Roller, childhood hero Romo chasing the PGA Tour dream together
By Ken MacLeod
Tony Romo is a very good amateur golfer but the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and NFL announcer in multiple opportunities has never proven his game is of PGA Tour caliber.
Still, that’s the eternal appeal of golf, your next round or tournament is always going to be your best. Even after shooting 35 over par and then being arrested for a DUI at the Wisconsin State Amateur in July, Romo is in town this week chasing his dream of golfing on the PGA Tour. He said it was his fifth time to enter PGA Tour qualifying.
“You get addicted,” said James (J.P.) Roller of Tulsa, who grew up a huge Romo and Dallas Cowboys fan and teed off one group in front of him Wednesday morning in the PGA Tour Pre-Qualifier at Forest Ridge Golf Club in Broken Arrow. “If I had unlimited funds, I would chase this the rest of my life as well.”
Romo, at age 46, and Roller, at age 24, are both chasing an elusive dream, They are two of the 75 mostly young pros from across the country willing to part with $3,000 to begin the long and unlikely journey to a PGA Tour Card or Korn Ferry Tour card.
Should they be one of the 37 to advance out of this pre qualifier to First Stage, they would have to battle even tougher fields in First Stage, Second Stage and Finals Stage to earn one of five PGA Tour cards available but perhaps earn status on the Korn Ferry Tour or PGA Tour Americas.
Live scoring for the 54-hole event is here. Due to heavy rains expected Thursday that now look far less than predicted, the field played as many holes as daylight allowed Wednesday and is completing the second round Thursday. Both Roller and Romo shot 4-over 76 in the first round and were completing their second rounds Thursday
Roller, the 2020 OGA Junior Amateur champion, finished a collegiate career last May that started with such promise when he signed with Texas Tech six years ago and was briefly a teammate of Ludvig Aberg. A transfer to Kansas State was derailed two years ago when his clubhead slammed into a tree root trying to escape deep rough. He broke the hamate bone in his wrist and pinched his ulnar nerve.
It took over a year to heal physically and at least that long mentally. He regained his spot in the K-State lineup for the spring season of 2026 but didn’t achieve the results he wanted. Not easily dissuaded, he took a job at The Golf Club of Oklahoma and began working toward a professional run, but again the results were discouraging in his first few professional events.
That was when he ran into Brett Freeman, the long-time instructor at Forest Ridge who is also a member at The Golf Club. Freeman began to work with him and immediately noticed his forearms were rotating into a position from which he could not recover. In six weeks , Freeman has Roller hitting shots he had forgotten he could with much greater consistency as well.
The two were off to work together following a practice round at Forest Ridge Tuesday and Freeman said Roller has no physical limitations on his pro aspirations.
“You know the 13th hole at The Golf Club, fairly long par-5,” Freeman said. “He’s the first one I’ve seen drive it past that top level on the right into the lower level. It was at least 340 yards. He had like a 7-iron in.”
Roller said the two have played a lot of rounds together in the last six weeks and Freeman has taught him a great deal about the mental side of golf as well. Minimizing mistakes is a huge part of the fine line that separates those with talent from those with the ability to fully utilize that talent.
It’s a long road ahead and Roller said his goal is to get a solid year or two of professional golf under his belt and revaluate. But, thanks to Freeman, he’s swinging free and enjoying the game again, both requisites for what lies ahead.
“Working with Brett has given me a burst of confidence,” Roller said. “A month ago I wouldn’t even have signed up for this.”
As for his childhood hero playing in the group behind him, Roller said he would be excited just to meet him. And Romo graciously took time to pose for a photo with him Wednesday morning even though Romo arrived at Forest Ridge only 20 minutes or so before his tee time. He said he had spent the previous two hours loosening his back, one of the injuries that ended his NFL career.
“My mom Maggie (the director of instruction at Cedar Ridge Country Club) is from Dallas and everyone on my mom’s side of the game were huge Cowboy fans. I have so many pictures of me as a kid in my Tony Romo jersey. He’s been my favorite player in the NFL for the longest time and the name of my fantasy football team for like the past eight years has been Romo Faithful.”
Playing in Romo’s group today is another young Oklahoma pro who grew up a Romo and Cowboy fan. Jordan Wilson, who won the Class 6A golf championship as a freshman at Edmond North and defeated Austin Eckroat in the final match to win the 2019 OGA State Amateur Championship at Oak Tree National, is embarking on a pro career after playing collegiately for Oklahoma State and finishing at Central Oklahoma, where he earned All-America honors. Wilson said he was looking forward to playing 36 holes with a childhood hero.
The third member of the group, Ryan Curlee of Tustin, Calif., said he was not a football fan.
“I was at another tournament when these pairings came out and the guys were saying how great it was that I would get to play with Tony Romo,” he said. “I was like, who’s that?”
Notes: Other Oklahoma players in the field include Weston Neveau of Claremore, Connor Wilson of Arcadia, Scott Newell of Tulsa, Dylan Teeter of Broken Arrow, Jesse Rouse of Durant, Matthew Sparks of Owasso and Austin Schmidt of Tulsa.