Pop star took quickly to game, plays it well

By Ron Kantowski

Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Justin Timberlake has won six Grammy Awards, his solo record debut has sold 7 million copies and he shot an 83 at Torrey Pines this year when his pal Tiger Woods proclaimed that no amateur golfer could break 100 on a U.S. Open course.

It’s hard to say which was the biggest accomplishment. But if you’ve ever picked up a 7-iron, you can’t help but be impressed by that 83 at Torrey Pines.

Actually, Timberlake shot the 83 while playing a practice round. When he was grouped in a foursome with Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, NBC “Today Show” host Matt Lauer and “a regular guy from Omaha” he shot a 98 with the cameras rolling.

Only a serious golfer could break 100 on a U.S. Open course, and Timberlake is just as serious about helping the Las Vegas PGA Tour stop to break out of the doldrums and become a featured event on the fall calendar.

Here are some thoughts he expressed about the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open during a recent teleconference:

How do you expect to take this event and make it a marquee event, especially as it comes later in the year on the PGA Tour?

I would be lying if I didn’t say we’d love to make it part of the points race. But this first year around, we’ve got some cool things planned for the Pro-Am and obviously for the week with the players, their families, all the celebrities that attend. I think from the get-go, we’ve made it more enjoyable for the players. I mean, we put the tournament on the same course, so you’re going to get a lot lower scores. I think the pros are going to appreciate that.

Plus, the amateurs won’t be getting in the way of the pros when they are counting scores, right?

I just believe in that. I sort of said Phil (Mickelson) wasn’t going to come up and try to do karaoke while I’m doing my show. So for me to chip balls out of a bunker while he’s trying to win a tournament is not exactly — you know, it’s a Catch‑22. I think eliminating that will help the players out, as well.

Where did your love for golf come from and how early did you start playing?

I didn’t really fall in love with the game until I was about 21 or 22. I was on tour. Just kind of got cabin fever from playing indoor arenas three or four days in a row. My crew, my stage manager, took me out for a round of golf. I sort of remembered everything that my dad taught me when I was 10 or 11. I immediately fell in love with the game.

Is there kind of a tranquillity you can’t get anywhere else, the ability to just relax and enjoy the outdoors and everything that comes with it?

When I’m on the golf course, it seems to be the only place where I can shut it all off. I get lost in the beauty of the courses I play. I get lost in the game. That’s when it really hits you that it really is the greatest game ever played.

What’s your handicap?

That depends on who I’m playing with (laughing). No, I’m a single digit. I range, depending on the time I get to play, from an 8 to a 4.

Who would be in your dream foursome if you could only pick out of the current PGA Tour golfers?

I mean, I think anyone would put Tiger in there. I guess I’d put Tiger, you know, Phil, and probably Adam (Scott) in the same group. I thought that that was pretty cool the first couple rounds at the U.S. Open that all three of those guys played together, being they were the top three in the world.

If you could pick from celebrity golfers, athletes or actors, what would be your dream foursome?

I do enjoy playing with Sam Jackson. We always have a good time. I’d put Sam in there. Let’s see. I also enjoy playing with Andy Garcia. He’s a good friend. I’d put him in there. And then maybe somebody like Will Smith. I think we’d all have fun together.