x
Skip to main content
Golf Logo
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
Max Homa defends PGA Tour changes in epic press conference rant
SHARE
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
Golf Logo
  • News
    • Latest
      • News
      • Features
      • Shows
      • PGA Tour Schedule
    • Series
      • Tour Confidential
      • Monday Finish
      • Hot Mic
      • Rogers Report
    • Shows
      • The Scoop
      • Subpar
      • Seen & Heard
  • Instruction
    • Game Improvement
      • Driving
      • Approach Shots
      • Bunker Shots
      • Short Game
      • Putting
      • Rules
      • Fitness
    • Series
      • Top 100 Teachers
      • Rules Guy
      • The Etiquetteist
      • Emergency 9
    • Shows
      • Warming Up
      • Play Smart
      • Short Game Chef
      • Pros Teaching Joes
  • Gear
    • Clubs
      • Drivers
      • Irons
      • Hybrids
      • Fairway Woods
      • Wedges
      • Putters
    • Other Gear
      • Balls
      • Shoes
      • Apparel
      • Golf Accessories
    • Series
      • ClubTest
      • Winner’s Bag
    • Shows
      • Fully Equipped
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • Travel
      • Course Finder
      • Courses
      • Resorts
    • Lifestyle
      • Accessories
      • Celebrities
      • Food
      • Style
      • Betting Advice
    • Shows
      • Super Secrets
      • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Shop
      • Clubs
      • Shafts
      • Training Aids
      • Balls
      • Bags
      • Technology
      • Apparel
      • Accessories
      • Our Picks
      • Shop All
    • Collections
      • The GOLF Collection
      • The Birdie Juice Collection
      • The Fully Equipped Collection
      • Shop All
  • Newsletters
    • Sign Up for GOLF’s Newsletters
      • Hot Mic
      • Monday Finish
      • Play Smart
      • Our Picks
      • Top Stories
      • Sign Up for All
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Features
    • Shows
    • PGA Tour Schedule
  • Instruction
    • All Instruction
    • Driving
    • Approach Shots
    • Bunker Shots
    • Short Game
    • Putting
    • Rules
    • Fitness
  • Gear
    • All Gear
    • Drivers
    • Irons
    • Hybrids
    • Fairway Woods
    • Wedges
    • Putters
    • Balls
    • Shoes
    • Apparel
    • Golf Accessories
  • Travel & Lifestyle
    • All Travel
    • All Lifestyle
    • Course Finder
    • Courses
    • Resorts
    • Accessories
    • Celebrities
    • Food
    • Style
    • Betting Advice
  • Series
    • Tour Confidential
    • Monday Finish
    • Hot Mic
    • Rogers Report
    • Rules Guy
    • The Etiquetteist
    • Emergency 9
    • ClubTest
    • Winner’s Bag
  • Shows
    • The Scoop
    • Subpar
    • Seen & Heard
    • Warming Up
    • Play Smart
    • Short Game Chef
    • Pros Teaching Joes
    • Fully Equipped
    • Super Secrets
    • Destination Golf
  • Shop
    • Clubs
    • Shafts
    • Training Aids
    • Balls
    • Bags
    • Technology
    • Apparel
    • Accessories
    • The GOLF Collection
    • The Birdie Juice Collection
    • The Fully Equipped Collection
  • Newsletters
    • Hot Mic
    • Monday Finish
    • Play Smart
    • Top Stories
    • Our Picks
    • Sign Up for All
InsideGolf Join Now  / Log In
InsideGolf

Great for yourself...or your Dad

InsideGOLF
News

Max Homa defends PGA Tour changes in epic press conference rant

By: James Colgan
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Follow on Instagram
March 1, 2023
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email
max homa press conference API

Max Homa said the Tour's changes would strengthen both designated and non-designated events.

Getty Images

When Max Homa stepped to the lectern on Wednesday morning at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, he came armed with a promise:

“I could rant on this for a while.”

And then, for 1,400 words, 11 paragraphs and some four uninterrupted minutes, he did precisely that.

