Why Max Homa missed his own hole-in-one

Max Homa recorded his first PGA Tour ace on Saturday at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. At least, that’s what people are telling him.

Homa’s tee shot on the par-3 14th hole at Bay Hill Club soared high into the air, taking three artful bounces before plunking into the bottom of the hole for his first-ever hole in one. It was a raucous moment at the very-gettable 14th — measuring just 160 yards thanks to Saturday’s forward tees and pin placement — a memorable one for Homa.

Except, of course, for the fact that he didn’t see any of it.

“I hit a really nice shot. It started to fall a little bit right. I was trying to hit like a little cut and just put it high up in the air. And I hit it well, and it started to drift right. So I wasn’t sure it was going to be all right,” Homa said of the shot. “Then when it landed, I heard somebody clap, so I knew it was good. I turned around to get a water from some friends I have out here, and then it went crazy.”

Wait a second, why was he turning away from the ball? Wasn’t he watching his perfect shot land on an elevated green just a short distance away?

“I can barely see a 30-footer go in I’ve got such bad eyes,” Homa said with a laugh. “I don’t usually watch. I just listen.”

As it turns out, Homa’s notoriously bad vision makes watching his tee shots a fool’s errand, even on short par-3s like the 14th. So, rather than watch his ace go in the hole on Saturday, he heard it go in the hole, and then he got to celebrate with a few thousand of Bay Hill’s finest.

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“I got a huge ovation. It was cool. A lot of people on that green,” he said. “This tournament has a great crowd. A lot of people. Everyone is really cool. You never know how you’re going to react, but it was fun to hear everybody cheering. Obviously, they’ve been sitting there a minute. Out here you don’t see a ton of birdies, so it was probably fun for them to see a one.”

And probably even more fun for Homa to walk up to the green a few minutes later and see his ball in the hole … at long last.

 “Yeah, that was crazy,” Homa said. “Out here it feels super lucky. It’s usually lucky. Yeah, it was very cool. The roar was awesome. That’s one I won’t forget.”