Rory McIlroy may have set the PGA Tour driving distance record last season, but in 2024, Max Homa is the PGA Tour’s biggest hitter.
With conditions ripe for huge drives at Kapalua this week, already leading to 220 400-yard drives through three rounds at the Sentry, Homa unleashed a poke for the record books Saturday.
On the 7th hole — his 16th of the day — Homa ripped one on the 525-yard downhill par-4 that rolled, and rolled, and rolled before finishing just 43 yards from the hole. The bomb measured out to 477 yards, the longest in the PGA Tour’s Shotlink era (since 2003). It just edges out Davis Love III’s 476 drive on the 18th of the final round at the 2004 event at Kapalua.
Unfortunately, Homa started the third round Saturday T23 and in the first group of the day on the 10th tee, so there was no video on the NBC or ESPN+ broadcasts of the record drive. Nor did the PGA Tour have a radar device on the 7th tee at the time so we do not know the launch statistics for the tee shot.
Nevertheless, it’s not hard to figure out how Homa was able to accomplish the feat as the 7th, which is already significantly downhill from tee-to-green, played downwind too during the third round. In fact, the average drive in the 59-man field Saturday on the hole went 406.3 yards, the longest of any hole at the Plantation course. No drive went less than 338 yards on No. 7.
Stats (and huge drives) reveal why Kapalua is one of the most unique courses on Tour
That’s all despite Homa being just the 62nd-ranked golfer in driving distance last season with a 304.8 average. McIlroy set a PGA Tour record for driving distance last season at 326.3 yards.
While the USGA is focused on rolling back the golf ball, it was simple gravity that led to the record-breaking tee ball.
Anyway, in classic Max Homa-form, the 33-year-old wise guy had a little fun with the achievement on Twitter.
“For it being uphill into the wind with no roll,” Homa tweeted, likely sarcastically, “I was pretty proud of this one.”
In addition to being the longest drive on No. 7, Homa’s tee shot was also just one of 13 (22%) to stay in the fairway Saturday. The fairway slopes hard from left to right and many drives Saturday caught a bunker — or the rough around it — that is just 420 yards off the tee. The fairway necks around 430 yards from the tee.
They say, “Drive for show, putt for dough,” but Homa made good on his mammoth tee ball by getting the flip wedge up and down. His pitch ended up less than four feet from the hole and he converted for his fourth birdie of the day.
Homa added another birdie on 8 and parred the ninth to post a five-under 68. He’ll start the final round T17 at 15 under, six shots behind leader Chris Kirk.