The post Winner’s bag: Max Homa’s Titleist gear at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open appeared first on Golf.

The post Winner’s bag: Max Homa’s Titleist gear at the 2023 Farmers Insurance Open appeared first on Golf.

With a final-round 66 on the Torrey Pines South Course, Max Homa took home his sixth PGA Tour victory at the Farmers Insurance Open, winning by two shots over Keegan Bradley.

This is the Titleist equipment Homa used to take home the trophy.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (Mitsubishi Tensei Black 1K 65X shaft), 10 degrees

3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (Fujikura Ventus 8 TR Blue X), 16.5 degrees

5-wood: Titleist TSR2 (Graphite Design Tour AD XC 9TX shaft), 21 degrees

Irons: Titleist T100S (4-iron; KBS $-Taper 130X shaft), Titleist T100 (5-iron; KBS $-Taper 130X shaft), Titleist 620MB (6-9; KBS $-Taper 130X shafts)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46-10F degrees; KBS $-Taper 130X shaft), Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F, 56-14F and 60-04L degrees; KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 125S shaft)

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X T5.5 Prototype

Ball: Titleist 2023 Pro V1

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Want to overhaul your bag for 2022? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below.

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The post Even in a blowout, the Presidents Cup found its ‘surreal’ signature moment appeared first on Golf.

The post Even in a blowout, the Presidents Cup found its ‘surreal’ signature moment appeared first on Golf.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — There’s something different about going out last.

The first groups at golf’s biggest team events are the main attraction. Fans breathlessly await their arrival. They meet them at the range, roar at them on the 1st tee, line the ropes on every hole that follows. The process of determining who should leads the charge is considered vitally important; these first groups have the chance to set the tone for the day. But going last? You’re the caboose. By the time you’ve arrived, everyone else is either gone or planning their escape.

As Max Homa finished up his range session just after noon on Friday, just a handful of fans were still in the bleachers. The rest had staked out the first tee or dispersed throughout the first few holes. The Americans’ star-studded pairing of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth had gone out first, bringing the Charlotte faithful along with them. The final match played on in relative anonymity, forgotten at the back of the train. Going out last just doesn’t have quite the same juice.

Until it does.

As the day wore on, the early matches began to finish. As they always do, fans from those groups gravitated towards the remaining groups. The players who’d finished consolidated around the remaining matches, too, accompanied by their captains, families and support staff. The attention grew. The tension grew with it.

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A large crowd had gathered by the time Homa stepped up to a 13-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole on Friday. His U.S. teammates had already established a sizable lead over the Internationals, 7 points to 2, but this final match was still tied and still important. Lose and the margin would swing to 7-3, a reasonable gap to make up over the weekend. Win and the gap would jump to 8-2, a seemingly insurmountable margin for an outgunned International squad.

Homa poured it in the middle. 1 up.

The group headed to 18. Every other match had finished now, which meant the entire cadre of U.S. team members were gathered to the right of the green, a massive crowd stretching out behind them. They smelled of sunscreen, sweat and $11 Michelob Ultra. The 489-yard finisher was playing long; through two days, nobody who’d reached the hole had made birdie. But Pendrith made it look easy, sending a towering iron from 219 yards to 13 feet, setting up a great look to the back-right hole location.

Homa had carried the adrenaline from the 17th green into his tee shot on 18, blistering one uphill and into the wind all of 302 yards. He hit after Pendrith and did one better: His iron shot just carried the edge of the right bunker, trundled forward and stopped just 11 feet short of the hole.

With Horschel and Conners facing par putts, Pendrith stepped onto the stage first. The Canadian’s best-known weapon is his potent driver, but his putter withstood the pressure of the moment: his ball never left the center of the hole. He let out a yell as the crowd gave a muted cheer, appreciative of the achievement if not happy with the result.

Then came Homa, who now faced a putt to win. He straddled his line. Studied the break. Slowed things down.

“It was pretty surreal. The atmosphere out there is insane. There’s so many people, you can feel them on the back of your neck,” he said afterwards.

