Truth & Rumors: Sergio Garcia shines in caddie-pro soccer match
Golfweek’s Jim McCabe found the most exciting sports action at Ponte Vedra Beach so far this week, and it didn’t take place on a golf course. In town for the Players Championship, Sergio Garcia and Alvaro Quiros played soccer on a team of pros and caddies against a local club Monday.
“We’ve come a long way,” said James Williams, the caddie for Nick O’Hern, and the guy who gets credit for gathering a group of PGA Tour players and caddies for organized soccer games. Like many splendid ideas, it was hatched well after working hours, in a New Orleans pub, to be specific, when “I met a bloke after having had too many beers,” Williams said.
The guy played on a local club soccer team and since Williams loved to play the sport, he figured why not set up a game. A few years later and Williams, who has settled in this area, is still putting together games. There was a match against Charlotte United last week, a 7-4 loss, but things went a lot better against Lynch’s Irish Pub at Davis Park, the PGA Tour group erasing deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 to salvage a tie.
Of course, it continues to be a work in progress for the Airmail Rovers – and, by the way, nobody seemed quite sure how they got that name, though they loved the blue uniforms – because as the game ended, Alvaro Quiros announced that things would be different next game.
“We will have two balls. One for Sergio and one for the rest of us,” Quiros said.
Sergio Garcia posted a team photo on his Facebook page:
Tony Romo shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifying
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, an excellent amateur golfer, was not able to advance past the local qualifiying stage for this year’s U.S. Open. Charean Williams of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has the details:
Tony Romo was in need of a fourth-quarter comeback with four holes remaining in a U.S. Open local qualifier. The Dallas Cowboys quarterback was 5-over on Stonebridge Ranch Country Club's tough Dye Course and figuring he needed two birdies to give himself a chance.
But his tee shot on No. 15 went right, and after a search, a Cowboys fan in his gallery pointed out Romo's ball lying behind a wrought-iron fence in the perfectly manicured St. Augustine lawn.
The grass never looked greener on the other side of the fence.
Romo was forced to use his provisional tee shot and ended up with a triple-bogey on the 460-yard, par 4. It was the unofficial end of his bid for a second consecutive trip to sectional qualifying.
Tweet of the Day
From Golf.com's own David Dusek.
