Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and the top money winners on the PGA Korn Ferry Tour – including the top two who are neck and neck in the race — will headline the 31st Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr Pepper.
The tournament is today through Sunday at Highland Springs Country Club, although spectators will not be allowed over concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
For Price Cutter Supermarkets, it marks its 22nd year as either a presenting or title sponsor, and with Dr Pepper now in its 18th year. It’s also the 31st year with Highland Springs hosting. The purse is $650,000.
Romo is clearly the highest-profile name in the tournament’s history. He quarterbacked the Dallas Cowboys from 2004 to 2016, taking the team to four playoff berths. He earned four Pro Bowl selections along the way.
“I was very excited about this opportunity a long time ago, back in March,” Romo said. “I felt like this would be the third, fourth or fifth tournament I’d be playing in, but with the pandemic, it’s obviously been different.”
His arrival comes just months after he signed a major television deal as an NFL analyst on CBS broadcasts. However, his eyes have been on pro golf in recent years.
Romo competed in the 2018 Korn Ferry Tour Qualifying Tournament, making it through pre-qualifying but did not advance past the first stage. He also has missed the cut in four PGA Tour starts.
This season, he was to play in a Korn Ferry Tour event in Dallas, but it was canceled. He recently played in the American Century Championship, a made-for-TV event, but suffered a slight wrist injury. He said he is looking forward to the PCCC.
“Obviously, I want to play great. I want to win the golf tournament, but I’m playing against great players,” Romo said.
About the PCCC
The tournament has long been a fundraiser for Ozarks children’s charities – there are nearly 50 this year – and there are still ways to support them, including with a $25 TLC Properties charity sweepstakes ticket. Its grand prizes are a 2020 Toyota Tundra and $10,000, to be drawn on Sunday.
The tournament also has a $100 raffle on a Getaway to Paradise on the seaside Pacific in a gated community (private beach, personal chef) in a luxury home in Mexico. bidpal.net/LUX
Who else to watch
The tournament also has long been a place for future PGA Tour standouts.
The Korn Ferry Tour paused back in March amid the early stages of the pandemic but returned to action in mid-June.
Among the storylines this weekend are two friends of Romo’s – Davis Riley and Will Zalatoris. They are Nos. 1 and 2 in the points standings on the Korn Ferry Tour, whose format changed this year, as the tour is using the remaining part of this season and next season to award PGA Tour cards.
Riley is one step away from the PGA Tour. He won the Korn Ferry Tour’s TPC San Antonio Championship on Saturday, giving him his second victory on the tour this season. If he wins any of the remaining 11 Korn Ferry Tour events, he’ll graduate to the PGA Tour.
Zalatoris won the TPC Colorado championship, tied for third at The King & The Bear Classic at World Golf Village in Florida and was fourth at the Utah Championship. Overall, he has seven Top 10 finishes. He was part of the 2017 Walker Cup team before turning pro after playing at Wake Forest University.
Dylan Wu – Wu enters the week ranked seventh in The 25 and in search of his first Korn Ferry Tour title. The 24-year-old has made nine cuts in 12 starts so far this season.
Paul Barjon – The 27-year-old earned his second T2 of the season last week in San Antonio. Barjon has made seven cuts in 10 starts with five top-25s this season and is now ranked fifth in The 25.
Grant Hirschman – Hirschman has made eight cuts in 11 starts this season and is currently ranked 35th in The 25. Last season, the University of Oklahoma product finished T4 at Highland Springs Country Club.
Other notes
38 Korn Ferry Tour winners with 64 victories
Three PGA TOUR winners with four victories
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A thank you to the Korn Ferry Tour Media for information in this report