Tony Romo’s golf life: From President Obama to PGA Tour

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MONTREAL – Trevor Immelman recalls with a laugh that there was, well, not much else happening on the final day of the 2007 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club. At one point, he and David Toms stood in the fairway to watch the day’s headlining match on a big screen. With the U.S. holding an insurmountable lead, the players weren’t the only ones whose attention was drawn to the Singles showdown between the home country’s hero and the No. 1 player in the world. The only time Immelman remembers seeing spectators was when they were waiting in bleachers or zipping between holes to get a good angle for Mike Weir versus Tiger Woods. “It was absolutely the highlight of the week,” Immelman says. But the match between Weir and Woods wasn’t just the most thrilling on-course exhibition of the competition. Beating Woods also was the spark Weir needed to become a PGA TOUR winner again. “I found the focus again and these things can just boost your career,” says Weir. “And it did.” Fifteen years on, Weir has been named the International Team’s captain for the Presidents Cup’s return to Royal Montreal in 2024. He’ll take the reins from Immelman, who helmed the team in 2022 at Quail Hallow. Weir was a captain’s assistant for Immelman this year. Weir went on a river-rafting trip with his family in southern Utah the week after the 2007 Presidents Cup, then won the Fortinet Championship in his very next PGA TOUR start. It was his first win in more than three years. He recorded eight top-10 finishes in 2008 – his most in a season since 2003, the best campaign of his career– en route to finishing sixth in the FedExCup. He made the TOUR Championship in 2009, as well, after finishing inside the top 25 in exactly 50% of his starts. “It was a nice little boost at the end of that season and into the next,” Weir says about facing Woods in 2007. “There was a direct correlation from that whole week.” It was one of the Presidents Cup’s unique characteristics that made the Weir-Woods match possible. Captains don’t submit their lineups for each session in an envelope, unaware of their opponent’s plans. They do so face to face, responding to each captain’s move with a counter of their own. Pitting Weir, the greatest male Canadian golfer of all time, against arguably the best to ever play the game was all but inevitable when the captains sat down Saturday night to set the next day’s Singles matches. The International Team’s leadership, Immelman says, thought it was “the right thing to do” and Weir didn’t shy away from taking on Woods, then the No.1 player in the world. “It was a pretty short discussion,” Immelman says with a smile. “There was a huge buzz around the course …with the Canadian guy taking on the best player in the world.” Prior to the 2007 matches, Weir had been in a bit of funk. He was the lowest-ranked player picked for the International Team, but with the Presidents Cup being in Canada for the first time it made all the sense in the world to have him on the roster. Weir had, of course, won the Masters just four years prior and reached No. 3 in the world. He was named the Canadian Athlete of The Year, among many honors he earned in his home country that year. He hadn’t, however, won on the PGA TOUR since The Genesis Invitational in 2004. He had a steady season in 2007 but nothing stood out until he notched back-to-back top-10s in mid-summer, including a T8 at The Open. He finished 20th in the International Team’s points standings and was 46th in the world heading into the matches. “There’s some weight to carry when you’re picked in your home country and you haven’t been playing great and to find some really good form is a challenge,” Weir says now. “It was really important for me at that stage.” Weir and Vijay Singh halved their match on Thursday before Weir and Ernie Els won on Friday, 3 and 1. Weir lost on Saturday morning alongside Singh before pairing with Els for another win in the afternoon. Weir and Woods then went out in Sunday’s fourth match. Although the International Team would go on to lose 19.5-14.5, the squad won the Sunday Singles portion of the matches 7-5, highlighted by Weir’s triumph over Woods, which went the distance. “For all the pressure that he had all week, it was pretty phenomenal how he played,” said Woods that Sunday. “I mean, not a lot of people could actually have dealt