Mardy Fish tops Tony Romo in playoff, wins ClubCorp Classic Celebrity Division

IRVING, Texas -- U.S. Davis Cup Captain Mardy Fish knocked off hometown favorite and former Dallas Cowboys star Tony Romo in sudden death with a birdie on the first playoff hole to capture the ClubCorp Classic Celebrity Division on Sunday at Las Colinas Country Club.

Fish made up a two-point deficit with a birdie on No. 18 to forge the tie, and he made birdie on the same hole in the playoff to secure the win. Romo hit his second shot both times into the penalty area, opening the door for Fish to force the playoff and then win with short birdie putts.

“It’s nice to catch Tony this time,” said Fish, who is on the leaderboard with Romo regularly in celebrity tournaments. “He’s a great player. He had plenty of support here. We’ve got a nice rivalry building.”

Romo, who held the lead after the first and second rounds, dropped a clutch 20-foot putt on the 17th hole to take a two-point lead, but his bogey on 18 led to the playoff.

“I played well, did a lot of good things, but that 18th hole is what cost me,” Romo said. “The wind is swirling; I hit pretty good shots. Going over par on that hole after being in good position is just not going to get it done.”

Now a TV personality as the lead NFL analyst on CBS Sports, Romo drew the biggest galleries all week as major professional golf returned to Irving, Texas, for the first time since the departure of the PGA TOUR’s AT&T Byron Nelson in 2017.

“The tournament was fantastic,” Romo said. “First class all the way. The fans were incredible. I got a lot of support, and it really showed off the Dallas Metroplex. It’s special to even have a tournament here. I'm definitely coming back.”

The celebrity leaderboard also featured World Golf Hall of Famer Annika Sorenstam, who finished par-birdie-birdie to take third place with 100 points, pulling ahead of fourth-place finishers Derek Lowe and Adam Thielen with 97 points. Tied for sixth were John Smoltz, Chad Pfeifer and Mickey Tettleton with 95 points.

Fish shot 70 to generate 37 points, and Romo shot 73 for 34 points. The modified Stableford scoring format awards 10 points for an albatross, 5 for a hole-in-one and eagle, 3 for birdie, 2 for par, 1 for bogey, and 0 for double bogey.

Fish won the $100,000 first-place prize from the Celebrity Division purse of $500,000.