round. The ex-Dallas Cowboys quarterback's last round included a double bogey, three birdies and six birdies.
But Romo seemingly won't be upset by finishing 39th, as he explained to Golf Channel's Brentley Romine prior to Thursday's final round what this week represented to him:
"I think more than anything, you're trying to do good for some small causes. Everyone in our position has helped out in a lot of different ways, and it's great just to see. The fact that it's here, it's local and it's home, it's just something that as soon as they were doing it, obviously I wanted to help out. Hopefully you'll see stuff will slowly start to come back and people will be safe and those people who have been in trouble during this, hopefully we’ve been able to help in a small way."
The 40-year-old CBS analyst's group also provided one of the best moments of the week courtesy of three-time major champion Jordan Spieth:
Spieth's unofficial hole-in-one can carry golf fans over until the PGA Tour resumes its season:
The PGA Tour announced its revised 2019-20 schedule on April 16. The Charles Schwab Challenge will tee things off from June 11-14 at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