with the things he had to deal with all week. And the way he came out and represented all of Canada was impressive.” Woods, whose seven wins that year included the PGA Championship, struggled early, missing a short putt on the opening hole before hitting his tee ball on No. 6 out of bounds. Weir didn’t cruise to victory, however. Woods was 3 down at one point but rattled off birdies on four of five holes after making the turn and was 1 up late. The Canadian squared the match on No. 17 with a 10-foot birdie. Woods hit his ball in the water on the closing hole and made bogey, conceding Weir’s tap-in par and the match. Weir won, 1 up. “It was difficult to see any shots because the crowd was five or six deep, but the energy was probably the best I’ve ever been involved with watching Mike play on a golf course,” says Weir’s brother, Jim. Jim Weir has been along for the ride for most of his younger brother’s biggest golfing moments. With each passing day in 2007, he assumed his brother would be matched up with Woods for the finale and figured his brother just needed to stay shot-for-shot with Woods. He couldn’t let Woods get out to an early start, but if it came down to the closing stretch, Weir might be OK. It was a nice prediction that essentially came true. “I was relieved (the pairing) happened but nervous, like, ‘Oh my God, he’s going to play against the No.1 player in the world,’” says Jim. “It was just really electric. It was a lot of high fives, a lot of fist pumps. … Everyone was so into it. People were running between holes. The adrenaline was pumping. I just remember that atmosphere and the vibe was just really cool. “I’m positive Mike would have fed off that Canadian energy to push him through.” Taylor Pendrith and Corey Conners, who both played in this year’s Presidents Cup, were teenagers living several hours southwest of Montreal in 2007. Both had just started taking golf seriously and say Weir’s win was the strongest Presidents Cup memory they had growing up. “It was a huge deal that he beat Tiger and being in Canada made it even more special,” says Pendrith. “Playing the best player in the world and to be able to get it done? That’s just really, really cool,” adds Conners. Pendrith and Conners now have the potential to play under their idol in two years’ time back at Royal Montreal, as do players like Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Svensson and Adam Hadwin. Hughes won his second PGA TOUR title this fall, while Svensson is the TOUR’s most recent winner after earning his first title at The RSM Classic. Hadwin is a past Presidents Cup participant. “It’s definitely a huge goal of mine to get back onto that team,” says Pendrith. “It was an unreal experience… and I think motivated me and the rest of the team to get a win at some point. To have it in Canada at Royal Montreal and to have Mike as the captain is going to be amazing. “Obviously he has some history himself there at the Presidents Cup, so it’ll be really cool for him to lead the guys hopefully to a win on home soil. I think it’s going to be amazing. He’s a great leader. A great speaker. And I think he’ll really motivate the guys.” With the next generation of Canadian TOUR stars watching from home in 2007, Weir ended up going 3-1-1 at Royal Montreal. He earned 3.5 points and was the International team’s most successful player. From 2010 and onwards, Weir spent plenty of time trying to re-kindle his old magic from the early 2000s. He battled injuries and navigated some off-course hurdles, as well. That win in the 2007 Fortinet turned out to be the last of his eight PGA TOUR wins. But as he inched closer to 50, PGA TOUR Champions offered a second lease on his golfing life. He won his first title on that circuit in 2021. His passion for the Presidents Cup never waned. He returned to the team in 2009, this time on merit, and was a captain’s assistant three times (2017, 2019, and 2022) before being selected to head the squad for 2024. And now he’s hoping that Montreal magic will come back stronger than ever. “I want to bring that intensity for the guys,” says Weir. Nothing, however, may top how intense things were that Sunday in 2007, when Weir took on, and beat, the No.1 player in the world. “After Mike made the birdie on 17 I remember the crowd just erupted and I remember seeing Tiger say something to Mike. Tiger had said that was one of the loudest roars he had ever heard,” says Jim Weir. “For him… that’s pretty amazing.”

