Tony Romo and CBS announce split during final Q-school round

CBS and Tony Romo announced on Friday that they were ending their nine-year relationship. The statement came in the middle of the final round of golf’s qualifying school, the next step in Romo’s pursuit of a professional golf career.

CBS said the two sides had “mutually agreed to part ways” following Romo’s arrest in Wisconsin this summer on charges of operating a vehicle while intoxicated.

“We thank Tony for his contributions over the past nine years and wish him the best moving forward,” CBS said in its statement. The network has placed J.J. Watt in Romo’s chair alongside Jim Nantz on its No. 1 broadcast team, and Watt will remain in that role.

Romo issued a statement afterward.

“I’m going to use this time to take a break, something I’ve never done before, and focus on my health and my family before moving on to my next opportunity,” the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback said. “I am grateful for my time with CBS Sports and for the continued support of my family and friends, as well as the NFL community and fans.”

As GOLF.com’s Dylan Dethier noted, the timing added another layer to the announcement. The CBS-Romo split was announced at noon Eastern on Friday, about two hours after Romo had teed off in the third and final round of Q-school at the Club at Forest Ridge in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Romo started on the back nine at 8:55 a.m. local time. He began the day tied for 49th after opening with rounds of 76 and 75. The announcement came shortly after he birdied the par-4 15th hole. He added another birdie at No. 18 to make the turn in 1-over 37 and remain inside the top 50. He needed to move up a few spots on his final nine to advance.

Thirty-seven players from the 75-player field advance to the next round, known as First Stage. Players then move through Second Stage and ultimately Final Stage. The top five finishers at Final Stage earn PGA Tour cards for the 2027 season, the next 40 earn full Korn Ferry Tour cards, and all other Final Stage competitors earn PGA Tour Americas status plus partial status on the Korn Ferry Tour.

Romo has made several attempts to qualify through Q-school since retiring from the NFL in 2017. In 2018, he advanced through pre-qualifying but failed to make it through the next stage.

Romo is well known on the Dallas-area golf circuit and plays frequently at home with tour pros including Scottie Scheffler and Jordan Spieth. He has beaten Spieth straight up in a home round, though he has never beaten Scheffler.

From 2018 through 2021, he played in four PGA Tour events and three Korn Ferry Tour events, but he never made a cut. He has also been a regular at the American Century Championship, winning in 2018, 2019 and 2022 while remaining an amateur.

Romo’s July arrest came after the final round of the Wisconsin Amateur. He made the cut, finished tied for 73rd and earned $60 in credit.

Milwaukee-area police said Romo “performed poorly” on field sobriety tests. He later pleaded no contest to a charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Last month, Romo posted a statement on social media in response to the charges.

Q-school marked his first public appearance since the incident.