Even thought it doesn't look like it, Max Homa feels like he's close to coming out of his golfing darkness.
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Max Homa and the game of golf aren’t on speaking terms right now, but the six-time PGA Tour winner believes a breakthrough is right around the corner — even if it doesn’t look it.
Since last year’s T3 finish at the Masters, Homa has just one top-10 finish and has been grinding hard to rediscover the game that saw him soar to no. 5 in the Official World Golf Ranking in 2023. Last week, Homa missed the cut at the WM Phoenix Open. On paper, that looks like another MC and trunk slam for the now no. 60-ranked player in the world.
But looks can be deceiving, especially in golf.
“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 on Tuesday during his pre-tournament press conference at the Genesis Invitational. “My coach astutely said afterward, I think you were six combined feet away from being like 2 or 3 under. It’s a hard game, man, and when it doesn’t like you back, it gets very difficult. So I know I’m moving in the right direction.”
Homa opened the season with a T26 finish at the Sentry. He struggled mightily in the first round of the Farmers Insurance Open before withdrawing and then went to Pebble Beach and tied for 53rd. Homa then missed the cut by a decent margin at TPC Scottsdale, but Homa found a silver lining in that performance. He knows those watching from the outside might think he’s lying, but last week’s missed cut felt different from the poor performances at Torrey Pines and Pebble Beach.
“That’s what’s so odd about last week is that is the best I swung the golf club like potentially — this is going to sound crazy, but potentially ever,” Homa said. “Like it’s the best I’ve driven — like as easy as I could imagine or I could remember ever hitting a driver. Curved less, I was more out of the middle. Things like if you were just watching golf, you would never be able to see. But just like the point-and-shoot things I like to see on the hardest tee shots, especially Thursday, like no. 11, I hate that tee shot. It was my highest ball speed, which means I have some freedom again.
“Those are the things I’m looking at. I know this all sounds hilarious to people because it’s been so bad and I missed the cut by five, but like I was like really excited about last week.”
Homa won’t put a timeline on when he expects everything to click and his top form to return. He plans to trust his process and not get too bogged down in daily scores, understanding that just because progress can’t be seen doesn’t mean it’s not taking place.
Homa is taking inspiration from a newly-crowned Super Bowl champion to stay locked in that mindset.
“I’m just trying to use the idea that I’m going to have a long career after this, so just keep getting better,” Homa said. “I need to and want to start seeing some results, but that’s not going to deter me from like what I’m working on.
“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 that however the score is looking to those like outward — 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.”
Homa knows things look bleak at the moment. Per Data Golf, Homa has only gained positive strokes in eight of 18 tournaments since last year’s Masters.
But the 34-year-old has been through worse slumps in his golfing career and doesn’t plan on being deterred from pressing forward no matter how many times the game kicks him in the teeth.
“I, for one, know what I’m capable of,” Homa said. “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. But I also find pride in waking up after a hard day and having the energy to go get better.
“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. I’ve always been quite proud of my work ethic. I think that’s why I’m here. I think it’s my best quality and has been ramped up about a thousand notches.”
As Homa left the WM Phoenix Open last week, he had a moment of clarity about the path and work ahead.
“I just thought to myself how much better the next win’s going to feel than any win has felt,” Homa said. “It stinks. But I don’t know, I’m not going to — not that I’ve ever taken anything for granted — but I know what that sweet relief of a great finish will kind of feel like. So, I’m just trying to hold onto that as my motivating factor at the moment.”
Max Homa is close. You can’t see it. But he can feel it.
In golf, sometimes that’s all you need to turn everything around.
Josh Schrock is a writer and reporter for Golf.com. Before joining GOLF, Josh was the Chicago Bears insider for NBC Sports Chicago. He previously covered the 49ers and Warriors for NBC Sports Bay Area. A native Oregonian and UO alum, Josh spends his free time hiking with his wife and dog, thinking of how the Ducks will break his heart again, and trying to become semi-proficient at chipping. A true romantic for golf, Josh will never stop trying to break 90 and never lose faith that Rory McIlroy’s major drought will end (updated: he did it). Josh Schrock can be reached at josh.schrock@golf.com.
