Tony Romo wins American Century Championship: CBS broadcaster joins exclusive group with playoff victory over Mark Mulder, Joe Pavelski

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Tony Romo saved his best round for last at the 2022 American Century Championship.

The CBS broadcaster and former Cowboys quarterback entered the final round of the three-day competition in a tie for fifth place. He had logged 37 points in the first two rounds of the competition, which is scored using a Modified Stableford format.

On Sunday, Romo recorded one of the best rounds on the course, scoring 25 points to force a three-way tie atop the leaderboard between himself, three-time champion Mark Mulder and Joe Pavelski.

MORE: Breaking down the full list of participants at the American Century Championship

That set up a playoff, which Romo won after making a five-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole.

"I had to keep patient," Romo said of his win, per the Associated Press. "Coming from behind is a great feeling. All the wins here are special, but this one was different because my boys are 10 and 8 years old and they were into it."

Romo has now won the American Century Championship three times in the last five years. His latest victory puts him in an exclusive group among tournament participants as he looks to establish himself as one of the greatest celebrity golfers ever to play.

MORE: Who won the Aaron Rodgers/Charles Barkley bet at the American Century Championship?

Who has the most American Century Championship wins?

Rick Rhoden has won the American Century Championship more than any other celebrity golfer, and it's not particularly close. The former MLB player won the tournament a whopping eight times from 1991 through 2009. 

So, Romo still has a ways to go before he can catch Rhoden. Still, the 42-year-old became one of just five players in the history of the event to win at least three times.

Below is the full list of golfers to achieve that feat.

Player Wins Years won
Rick Rhoden 8 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2003, 2008, 2009
Dan Quinn 5 1992, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2012
Billy Joe Tolliver 4 1996, 2005, 2010, 2013
Mark Mulder 3 2015-2017
Tony Romo 3 2018, 2019, 2022

Romo and Mulder are the best celebrity golfers still participating in the tournament. The next handful of years should feature a battle between the two as they look to join Tolliver and climb the event leaderboard to eventually join Rhoden at the top.

MORE: Full history of American Century Championship winners

And it seems like Mulder, who entered Sunday with the leader, is eager to avenge his defeat in 2023.

"I wasn’t nervous, I wasn’t scared, I wasn’t anything. I had a lead. I just played very conservative," the former MLB pitcher said, per Yahoo Sports. "Unfortunately. It’s as simple as that."

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Jacob Camenker is a senior content producer at The Sporting News.