You might remember that the starched shirts up at the USGA in Far Hills, N.J., gave 16-year-old Lucy Li a slap on the wrist when she was briefly shown in an television ad for the Apple watch.
She was basically told “don’t do that again” although she received no compensation. So she’s still an amateur with the USGA’s warning in the books.
Enter Tony Romo, a decent amateur who gets into some PGA Tour and Web.com Tour events thanks to his “celebrity” status. He’s a decent player, about a three handicap.
Romo recently got people stirred up when he accepted a sponsor’s invitation into the AT&T Byron Nelson. Some have taken issue with Romo getting the spot as opposed to an up-and-coming professional. We’ve got no issue with that. The AT&T fell into a tough spot on the schedule. May 9-12 is a week before the re-positioned PGA Championship, the season’s second major.
With the Nelson moving to Trinity Forest, the biggest name in the field is Jordan Spieth. Romo, the former Dallas Cowboy QB and current CBS golf analyst alongside Jim Nance, will draw some people. Romo and Spieth are also members at Trinity Forest.
We ask how Romo is allowed to retain his amateur status? He’s there on the tube featured in ads for Sketchers shoes, including Sketchers golf shoes and those show Romo on the putting green, pimping the shoes. Lucy Li gets a slap on the wrist, the USGA totally ignores a guy with “amateur” status getting paid to sell golf shoes.
Something’s not right about that.
So we’ve appropriately added the starched shirts at the USGA to our Dog House.
