Tony Romo, Bullard native Blake Elliott start strong at 55th M&P Group Texas State Open

TYLER, Texas (KETK) — The 55th M&P Group Texas State Open got underway Tuesday at Cascades Country Club in Tyler.

Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who recently finished eighth at the American Century Championship in Nevada, fired a 1-under 69 in Tuesday’s first round.

Romo, who’s playing in his ninth Texas State Open and seventh at Cascades Country Club, said he’s been focusing on his weaknesses, especially his short game, which he said paid off in his under-par first round in which he birdied three of the last five holes after a double bogey on hole 11.

“I think that helped quite a bit because two of the first three holes I had to chip and really a couple weeks ago I started to really start to find it and I got up and down and it kind of gets you into a rhythm. Then the ball striking starts to happen and I’ve been hitting the ball a lot better this year. It allows me to have that kind of confidence where at some point I’m gonna make this two, three birdie stretch in six holes. It’s kind of happened each day and fortunately I was able to do that again today after I got the double on 11,” Romo said.

Kacy Clemens went from watching his dad Roger hurl the baseball growing up to playing with him in celebrity golf tournaments and Pro-Ams.

Clemens, who played baseball at Texas before playing in the minors for a few years, has traded in his bat and glove for a set of clubs, competing in mid-am golf tournaments over the last few years.

This week, Clemens is playing in his first Texas State Open, and although he posted a five-over 75 in Tuesday’s first round, he’s soaking up his experience competing against the top golfers in Texas.

“Every shot’s different. It’s just fun to play and compete in a different realm. I played baseball for a long time so it’s fun to get the competitive juices flowing and you’d be surprised that standing over five footers it gets your heart going just as much as facing 100 so it’s a blast,” Clemens said.

Bullard native Blake Elliott fired a four-under 66 in the first round.

Elliott, who’s playing in his sixth Texas State Open, has made the cut the previous five years and finished twice in the top five.

Elliott has friends and family on the course following him this week and said he’s pleased with his solid start but feels he left a few putts out there Tuesday.

“Hit the ball really good today. I didn’t putt any good so I gotta work on that but hopefully just make some more putts, keep hitting the ball good and just see what happens,” Elliott said. “I mean I could’ve went pretty low today. I missed I think four (putts) inside 10 feet. Gotta sneak a couple of those in.”

Elliott is ready to shore up his putting and make a serious run at winning the Texas State Open, something he said would mean a lot being from East Texas.

“It’d be nice, I mean, just family and friends all right here and they all come out and watch and support us. They don’t really get that opportunity too just for how much travel and it’d just be nice to keep the trophy here,” Elliott said.

The 55th M&P Group Texas State Open continues Tuesday at Cascades Country Club and the leaderboard can be found here.

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