Tony Romo, the much-maligned QB of America’s [Least Favorite] Team, decided to put his best foot forward and join the team which pays his handsome contract, allowing him to purchase many types of hats which he prefers to wear backwards.  Romo had been scheduled to try and make the cut at the HP Byron Nelson Championship on Monday. His tee time conflicted with the start of the camp.

“It was fun being at football today, its an exciting time of year to get back on the field with everybody, and it was good weather today and we got a good sweat in,” Romo said to ESPN Dallas’ Calvin Watkins. “I think the guys worked pretty hard out there.”

After moving past the first stage of Nelson qualifying last week, Romo said he would pick football over golf if the two conflicted.

“It’s not like I missed out on something today. I got to go out there and compete and get better,” Romo said. “It’s football, and it’s the funnest thing I do. In some ways, you want to do something, but there is really no decision there. It’s just what I love to do. Why would you not choose that?”

Fantasy Impact: Besides speaking like an eighth grader, saying things like “being AT football” and “the funnest thing”, which makes it sound like a sleep-away camp and not training camp.  It should be interesting to see if Tony spends additional time throwing with Dez Bryant and/or Miles Austin, or if he checks out like Patrick Crayton and starts bringing his clubs to the field to work on his chipping.  Not much fantasy news here beyond the fact that this could turn into a media creation illustrating how dysfunctional and fractured the Cowboys’ locker room is. See you in August.

For just the sixth time in his PGA Tour career, Tiger Woods has failed to qualify for the weekend rounds of a tournament.

Woods shot his second-worst round as a professional on Friday, a 7-over 79 during the second round of the Quail Hollow Championship, to miss the 36-hole cut by a whopping eight strokes. Playing in just his second tournament since returning from a self-imposed leave after disclosures of marital infidelity, Woods’ difficulties are understandable and yet still surprising given his tie for fourth at the Masters — where he broke par all four rounds — three weeks ago.

“I didn’t play well,” Woods told the media. “More importantly my short game wasn’t very good.”

Woods didn’t make excuses about whether his private life is affecting his game.

“Every day I do media, I get asked it, so it doesn’t go away,” he said. “Even when I’m at home paparazzi still follow us, helicopters still hover around. Does it test you? Yes, of course it does. Is that any excuse? No, because I’m out there and I have the same opportunity as everybody else here in this field to shoot a good number. And I didn’t do it.”

No word yet on what Woods’ next event will be. It’ll take time for the PGA poster boy to get his form back and based on this performance, it might take some ups and downs before Tiger is ready to dominate the field again.

It’s no secret that many current and former NFL players enjoy unwinding on the links.  It’s a much safer, much more relaxing kind of competition than the one they’re used to each Sunday during the season.  Some are even quite good — John Elway, Tony Romo and Trent Dilfer come to mind. Soon-to-be Hall of Famer Jerry Rice is pushing it to another level, though. He’s going pro.

Rice, playing with a sponsor’s exemption, will tee it up with the professionals starting Thursday at the Fresh Express Classic (really?  There’s a “Fresh Express Classic”?) on the Nationwide Tour. Think of the Nationwide Tour as sort of a minor league for the PGA Tour. The guys there are striving to get to the highest level, and they’re pretty darn close. Current PGA Tour studs that came from the Nationwide Tour (or previous iterations) include Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson, Chad Campbell, Tom Lehman and Jeff Maggert.

These are the best golfers in the world who do not yet compete on the PGA Tour — and the greatest receiver in the history of the game thinks he can hang with him. Who knows, maybe he can. Rice, 47, is a better-than-scratch golfer.  And if he can golf as well as he can dance, then the PGA tour might be in trouble. Here’s a  quote, from a story by Barry Salbert at the Huffington Post:

“When I got hurt by Warren Sapp, I was on the football field, and thought to myself ‘Oh my God, my golf game.’”

Rice also used to get up at 4 a.m. so he could squeeze in a session at the driving range before showing up for a Bill Walsh practice at 8:30. And considering that he didn’t pick up a golf club until he was in his 30s, his golf prowess is extremely impressive. Rice’s goal is not to win, but just to make the cut. He’s pretty confident that he can do it, and given his work ethic, his natural athletic ability and his intense desire to keep himself in the spotlight, I’m not going to doubt him.

Yahoo! Sports news used in creating this story.

It began with Tiger Woods  returning from a sex scandal, which shattered his image but left his game intact. He captivated crowds by flirting with contention until the putts stopped falling and he tied for fourth. It ended with Mickelson making daring escapes from the trees, delivering a clutch birdie in the heart of Amen Corner, and pulling off a high-risk shot out of the pine straw.

He knocked in an 8-foot birdie putt for a 3-shot margin over Lee Westwood who lost the lead for good with a three-putt bogey on the ninth hole and never got closer than 2 shots over the final six holes.

“It’s been such an incredible week, an emotional week,” Mickelson said. “And to cap it off with a victory is something I can’t put into words. It’s something we’ll share for the rest of our lives.”

Mickelson finished at 16-under 272, the best score by a Masters champion since Woods in 2001.

Just like his last Masters title in 2006, the outcome was never in doubt as Mickelson arrived on the 18th green. Unlike any of his other 40 victories around the world, there was never this much emotion.

Kudos to Lefty for a big win, and for not taking his hat off once to give that forehead even a glimpse of the sun for the last week. The man’s got an iron will and determination.