Jim Knous and Maverick McNealy held the 54-hole co-lead at the Fortinet Championship in Napa, Calif., and both were after that career-changing first PGA Tour victory. Could either get it done? Or would a Tour veteran chase them down? Here’s how Sunday at Silverado Resort and Spa went down.
Who won: Max Homa (seven-under 65, 19 under overall)
How it happened: McNealy was three under on the front on Sunday and turned in 17 under overall, enough for a two-shot lead over Marc Leishman, who shot 65, and a group of others stuck at 14 under. Max Homa took a big bite into the lead with a hole-out eagle on 12 to get within a stroke, and his birdie on 13 — he drained a 21-footer — tied him at the top. As McNealy couldn’t do any better than pars to start his back nine, Homa took the lead on the par-5 16th, two-putting for birdie and getting to 18 under. McNealy tied Homa with his own birdie on 16, but it didn’t last long. On the 17th, Homa rolled in a big breaking right-to-left putt to regain the solo lead at 19 under. Minutes later, a wayward drive on 17 led to a disastrous double bogey for McNealy. His approach from 189 yards missed the green, and he two-chipped and two-putted for a 6. That gave Homa a three-shot lead, and his par on the 18th was plenty good enough to shut the door. Homa finished the weekend with back-to-back 65s, and his Sunday 65 was tied with Leishman for the low round of the day. McNealy drained a long eagle putt on the 72nd hole to shoot 68 and finish solo second, one behind Homa, but the double bogey came back to haunt him.
This common flaw is hurting your golf swing, according to Max Homa
Why it matters: It’s the third PGA Tour win for Homa, 30, who also won the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship and 2021 Genesis Invitational.
Best (almost) story: Knous, who was tied for the co-lead after 54 holes, shot a 74 and tied for 11th. The 31 year old is playing on a Korn Ferry Tour Medical Extension, and this was one of his last two starts to earn 152.463 FedEx Cup points to gain full PGA Tour status. He needed a win, a six-way tie for second or a two-way tie for third on Sunday. He earned 61.400 points and is now 3.516 points short of conditional status (126-150 category), which he’ll have one more start to try and secure.
Best shot: Homa had 95 yards for his approach into the par-4 12th. He drew this one up perfectly, holing out for eagle and moving to within one of the lead.
Up next: The PGA Tour will break as 24 of the world’s best players meet for the Ryder Cup. The Tour resumes with the Sanderson Farms Championship on Sept. 30-Oct. 3.