Then he stepped up, took a last look at his line and sent the putt rolling towards the hole. It carried a little too much speed — but on this line it didn’t matter. Of the thousands looking on, gazing intently into the fading sun, Homa was the first one who knew: It was in. By the time the ball crashed into the back of the cup and fell to the bottom, Homa had already broken the silence of the masses with a blood-curdling scream. The match was over. The U.S. was up 8-2. The Presidents Cup, even in a blowout, had found its signature moment.

There’s one other thing that’s different about playing in the final group: How quickly everything goes once you finish.

Homa and Horschel were whisked away for a TV interview. Then they boarded a golf cart to the media center. When Homa arrived there, he’d been separated from caddie Joe Greiner — but he was still holding his putter. He addressed the media, suddenly asked to put it all into context. How did that feel?

“I feel very thankful,” he said. “I’m not super, super close with anybody on this team, but I have always respected and gotten along with everybody, and it’s been amazing to watch these 11 other guys who are incredibly good, incredibly acclaimed, so many accomplishments, cheering us on coming down the stretch. I’ve been in the last match both days, and to be able to see that is special for me. The golf’s amazing, but you remember that kind of stuff well into your days. So I feel very thankful for that.”

As for the putt itself?

“I mean, I was nervous as could be over that putt, but it was fun,” he continued. “I was telling my wife, when we talk about things money can’t buy, money cannot buy that feeling. And that was something that I will remember forever, and I will tell anybody who ever wants to hear about it how that felt.”

It was a fitting summation of the day and, thus far, the entire competition. A back-and-forth match that came down to the wire and, ultimately, went the way of Team USA. Through two sessions, eight out of 10 matches have made it to the 17th hole. But the U.S. side has the edge in those eight matches, winning five, losing one and tying two. (Human buzzsaws Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay have taken care of business in the other two matches, winning 6 and 5 and 3 and 2.) The International team has been competitive in individual matches — but in aggregate, the stars and stripes have built a commanding advantage.

“These moments where matches flip, it just seems like we’ve been on the right side of those for the margin to be where it’s at,” Spieth observed.

If the blowout continues, there will be hand-wringing about the future of the Presidents Cup. If it’s not competitive, critics will say, what’s the point? But there’s no denying the significance of Friday at Quail Hollow. Take testimony from Horschel, who was asked if his first U.S. team match lived up to the billing:

“Yeah, even this morning lived up to it. I woke up this morning and felt like I had to throw up for three hours straight,” he said. “It was the most nervous I’ve been ever before any round of golf in my entire life. I think it’s just the anticipation of wanting to be on these teams for so many years and missing out and finally making one.”

“When I finally started warming up, that feeling finally went away. Yeah, it lived up to everything that I expected.” He pointed to Homa. “And to see this guy right here perform at the end was truly special.”

Perhaps the Internationals will stage a furious comeback. After all, just 10 of 30 total points have been doled out; eight more are up for grabs on Saturday and 12 more come Sunday. But if not, this cup already has its moment. Homa’s putt left its mark.

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The post Max Homa’s clutch birdie sends jolt through Presidents Cup, Twitter rejoices appeared first on Golf.

The post Max Homa’s clutch birdie sends jolt through Presidents Cup, Twitter rejoices appeared first on Golf.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Team events are defined by the roars, and on Friday, the Presidents Cup finally got its roar.

Before we get there, though, we need to back up a bit.

Coming into the week, oddsmakers and pundits gave the International squad little chance to eke out a win. Besides being the visiting team (no International squad has ever won on American soil), LIV defections had gutted Trevor Immelman’s squad of its stars. The road to victory seemed all but impossible, and the possibility of a blowout was apparent from the first tee ball.

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Through much of Thursday and Friday, the rout looked to be on. The Americans were simply more talented, experienced and clutch than their foreign counterparts. But as daylight waned on Day 2 of play, the International team made a spirited push.

A couple of late comebacks for ties took some red off the board, and Corey Conners, of Canada, and Taylor Pendrith, of Australia, looked in position to earn a point of their own. But then, Max Homa produced the moment of the week.

