Max

Homa

The local product arrived with a bit of a spotlight on him this week. He’s been playing so well and also had a ton of course knowledge and regional comfort. The big question mark was his lack of success in previous major championships (no top 10s in 15 tries). He’s looking to change that at Los Angeles Country Club and got off to a steady start, trading four birdies with two bogeys. “I guess I dreamt up something like Rickie did (tournament record, 8-under 62), but as far as tee to green and as stress-free as it could be that was about what I would have dreamt up, so I was pretty proud of that one.”

Homa arrives with a lot of local knowledge on what is sure to be an emotional week. “To have a major in my hometown, 18-ish miles from where I grew up, I think that’s a dream come true.” The Cal-Berkeley product arrives with eight top 10s this season, tied for second most on TOUR. While his recent form is off the charts, he’s still looking to prove himself in the biggest events. Homa has played in 15 major championships and remains on the hunt for his first top-10 finish (T13 at the 2022 PGA Championship).

Homa lost nearly a stroke off the tee at Colonial but was still 7.5 shots better than the field overall last week during his T9 finish at the Charles Schwab Challenge. It was his eighth top 10 of the season as he continues to showcase some of the most consistently steady golf on TOUR right now. With back-to-back top 10s at the Memorial, Homa would have been a popular selection this week but he has more important plans, “2 weeks off for the first time in a while, and while I’m sad to be missing The Memorial, I’m gunna go watch my sister get married instead and that’s way cooler than #golf. See y’all in LA for the US Open.” The Cal-Berkeley product will be a fan favorite the next time he tees it up, as he always is in his home state of California.

The Cal-Berkeley product popped with a top 10 at Quail Hollow but landed a middle-of-the-road finish at the PGA Championship. Turning his attention toward Colonial Country Club, which he called one of his favorites course on tour, he had this to say about the transition from a tough, major venue, “The benefits are the course feels easier... You learn so much in majors. Last week I learned so much about what I need to improve on, not just physically, but mentally. I think this provides a great opportunity to work on those things. Everything’s under such a microscope at a major for yourself that you see where you got exposed, and you can put that to good use immediately, having this event for me right after that.” While Homa says he enjoys the course at Colonial, he’s yet to truly contend in four previous appearances (two missed cuts, a T27, and T23).

Homa mustered up just three birdies in the final round, his lowest tally of any round this week. Still, he managed a steady scorecard overall with just eight bogeys carded all week at Quail Hollow. He was acting as the defending champ this week even though his 2022 title came at a different venue (TPC Potomac). Of course, he does also have a win on a Quail Hollow resume (2019). Homa was arriving off back-to-back missed cuts but this top 10 puts his back on track ahead of the season’s second major.

Homa broke his maiden at the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship but settled for a T76 and a missed cut in his two other tries at the tough track. His confidence at the course certainly exceeds those results, “The golf course suits me really well. I know the place quite well obviously getting to play here every year, and missing last year but still getting to play a ton of rounds. I’m just comfortable on this course. I feel like I know the greens well and there’s no surprises out here.” He arrives with a missed cut at the RBC Heritage and Zurich Classic team event in his rear-view mirror but looks to rebound this week at a comfortable venue.

Kisner arrived with a lot of match-play success on his resume, particularly at Austin Country Club. However, he’s struggled with his game in recent months as he tries to work his way through some swing changes. " Kev is a really great golfer obviously, but he is especially great when he gets in these head-to-head matchups. He came out and was playing awesome so I tried to make sure I kept playing my game because it felt really good.” Homa circled five birdies today with four of them coming in a five-hole stretch on the back nine. Homa (2-0) will take on Hideki Matsuyama (1-1) on Friday while Kevin Kisner (0-2) and Justin Suh (1-1) will also go head-to-head. Homa is in the driver’s seat in Group 5, securing at least a playoff at this point.

Homa went toe-to-toe with Rahm and gave him a good fight despite struggling with his driver today. Homa split just 5-of-14 fairways, losing 1.6 strokes off-the-tee on Sunday. “It was cool to see myself push him and not feel like I had 100 percent of my game. I played great everywhere but off the tee on that back nine, but it is what it is.” The way he still hung around was a hot putter as he posted a career-best strokes gained putting number this week (+11.3 SGP) while his previous best was +9.9 during his 2019 Wells Fargo Championship win. Homa is now 8th in the OWGR (first time being inside of the top 10) and 2nd in the early FedExCup race.

The California kid has four wins in the Golden State including one last month at Torrey Pines and one in the fall at Silverado Resort and Spa. There is no denying his comfort out West and he’s right back in the mix this week with an opening, 8-birdie effort. Homa didn’t end the WM Phoenix Open on a high note but still felt good about his game leading into the week, “I settled into the idea that, hey, let’s be realistic here, you hit bad drives on a few holes, you hit a lot of great drives, great iron shots, still made some putts, everything feels good, we don’t need to freak out here.” If this lead holds it would surprisingly be his first time posting a first-round lead or co-lead on the PGA TOUR. He was 2nd after day one in each of the last two years at Riv.

The California kid started his day five shots off the pace but just three shots out of second place. Par 3 performance turned out to be a key for Homa who birdied three of the four par 3s today (3-under) while the field played them 1.32 shots over par. That included a clinching shot down the stretch where Homa took on the flag and stuck it 15'1" from the pin, the closest of anyone all day. He closed with a birdie when a bogey would have been good enough to ensure a playoff. This will go in the books as his sixth PGA TOUR title, fourth in California, and first since becoming a dad late last year. Five of those wins have come since the start of 2021, a remarkable turnaround from the early days of his career when he missed the cut in 35 of his first 53 TOUR starts.