Homa came into the press room on the heels of change on the PGA Tour — significant change. Under the new structure outlined by Tour commissioner Jay Monahan in a memo to players Wednesday, many of the Tour’s 17 so-called “designated events” will take on a dramatically different shape in 2024 next to their initial 2023 iterations. Some events will now have a limited field of 70-80 players, some will feature no cuts, and all will be adjusted to make for a consistent playing cadence for both players and fans.

Among the changes enacted by the new schedule are two hard realities: it will be harder at times for some players to climb the Tour ranks, and it will be easier at times for those in the upper echelon of the sport to stay there. That is mostly good news for those who wish to see golf’s biggest stars more often, but it is mostly bad news for those who adore the pesky underdog stories that form a noticeable chunk of golf’s subculture.

Enter the rare player to have lived both of those realities: Max Homa.

It was just five years ago that Homa found himself on the fringes of golf relevancy, a gifted-but-inconsistent player floating between the PGA and Korn Ferry Tours. For a time, the number of golfers ranked higher than him numbered in the thousands. Today, the number of golfers ranked higher than Max Homa can be counted on just two hands. He is the eighth-ranked player in the world, a six-time PGA Tour winner, and at age 32, unquestionably one of the Tour’s brightest stars.

So, what does Homa — one of the biggest beneficiaries of the PGA Tour’s old guard — think about the new regime? He’ll need a minute (or four) to explain it.

Max Homa said he "could rant for a while" on the new PGA Tour schedule changes.

Then he spoke uninterrupted for nearly 4 minutes. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/KrjBQjLKWD

— James Colgan (@jamescolgan26) March 1, 2023

“I love the new changes,” he said, beginning a lengthy, uninterrupted answer on the subject at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. “The product is important. I think it’s easy to frame these changes as a way to put more money in the top players’ pockets. But it has been made to make it easier and more fun for the fans. I know it’s low-hanging fruit to jump on, Oh, this is just a money grab. This is to make it better for the fans. It is a guarantee on who will be at events and leaning more on the more there.

“It is more opportunity for the top players to battle it out late on Sundays,” Homa said. “Which, you look back at times of Phil and Tiger, the two best players growing up for me watching, and they had like maybe two real battles. So we’re going to have more of that.”

Homa says he recognizes that golf’s much-bandied “meritocracy” will suffer under these changes. The best players will inherently have an advantage in earning the largest sums. But Homa wonders if the new schedule could have the unintended benefit of helping those in the PGA Tour’s middle class.

“The non-designated events are the same purses with, on paper, weaker fields,” Homa says. “There’s a lot of room for growth throughout that. You can play your way into the designated events.”

On the topic of limited fields, Homa was particularly protective of those on the outside looking in. In restricting access to those high-money weeks to “70-to-80 players,” per Monahan’s memo, Homa argued the Tour’s intent wasn’t to keep players out, but rather to provide a lifeline to those in non-designated events.

“The part that’s frustrating and maybe just simply misunderstood is that if we made these fields very large in these designated events, it would ruin non-designated events,” Homa said. “It would ruin them. No one would play in half of them because it would no longer fit your schedule.”

And here is part 2, including why he feels large-field designated events would "ruin" non-designated events pic.twitter.com/MMfKx6x7jH

— James Colgan (@jamescolgan26) March 1, 2023

Homa should know this. As a member of the Player Advisory Council responsible for drafting the new schedule, he was in the room when these changes were proposed.

“I think that the Tour’s done a great job of looking into it,” Homa said. “Seeing that [70-80] would be a great number to cut to make sure that we still have competitive events that are non-designated.”

It’s a strange logic — exclusivity for the sake of inclusivity — but it’s one that might make real sense as it involves the PGA Tour. Last week’s Honda Classic drew a historically dreadful field, the result of a series of large-field designated events nearby on the calendar. Under the new format, the Honda could represent the event most aided by the changes.

With so few slots in the big events, notable players will find themselves in non-designated events, raising the status and intrigue behind those tournaments. It’s not perfect, Homa admits, but it’s a way to keep golf’s meritocracy alive at all.

