Johnny Manziel backs out of golf pro-am at Byron Nelson, citing Browns obligations

The highlight of this week on the PGA Tour was probably going to take place before the actual start of the HP Byron Nelson Championship, but the Cleveland Browns ruined it. Johnny Manziel was booked to play in two pro-ams as part of the first stop in the traditional two-week swing through the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Manziel had just played at Colonial, site of next’s Crowne Plaza Invitational, and told the Star-Telegram that the round was practice for a pro-am over at Las Colinas, the venue for this week’s Byron Nelson (in Irving, just a few miles away from Cowboys stadium).

Pre-trounament pro-am events occasionally draw someone noteworthy, but they’re mostly giggle games for people deemed important by the PGA Tour’s sponsors and the local venue. There’s rarely any notable celebrity or athlete who might be considered fun to play golf with, especially for PGA Tour pros. So watching Manziel, who’s well-known for chopping it around golf courses, would have been the coolest part of the week at the Nelson. He allegedly keeps a single digit handicap and doesn’t have too much trouble posting rounds in the 70s (while also whipping his clubs across the course in anger).

He was scheduled to play on Wednesday with local Ryan Palmer, a member at Colonial and a TAMU grad. We already saw his money move celebration make its way into golf last week at TPC Sawgrass, so more Johnny was going to be nothing but good for the PGA Tour.

But now, just days before Manziel was set to headline the golf week, the new Browns QB has backed out of the planned rounds. According to the Star-Telegram, all the new responsibilities with his new team are to blame:

Manziel’s representative told Nelson officials the quarterback had too many business obligations with the Browns.

The Browns, who have enlightened their quarterback by telling him that Cleveland is not Hollywood, need the new face of their franchise up in Ohio for minicamp this weekend. And that’s how our opportunity for the best pro-am of the year was ruined.