After Pendrith knocked his approach 13 feet from the cup on 18, Homa stepped up and stuck an iron of his own to 11 feet. Not to be outdone, the big-hitting Canadian calmly rolled in his putt to put the pressure on Homa to match his feat.

Despite being a Presidents Cup rookie, Homa looked like a steely veteran as he sized up his putt. He surveyed it from every angle, conferred with his caddie and settled over the ball. A hush came over the crowd as Homa took his last look at the hole.

“I was nervous as could be over that putt,” Homa said. “But it was fun.”

Even more fun? Watching his putt roll into the back of the cup.

As soon as the ball reached its destination, the crowd erupted into an ear-splitting roar as Homa let out a furious fist pump and celebrated with his teammates.

“It was pretty surreal,” Homa said. “Money cannot buy that feeling. And that was something that I will remember forever, and I will tell anybody who ever wants to hear about it how that felt.”

Homa had penned his priceless moment, and the 2022 Presidents Cup had — to this point, anyway — its signature one.

And, yep, no surprise, Twitter loved it…

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The post ‘Twitter dorks’: Max Homa fires back at LIV critic on Twitter appeared first on Golf.

The post ‘Twitter dorks’: Max Homa fires back at LIV critic on Twitter appeared first on Golf.

Max Homa is feeling good this week. Fresh off opening the new PGA Tour season with his fifth victory, Homa is now in the U.S. team room at Quail Hollow, prepping to play his first-career team event at the Presidents Cup. But, as the saying goes, you can’t please everybody all the time.

On Tuesday, one Twitter user decided it was the perfect day to take Homa to task with a tweet attacking his playing record and arguing his Fortinet Championship victory over the weekend was less impressive than Cam Smith’s win at the LIV Chicago event.

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“No offense to Max Homa… but in the last 11 majors he has: 7 missed cuts, No top 10s, Only 1 finish better than 40th,” the user wrote. “That win is no where near as significant than Cam Smith winning on LIV.”

Rather than letting it slide, Homa decided to put the user on blast, crafting his own takedown response and sending it out to his 474,000 Twitter followers:

“The funny thing is if I played on that tour all these Twitter dorks (no offense) would be using my name to explain how strong their fields are,” Homa wrote.

Homa, of course, was trying to be funny, but he’s also onto something.

First off, the critic claimed that at the Fortinet Championship Homa “was the highest ranked player heading into the weak PGA event and won.” While fall tournaments on the PGA Tour often do have weaker fields than the majors and other elevated events, Homa was not the highest-ranked player in the field. That honor belonged to Hideki Matsuyama, who started the week at No. 16 in the Official World Golf Ranking, while Homa was at No. 22.

Following his second-straight Fortinet win, Homa improved to No. 16, with Matsuyama falling to No. 17. And while the LIV Chicago field featured some true stars, such as Smith, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka, Smith was the only player in the small 48-man field ranked higher than Homa.

There’s no way to do an exact comparison due to the fact that LIV events do not currently award OWGR points. But with all that in mind, it’s hard to argue against Homa’s point.

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The post Who’s playing in the Presidents Cup? Meet the U.S. and International teams appeared first on Golf.

The post Who’s playing in the Presidents Cup? Meet the U.S. and International teams appeared first on Golf.

The stage is set for for the 2022 Presidents Cup where 24 of the PGA Tour’s top golfers — 12 from the United States and 12 from around the world (except for Europe) — will meet for the biennial matches.

Due to the pandemic, this will be the first Presidents Cup since 2019, when the Tiger Woods-captained U.S. team narrowly edged the Ernie Els-led International squad with a miraculous come-from-behind win in Sunday singles.

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The U.S. team holds a dominating 10-1-1 record in the matches and most expect a similarly dominate performance with LIV Golf defectors being ineligible to play in this year’s event and taking the hardest toll on Trevor Immelman’s International team.

Without further ado, let us introduce you to the players who are playing this year.

