Wednesday 21 March 2018 18:03, UK
Tony Romo is determined to justify being handed a sponsor's invite to this week's Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship.
The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback has been working hard on his game in preparation for his PGA Tour debut, and he has vowed to take a "very serious" approach to the tournament.
Romo has competed in qualifying for the US Open three times and has long been renowned as a high-quality golfer, although the 37-year-old admits he will be out of his comfort zone when he steps onto the first tee on Thursday.
"It's about competition, it's about just getting into your own bubble and creating an environment that you're comfortable in and then going to do what you know how to do," said Romo, who enjoyed a 14-season career with the Cowboys in the NFL before retiring in 2016 and moving into the commentary box.
"Golf obviously wasn't my sport most of my life but I've put in a lot of time preparing for this so I'll be prepared to play at the best that I'm capable of this week.
"I'll be treating it very serious. The approach I've taken, my wife will tell you, she hasn't seen much of me over the last month! But if you know me at all, I think you know that if I care about something then I'm going to commit to it 100 per cent and you'll get the best I've got this week.
"Obviously, any time you're in a different sport you're going to be out of your comfort zone, but I do think I've played enough golf where I feel comfortable in venues with size and people around. So that part of it probably won't be that much different.
"But it's a PGA Tour event and I understand how important this week is. It's like a free agent in football, you're only afforded so many chances. If you're the first pick of the draft, you've got a few years before they cast you aside so when you get an opportunity in life you want to be prepared and be ready for it.
"I'll be nervous on Thursday on the first tee, so I've just got to get through the first three or four holes. If I can handle the nerves on the first three or four holes I think that I'll settle in and hopefully just play the way I have been playing.
"I'm not putting any expectations on myself. In a perfect world I feel like we'd have had a couple more weeks of preparation, because I've seen the signs really start to shift here over the last couple weeks. But sometimes you gotta go and when it's time to go, you go."