“Maybe not the top-50 big names, but big names [will be] keeping the sponsors and the fans happy with the parity,” Homa said. “Guys everybody has watched play golf, win golf tournaments and excel at this game still in those [non-designated] fields. So I think that that is an important distinction to make before jumping on something negative.”

As Homa finished that final sentence, a hush fell over the press room. A PGA Tour moderator stepped into the silence.

“Do you need a break?”

Homa flashed a smile.

“No, I’m good,” he said. “Sorry guys.”

Latest In News

18 minutes ago

Rory McIlroy's U.S. Open theatrics ended on a strange note

3 hours ago

U.S. Open 2025: Final round suspended due to dangerous weather

4 hours ago

U.S. Open 2025: Pro hit with 'one of the worst breaks' of the week

4 hours ago

U.S. Open winners: Here are the last 30 champions

James Colgan

Golf.com Editor

James Colgan is a news and features editor at GOLF, writing stories for the website and magazine. He manages the Hot Mic, GOLF’s media vertical, and utilizes his on-camera experience across the brand’s platforms. Prior to joining GOLF, James graduated from Syracuse University, during which time he was a caddie scholarship recipient (and astute looper) on Long Island, where he is from. He can be reached at james.colgan@golf.com.

  • Author Twitter Account
  • Author Instagram Account

Related Articles

News
PGA Tour pro Rickie Fowler hits a tee shot during the 2025 Memorial Tournament

8 surprising players you won't see at the U.S. Open

By: Josh Schrock
News
max homa and bill harke stand next to the bag at the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio

Max Homa splits with caddie again, carries own bag in U.S. Open qualifying heartbreak

By: James Colgan
News
Two images of Max Homa staring at horrible lie in pine straw at 2025 PGA Championship.

Did fan's cocktail cause Max Homa's comically bad lie at PGA Championship?

By: Kevin Cunningham
News
bryson dechambeau and max homa at the PGA Championship separated by a white line

At the PGA, golf's most vulnerable stars open up on an unusual challenge

By: James Colgan
News
Max Homa

Max Homa was ‘so broken’, but now a more serious question looms

By: Sean Zak
Lifestyle
Max Homa looks on while playing the third hole during the first round of the Truist Championship 2025 at The Wissahickon at Philadelphia Cricket Club on May 08, 2025 in Flourtown, Pennsylvania.

Max Homa's 5 favorite items from lululemon include these 'unreal' pants

By: Jessica Marksbury
News
Max Homa

'Come on, dude': Masters fairway marshal interferes with Max Homa shot

By: Nick Piastowski
News
PGA Tour pro Max Homa and new caddie Bill Harke ahead of the 2025 Masters.

'Not my choice': Max Homa details pre-Masters caddie split

By: Dylan Dethier
News
rory mcilroy and his uber driver, aquaman

Inside Rory McIlroy’s $995 Uber ride — and how ‘Aquaman’ saved the day

By: Alan Bastable
Sign up for GOLF's Newsletters
Get the latest news, the hottest instruction tips, new product releases, golf media insider reports and more delivered directly to your inbox. Choose your favorites now.
Sign Up
Categories
  • News
  • Instruction
  • Gear
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
Services
  • Masthead
  • GOLF Media Kit
  • GOLF Magazine Customer Service
  • TERMS OF SERVICE
  • PRIVACY POLICY
  • Opt-out of Ads/Sharing
  • Your Privacy Choices
Social
  • facebook
  • x
  • instagram
  • youtube
Membership
InsideGOLF Logo
More than $140 Value for JUST $39.99

INCLUDES 12 SRIXON Z-STAR XV GOLF BALLS, 1 YR OF GOLF MAGAZINE, $20 FAIRWAY JOCKEY CREDIT - AND MUCH MORE!

LEARN MORE

© 2025 EB Golf Media LLC. An 8AM Golf Affiliated Brand. All Rights Reserved. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. If you buy a linked product, GOLF.COM may earn a fee. Pricing may vary.

Go to mobile version