The 2003 NFL comeback player of the year isn't coming back to Pittsburgh to play in the 2007 U.S. Open.

Seventy-five is a dandy number in Steelers annals: The year of their inaugural Super Bowl triumph, the number worn by Hall of Famer Joe Greene, the anniversary the club celebrates this season. Yet, as golf scores go, the 75 yesterday by former Steelers quarterback Tommy Maddox put him out of the Oakmont running and way down the leader board in his star-studded local qualifier at the Hackberry Creek Country Club in Irving, Texas.

Yes, in the end, Tommy Gun's aim shot down his Open hopes.

After the United States Golf Association for this event reclassified the course's No. 10 hole from a par 5 to a par 4, Maddox finished at 4 over in a local qualifier where 3-under 68 was the cutoff.

An overnight rainfall softened the course, so it wasn't a complete surprise when the day's top score was a 6-under 65 by Trump Million Dollar Invitational champion Stuart Deane, 35, an Australian living in Arlington, Texas.

Brad Ott, a Nationwide Tour pro from Frisco, Texas, carded a 66 in the final group, wiping from contention seven players at 69.

After Deane and Ott came four more golfers at 67 and five at 68, including Aussie Greg Chalmers, with one PGA victory on his career record.

Those last five waged a one-hole playoff to determine which three join the six others who continue the quest to make the Oakmont field and which two become alternates for the next 18-hole round.

They advance to the sectional qualifiers, which take place at 13 sites June 4.

Maddox, 35, of Springlake, Texas, who entered as a professional golfer because he cashed checks from celebrity and mini-tour events, wasn't the only pro athlete at Hackberry. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo shot a 72.

Former NHL star and current broadcaster Brett Hull was a no-show.

Play at 109 local qualifying sites began a week ago today. About 95 amateurs and pros contest the local qualifier today at Indiana Country Club.

The USGA received 8,544 entries from golfers trying to reach the field of 156 for Oakmont, a group that includes 58 golfers already exempt for the 107th Open.