Tony Romo, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, overcame a four-point deficit to win the American Century Championship by three points on Sunday in Lake Tahoe, Calif.
A three-time runner-up in seven previous starts, Romo totaled 27 points in the final round to clip former MLB pitcher Mark Mulder -- who had won the tournament each of the last three years -- and San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski, who led entering Sunday, Reuters reported.
"It's a special win," said Romo, who last played in the NFL in 2016 and joined CBS as a game analyst last year. "It feels like you're playing a tournament back home here. The day felt good for a lot of reasons."
The tournament uses a modified Stableford scoring system where players earn points for eagles (six points), birdies (three) and pars (one) and lose points (two) for double-bogeys or worse. Bogeys have no effect.
Romo, who will play in a 36-hole U.S. Amateur qualifying tournament on Monday in Wisconsin, had a comfortable tap-in for par at the 18th.
Mulder totaled 21 points on the day to finish alone in second place with 68 total points.
Pavelski (18) finished at 66 in a tie with 10-time NBA All-Star Ray Allen -- who posted the best round of the day with 28 points -- for third. Pavelski missed a chance to tie Romo's lead with an eagle putt from seven feet at the par-5 18th, but missed.
"It feels like nothing went in for me today," Pavelski said afterward. "But I couldn't ask for more than to have that putt to tie on the last hole."
As an amateur, Romo's $125,000 first-place prize will go to local charities and the Stowers Institute for Medical Research.
Former NFL quarterback Trent Dilfer and former tennis player Mardy Fish tied for fifth with 62 points. John Smoltz, who qualified for the U.S. Senior Open last month, took 10th with 53 points.
NBA star Stephen Curry tied with two players in 11th place and lost a bet with his father, Dell Curry, which led to the two-time MVP jumping in Lake Tahoe. Dell Curry jumped in the lake last year but beat his son by two points this year after negotiating a 20-point handicap.
TNT analyst and 11-time NBA All-Star Charles Barkley finished last with minus-93 points, just behind nine-time NFL Pro Bowler DeMarcus Ware, who had minus-90. The two players -- who tied for a tournament-low minus-30 on Sunday -- each finished more than 10 points worse than the rest of the 92-player field.
© 2026 Thomson/Reuters. All rights reserved.