Sports

Tony Romo (quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys) and singer Justin Timberlake may not be the best golfers on the track and right now would not be able to play in the U.S. Open – but they did prove that they could at least break 100 while playing on the Torrey Pines’ South Course.

The two played alongside the ‘Today’ host Matt Lauer and an average guy from Omaha, Nebraska. The four of them were trying to prove Tiger Woods wrong when he said that only a pro can beat the course.

Romo won with a 13 over 84 with a handicap index of 2.2. He didn’t seem to have any problems during the first nine holes and only began to show signs of fatigue during the sixth hour of the game. “It got really tough to stay sharp,” he said, nodding toward the 18th hole, where he had his only double bogey after hitting into a bunker.

Timberlake’s game suffered due to allergies – but he did manage to pick things up during the last four holes and came in second place. He had a 6.0 handicap index and he parred the 18th to finish at 27-over 98. “It’s just inhuman, how well they strike it,” he said, referring to Woods and his ilk.

Lauer scraped by with a 100 on the par-71 course despite playing with a 6.2 handicap index. He came back from an early quad and a series of double bogeys to make a par 5 on the final hole. “It’s not easy,” he said. “I didn’t think Tiger made an outrageous statement.”

The only one of the four who didn’t seem to mind the scores was John Atkinson, a medical salesman from Omaha, Neb., who was chosen from 56,374 essay applicants to play in the challenge. He finished with a 43-over 114. “At some point I just didn’t really care,” said Atkinson, who is undergoing treatment for advanced inoperable lung cancer. “I just wanted to enjoy it.”

Atkinson had a 56-person cheering section with him. They shouted “C’mon, Johnny!” when his ball hit the green and gave sympathetic claps and “awws” when he disappeared into the bunkers.