United States Team

*denotes captain’s pick

Captain: Davis Love III

Love was a six-time member of the U.S. Presidents Cup team and compiled a 16-8-4 record in those matches. Love — who was born in Charlotte, N.C., home of this week’s host, Quail Hollow Club — won 21 times on the PGA Tour, including one major win at the 1997 PGA Championship. He also notably won the 2015 Wyndham Championship at the age of 51, becoming the third-oldest winner in PGA Tour history. Love was an assistant captain on the 2013, 2015 and 2017 Presidents Cup teams and captained the 2012 and 2016 Ryder Cup teams.

Sam Burns

Career Presidents Cup record: First appearance

Burns may have been overshadowed by close friend Scottie Scheffler in the early part of the 2021-22 season, but the Louisianan had a break out year himself, winning three times, including taking down Scheffler in a playoff at the Charles Schwab Challenge in May. This will be his first appearance at either the Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup.

Patrick Cantlay

Record: 3-2-0 in one appearance (2019)

Cantlay had another solid year in 2022, winning once while defending his crown at the BMW Championship in Wilmington and teaming up with Xander Schauffele to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. He played all of his matches in 2019 with Schauffele and figures to do so again. Cantlay was also very successful at last year’s Ryder Cup where he compiled a 3-0-1 record at Whistling Straits, the one tie coming in the only match he wasn’t paired with Schauffele.

Tony Finau

Record: 0-1-3 in one appearance (2019)

The big-hitting Finau had a slow start to the season before catching fire over the summer, notching five top-5s in a stretch of eight events, including back-to-back wins at the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic in July. He somewhat surprisingly did not notch a win in his only Presidents Cup appearance in 2019. He only had one loss in four matches, however, and he’ll be looking for a new partner as both his partners from 2019, Matt Kuchar and Bryson DeChambeau, are not playing this year. He’s picked up three wins in his two Ryder Cups in 2018 and 2021.

Max Homa*

Record: First appearance

Homa comes in as perhaps the hottest player in the matches. He won in dramatic fashion last week at the PGA Tour season opening Fortinet Championship, holing a chip shot from off the 18th green to win. He also finished a career best tied for fifth in the Tour Championship in his previous start. This will be his first team match appearance.

Billy Horschel*

Record: First appearance

If you were shocked to learn Horschel is making his first ever appearance in either the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup this week, you’re not alone. Horschel’s career resume includes seven PGA Tour titles, including this year’s Memorial Tournament, and the 2014 FedEx Cup. He’s had a mixed bag of a season, missing four of last eight cuts on the PGA Tour, but with the win in Columbus sandwiched between two of them. He did earn a top 10 in his most recent appearance during his title defense at the DP World Tour’s BMW PGA Championship.

Kevin Kisner*

Record: 2-0-2 in one appearance (2017)

Kisner is the oldest player on Team USA’s roster and has become known as somewhat of a match play savant, including a win at the 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and owning an undefeated record at the 2017 Presidents Cup. His best finish this past season was a second at — you guessed it — the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, but he did rack up five other top 10s. Kisner will also be looking for a new partner as he played with Phil Mickelson in all three team matches in 2017.

Collin Morikawa*

Record: First appearance

Morikawa came out just as hot as his first three years on Tour to begin this season with five straight finishes of T7 or better, but he fell back to earth a little toward the end of the year, his first on Tour without a win. Although he did lead the U.S. Open through 36 holes, he struggled Saturday and was out of contention by Sunday. The two-time major winner, who is still just 25 years old, showed better form at the FedEx St. Jude Championship in August with a T5 finish, but needed to be one of Love’s six captain’s selections to make it to Quail Hollow. He led the U.S. team in qualifying for the Ryder Cup last year and went 3-0-1 at Whistling Straits, his lone tie coming in singles.

Xander Schauffele

Record: 3-2-0 in one appearance (2019)

Like Finau, Schauffele also had a strong end to the season, finishing in the top 20 in all but one of his last 11 events. Again, like Finau, he notched back-to-back wins at the Travelers Championship and Genesis Scottish Open. He also teamed with Cantlay for a team win at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans and figures to see a lot of his close friend whom he has a 4-2-0 record with in Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup matches.

