It happens every spring.

You pay taxes, cut the grass, clean the grill, get ready for the NFL Draft, NBA playoffs and talk about Tony Romo's golf game.

Today, Romo is eight over after 15 holes in a U.S. Open local qualifier in McKinney. Last spring, Romo reached the sectionals before failing to finish the second round due to weather and poor play at the start.

Fans and some in the media have taken exception to Romo playing golf.

Coach Jason Garrett, during an interview on Pro Football Talk Live, said Romo's golf game has never been a distraction.

"I know since I’ve been around the NFL, players love to play golf, and they love to play golf in the offseason," Garrett said Monday on PFT Live. "It's really a way for them to kind of get away from what they’re doing at the facility, with the workouts or with the practice they’re involved in. So it’s always been a relief for a lot of guys at a lot of different positions.

"Tony just so happens to be pretty good at it. He gets a lot of attention for it, but we probably have some guys on our team that play a lot more golf than Tony does."

Romo has said the only time he plays competitive golf is when he's trying to qualify for a tournament or playing in a local event.

It seems Romo gets irked that people don't believe his commitment to the Cowboys. It was Romo -- as well as DeMarcus Ware and Jason Witten -- who helped organized some team workouts, which began last week and should continue during the lockout.

"One of the things that I like about it is he loves to compete," Garrett said of Romo's golf game. "... He loves to get out there and compete, and against people who are probably better than he is. But he loves to put himself in those positions, and I think he believes that one of the things that helps him as a competitor on the football [field] is constantly putting himself in competitive situations.

"We've never viewed it as a distraction. He's always the first guy in the building. He stays there late. He loves football and he loves his role as the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. He's never shown us any reason to think that it’s a distraction in any way from what he's doing for us with the Cowboys."