Former Cowboys quarterback and CBS analyst-to-be Tony Romo has long loved golf and obviously still yearns to compete at age 37, so this news is not surprising.

Romo is one of 117 players entered in an 18-hole U.S. Open local qualifier next Monday at Split Rail Links & Golf Club in Aledo.

Romo is scheduled to tee off at 1:30 p.m. as part of the final threesome, along with Fort Worth pros Mike Rausch and David Lutterus. Seven players from the Aledo qualifier get to move on to U.S. Open sectional qualifying on June 5. The two next-highest finishers in Aledo will be slotted as sectional alternates.

The odds seem against Romo advancing, given that he shot 78-77-77 early last month in South Carolina’s Azalea Invitational. And that tournament was his first in nearly four years because back and collarbone injuries forced him to curtail golf as he tried to prolong his Cowboys career.

The fact that he has returned to playing semi-serious golf is another indicator that his health has improved, but also that he has no intention of returning to football should a quarterback job open next season. Why would he risk a golf injury if he had any thought of playing football again?

Perhaps with more time to devote to golf, Romo can knock off rust and replicate the form that had him playing at near-scratch level before his football injuries.

In 2012 and 2013, he played well in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro Am, partnering with Tiger Woods the first year and Jordan Spieth the next.

In 2010, Romo advanced through a local U.S. Open qualifier at Carrollton’s Honors Club. However, after shooting 71 in the first round of a 36-hole sectional qualifier at the Club at Carlton Woods near Houston, Romo started his second round 8-over through three holes.

A lengthy weather delay, and an offseason Cowboys practice scheduled the following day, caused Romo to withdraw rather than finish the second round.

That same year, 2010, Romo shot 72 in a Byron Nelson tournament prequalifier at Stonebridge Ranch to advance to open qualifier. But because the open qualifier conflicted with a voluntary Cowboys practice, Romo decided not to play in the open qualifer.

As of now, Romo has not entered next Wednesday’s Nelson prequalifier at Bridlewood Golf Club in Flower Mound. The entry deadline is Friday.

More than likely, Romo is channeling his focus on next Monday in Aledo. If he manages to advance, there are June 5, 36-hole sectional qualifiers at 12 clubs around the country, including Dallas’ Lakewood Country Club.

Anything beyond that is dreaming beyond big, even for an athlete of Romo’s caliber. He is one of 9,485 players to submit entries to the United States Golf Association to play in 113 local qualifiers this year.

Ultimately, only an estimated 55 players will advance through sectional qualifying to the June 15-18 U.S. Open at Erin Hills, which happens to be in Romo’s home state of Wisconsin, near Milwaukee.

In 2015, Romo’s father, Ramiro, qualified for the U.S. Senior Amateur at Hidden Creek Golf Club in New Jersey. He shot 74-78 and was unable to advance out of stroke play into the match play portion of the tournament.