Scottie Scheffler

Record: First appearance

Scheffler has come a long way from being a captain’s selection at last year’s Ryder Cup. The Texan notched his first four PGA Tour wins last season, including a major victory at the Masters, and earned the World No. 1 ranking. While he didn’t come away with the FedEx Cup title, PGA Tour Player of The Year honors are a decent consolation — as well as the $5.75 million he got for finishing T2 at East Lake. He went undefeated, going 2-0-1 at Whistling Straits, teaming with Bryson DeChambeau in two four-ball matches. He also beat Kisner at this year’s WGC-Match Play.

Jordan Spieth*

Record: 8-5-1 in three appearances (2013, 2015, 2017)

After missing the 2019 matches, Spieth is back on the U.S. team at just the right time. With stalwarts like Tiger Woods, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson and Patrick Reed absent this year, Spieth and Justin Thomas are the only players with multiple Presidents Cup matches under their belt coming into the week. The 29-year-old notched a win at the RBC Heritage this season and finished a respectable tied for 13th in the FedEx Cup. He carries a career 16-12-4 record in U.S. team cup matches and played with Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed in all of his partner matches in 2015 and 2017. At last year’s Ryder Cup, he paired most often with good buddy Justin Thomas.

Justin Thomas

Record: 6-2-2 in two appearances (2017, 2019)

Thomas may not have met all of his preseason goals, but he notched 11 top 10s last season and his second major title at the PGA Championship. He brings with him the most impressive U.S. team match record, going 12-4-3 across two Presidents Cups and two Ryder Cups. In his two previous Presidents Cups, he paired with Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler and Daniel Berger, all of whom are not playing this week. He figures to play more with Spieth as he did twice at Whistling Straits.

Cameron Young*

Record: First appearance

Young had a debut season to remember, notching six top-three finishes and was one of two rookies to qualify for the season-ending Tour Championship. Those top finishes also include just missing out on the playoff at the PGA Championship by one stroke, and the memorable eagle finish at the Open Championship at St. Andrews to earn the runner-up spot.

International Team

*denotes captain’s pick

Captain: Trevor Immelman (South Africa)

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Immelman is the youngest captain in International team history at just 42 years old. The South African is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour, including one major, holding off Tiger Woods to win the 2008 Masters. He’s also picked up six victories around the world on the DP World Tour and Sunshine Tour. He’s a two-time veteran of the Presidents Cup and served as assistant captain under Ernie Els in 2019. Many fans will know him now for his broadcasting as he is expected to take over as the lead analyst for CBS’s golf coverage, following Nick Faldo.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout* (South Africa)

Record: First appearance

Bezuidenhout had a solid rookie year, making 20 cuts in 24 starts on the PGA Tour with 10 top-25 finishes. He’s perhaps better known in Europe, having a breakout year in 2020 while notching three victories including the Alfred Dunhill Championship. His best finish on the PGA Tour in 2022 was a T2 showing at the John Deere Classic and he advanced to the second FedEx Cup Playoff event at the BMW Championship. He’s one of five Presidents Cup first-timers selected by Immelman.

Corey Conners (Canada)

Record: First appearance

Conners played his way to the Tour Championship for the third time of his career thanks to 20 made cuts in 25 starts and four top-10 finishes. One of those top 10s came last month at the BMW Championship where he finished in T5, but he missed the cut last week in the PGA Tour’s season-opening Fortinet Championship. The Canadian has one win under his belt on the PGA Tour, coming at the 2019 Valero Texas Open.

Cam Davis* (Australia)

Record: First appearance

Davis notched five top-10s in 25 starts last season on the PGA Tour. His best golf came toward the end of the season when he made his last 10 cuts in a row. His best year on Tour came a season ago when he made 21 of 26 cuts and notched his debut win at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. His cuts-made streak broke last week at the Fortinet Championship where rounds of 74 and 70 sent him to Charlotte early.

Sungjae Im (South Korea)

Record: 3-1-1 in one appearance (2019)

The iron man of the PGA Tour, nobody plays more golf than Sungjae Im. Im had another strong season on Tour in 2021-22, winning for the second time at the Shriners Children’s Open and finishing strong with three T2 finishes in his last five events, including at the Tour Championship. The World No. 19 will be heavily relied upon as one of just four veterans on the International team with Presidents Cup experience. All three of his partners from Royal Melbourne — Adam Hadwin, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith — are not on the team this year.

