LA JOLLA, CALIFORNIA | When it comes to understanding and appreciating the absurdities of golf, Max Homa knows better than most.
Homa has endured golf’s abyss, worked his way out of it, become a late-arriving star and now finds himself doing it again, though from a significantly more comfortable place in his career.
If you’ve wondered where Homa has been, he’s been chasing the form that catapulted him as high as sixth in the world two years ago and now has him at 60th without a top-20 finish on the PGA Tour since last May.
Here’s the weird part: Homa believes he’s finally found what’s gone missing, which explains why after missing the cut by five strokes at the WM Phoenix Open last week, he believes he’s seen the light.
“It’s very difficult to continue to see bad, but last week I actually hit the ball incredible and I missed the cut by five. Golf does not like me at the moment, I’ve noticed that,” Homa said Tuesday at Torrey Pines, site of this week’s Genesis Invitational.
There was a point during the first round last week, on his way to shooting 76, when Homa and his caddie Joe Greiner were laughing at the absurdity of their situation. As bad as it looked on the scorecard, it felt so much better and that in itself was a revelation of sorts.
“It’s a hard game, man, and when it doesn’t like you back, it gets very difficult,” Homa said.
This week, despite rain in the forecast and a golf course that is as brawny as it is eye-catching, Homa has a reason to believe rather than doubt.
Two years ago, Homa won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines when his career was in full sail. And while playing the South Course can feel like a heavy weightlifting session, Homa relishes the thought.
There are strings that tie Homa to this week and this place. He won the Genesis Invitational four years ago at Riviera Country Club, where the event is typically played.
It moved this week because of the devastation from the wildfires that did so much destruction near Riviera. Homa, a Los Angeles-area native, feels the emotional tug as the recovery process gets going.
Two years ago, Homa won the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines when his career was in full sail. And while playing the South Course can feel like a heavy weightlifting session, Homa relishes the thought.
Again, that comes from a guy who described his performance here in the Farmers last month as “horrendous.” Last Tuesday, Homa said, he found his thoughts drifting to getting back here.
Blessed with a wry sense of humor that has endeared him to fans and anyone who spends time around him, Homa is an introspective sort and, through the highs and lows, it has helped him deal with whatever golf is giving him.
After a long Saturday of practice following a Friday 69 in Phoenix, Homa was driving home when he thought about how good it will feel when he wins again. Not if, but when.
“I know that I am quite tough when it comes to this stuff. I’ve gone through this much worse before where the results weren’t coming. I definitely have my low days. I’ve been incredibly frustrated since April,” said Homa, who finished third at the Masters last spring.
“I find pride in waking up after a hard day and having the energy to go get better. So I do think at the end of all my days, and I would assume most people would think this way about themselves whatever walk of life you’re in, whatever job you have, if I never have another good result again that would be a massive bummer, but I could rest easy, maybe in some years I could rest easy knowing I’m doing absolutely everything I possibly can to do that.”
When Homa won the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa in late 2023, he could feel things slipping. By that point, Homa had won often enough that it wasn’t a surprise. Now, though, it seems long ago.
“I heard that great Jalen Hurts quote where he said, ‘I’ve had purpose long before anybody had an opinion about it.’ It stuck with me.” – Max Homa
Since then, he has changed coaches (he works with John Scott Rattan) and signed an equipment deal with Cobra after being with Titleist for several years. He dismisses suggestions that the equipment switch has had a negative impact, saying his swing issues surfaced long before he switched manufacturers.
There have been occasional weeks – the Presidents Cup last fall was one of those – when Homa briefly rediscovered the magic but it hasn’t lasted. Even in those weeks, Homa has known it was a bit of fool’s gold.
This time, though, Homa believes it’s different. Last week – “This is going to sound crazy,” Homa said – he felt he swung the club as well as he ever has.
“I know this all sounds hilarious to people because it’s been so bad and I missed the cut by five, but I was like really excited about last week,” Homa said, adding he hugged every member of his team because he felt a breakthrough.
“I heard that great Jalen Hurts quote where he said, ‘I’ve had purpose long before anybody had an opinion about it.’ It stuck with me. I don’t know how I never heard that, but like two days ago I did and it just made me realize like however the score is looking to those (outside) – like last week would never make sense to anybody unless you’re part of like my tiny little thing – you would never think that we made progress.
“It would look like another kind of red X on the year. I think that that’s going to be like a major steppingstone and something we’ll all look back on.”