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FORT WORTH, Texas – Zack Rasego, one of the few black professional caddies working the various tours in America, stood in the middle of the first fairway at Colonial, his fellow South African Christiaan Bezuidenhout having started his opening round of the Charles Schwab Challenge with a perfect drive. Ryan Palmer, the Colonial member and local resident given the honor of hitting the first shot on the PGA TOUR in three months, had just arrived on the ninth green. His 56-foot putt for birdie was going to be a difficult one. RELATED: Monahan: ‘We should communicate and learn’ | WATCH: Varner III, Monahan talk social injustices, solutions Several people – officials, media members, a handful of players, caddies and coaches on the nearby practice green, but no fans, of course — were scattered around the first tee. Some wore masks to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus that has impacted the entire world. But the tee box itself was open. PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan stepped in front of a camera to say a few words. As the PGA TOUR commits to amplifying the voices and efforts to end systemic issues of racial and social injustices, we have reserved the 8:46 tee time to pause for a moment of silence, prayer and reflection. Thank you. Mark Russell, Vice President of Rules and Competition, then spoke into his walkie-talkie, giving the orders to suspend play Thursday morning. Three short blasts from various airhorns followed, and Colonial went quiet, save for the whirl of a few portable generators. Players and caddies who were spread out across the 18 holes in the morning wave bowed their heads. It was time to think about George Floyd … and the 8 minutes and 46 seconds that former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck, causing Floyd’s death and sparking protests not only in the U.S. but around the world, with conversations centering on the tragedy and the changes needed to prevent another one. The idea for the 8:46 moment of silence – it will be held during every round this week, including the Korn Ferry Challenge at TPC Sawgrass in Florida — came from the PGA TOUR’s Inclusion Leadership Council. As Commissioner Monahan said on Wednesday, the TOUR wants “to be part of the dialogue and to engage on this incredibly important topic at this incredibly important time.â€� A recent on-camera discussion with Harold Varner III was another example, as are the internal groups designed to not only discuss the issues but take action steps, helping to make the TOUR accountable for diversity and inclusion “We’re doing a lot as a business,â€� Monahan said. “I am not claiming that we’re perfect. We’re on a journey. But it’s an organizational commitment.â€� Of course, the faces of the TOUR are its incredibly talented golfers, and what they say carries significant weight. As one of the handful of African-American members on the tours, Varner realizes what he says and thinks is important, that racism and social injustice need to be addressed. He’s heard from several of his fellow pros – white pros, that is – who have told him they want to pay attention, they want to do something. He realizes there may be an underlying feeling of guilt for not having aggressively confronted the issue. “Some of the guys that texted, I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re not racist. I think you’re doing things to grow the game, like your representation on the PGA TOUR,’ â€� Varner said. “But I think it’s going to show that they’re going to look at black people a little differently.â€� Varner sees access to golf for all people, regardless of skin color or background, as a key to addressing the situation in his sport. The more diverse golf becomes, the more it can discuss the problems from a personal level. For now, few golfers can offer the perspective that athletes in other sports have, especially in the NBA. “The NBA is way more vocal because they come from a different background than most golfers, so when they’re speaking about it, they’ve experienced a lot of the stuff that is going on,â€� Varner said. “They’re going to be way more vocal than most people, me included, so that’s where I think that people think the NBA is doing more. I think they have more people that participate in the NBA that are exposed to those things that are happening right now.â€� But, Varner promised, “If I’m experiencing something, I’m going to be way more vocal.â€� The world’s top three ranked players were not yet on the course Thursday when the 8:46 horn blew. Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka are in the same threesome, and they had a late tee time. They will, however, be on the course for Friday’s moment of silence. They are willing to speak out, to get involved. “It’s important to set the tone,â€� Koepka said. “I think it’s going to be special. … There needs to be change, and I want to be part of the solution.â€� “I understand you can’t make everybody aware of everything, but if I can just have one more person understand the situation and support it, to me it’s a win, right?â€� added Rahm. “… It’s become the biggest civil rights movement in history.â€� World No. 1 McIlroy, asked about 8:46 earlier in the week, called it a “wonderful gesture.â€� Like most golfers of his generation, his biggest inspiration was an African-American — Tiger Woods. “Tiger doesn’t look the same as me, has had a very different upbringing to the one that I have had, but he was my hero growing up, and it didn’t matter what color his skin was, what his beliefs were,â€� McIlroy said. “… We’ve been very lucky to have him in our game. “I think that there should be more people like him in golf, and I think what the conversation that Jay and Harold Varner had about these issues I think really hit home with me. Harold said, it maybe just isn’t about the players, it’s about everyone in the game of golf. There’s so many people that are involved with the game, and as long as we continue to give people from different backgrounds opportunities to be in golf, that can only be a good thing.â€� A moment of silence is one thing. The key after this week, of course, will be to sustain the conversation, then put those words into action. Varner realizes some who bowed their heads at Colonial may move on, but he’s confident the TOUR will continue to keep diversity and inclusion at the forefront of its initiatives. “This week,â€� Varner said, “won’t be the last week.â€�

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