Tom Kim (South Korea)

Record: First appearance

Kim burst onto the scene in 2022, finishing third at the Genesis Scottish Open, seventh at the Rocket Mortgage, and then capturing his first win at the Wyndham Championship in August to secure his PGA Tour membership and even qualify for the FedEx Cup Playoffs. He was only a special temporary member when he won, but had earned enough points to get his full status for 2023. He’s now exempt through 2024 and he auto-qualified for the International team.

K. H. Lee* (South Korea)

Record: First appearance

Lee has two PGA Tour titles and both have come at the AT&T Byron Nelson. At this year’s tournament, Lee outdueled Jordan Spieth down the stretch to defend his title. The rest of his season wasn’t much to write home about, with almost as many missed cuts (7) as top-25s (8), until he used T20 and T5 finishes in the first two Playoff events to catapult his way into his first Tour Championship appearance.

Hideki Matsuyama (Japan)

Record: 6-7-4 in four appearances (2013, 2015, 2017, 2019)

Hard to believe the 30-year-old Matuyama is about to start his fifth Presidents Cup, but the Japanese star heads to Quail Hollow as the alpha of the International squad. It was another good year for the World No. 17 on the PGA Tour, finishing 11th in the FedEx Cup after winning twice, with one of those victories coming last fall in his home country at the Zozo Championship. Only one of his previous partners, Adam Scott, is on the roster this week and they haven’t played together since Matsuyama’s Presidents Cup debut in 2013.

Sebastián Muñoz* (Colombia)

Record: First appearance

Munoz hasn’t quite played up to the same level as he did in his breakout season in 2019-20 when he got his first win at the Sanderson Farms Championship and then went on to finish 8th in the final FedEx Cup standings thanks to a solid performance at East Lake, but his 2021-22 campaign was enough to earn a captain’s pick. He had two runner-up finishes on the season.

Si Woo Kim* (South Korea)

Record: 1-2-0 in one appearance (2017)

Kim was the only one of Immelman’s captain’s selections with previous Presidents Cup experience, winning a four-ball match and losing in foursomes and singles matches in New Jersey in 2017. That season was also the year of his signature win, The Players Championship. He won in early 2021 at The American Express, but has not played well as of late, only recording one top 10s in 21-22, last fall at the Sanderson Farms Championship. Both of his partners from 2017 are not on this year’s team.

Taylor Pendrith* (Canada)

Record: First appearance

Normally for a rookie, an injury can be devastating. Taylor Pendrith missed time between The Players in March and the Barbasol Championship in July because of a rip injury, but it didn’t stop him from earning nine top 25s in 16 starts. Since coming back from the injury, Pendrith finished worse than T13th once in six starts, including a tie for second at the Rocket Mortgage Classic and a tie for eighth at the BMW Championship.

Mito Pereira (Chile)

Record: First appearance

Heartbreak at the PGA Championship overshadowed what was otherwise a very respectable debut season on the PGA Tour for Pereira. He opened the year with a solo third at the Fortinet Championship and had two other top 10s, including at Southern Hills. Of course his season will be remembered for the leading the PGA through 71 holes, only to hit his tee shot in the water on 18, leading to a double bogey and missing the playoff. Pereira was rumored to be joining LIV Golf, but reportedly is waiting to jump so he could play in the Presidents Cup.

Adam Scott (Australia)

Record: 16-22-6 in nine appearances

The 42-year old hasn’t missed a Presidents Cup since 2001 and is by far the most experienced player on either team, having more appearances than the entire International team combined and as many as the entire American team combined. His 10th appearance will break his own record for the Internationals. He also has a chance to tie or pass Ernie Els’ International record of 21 points this week. Aging like fine wine, the 42-year-old didn’t win on the PGA Tour this year, but only missed two cuts all year and had five top 10s. His back-to-back T5s to start the FedEx Cup Playoffs helped him play his way into the Tour Championship from outside the top 70 at the end of the regular season. Matsuyama is the only teammate his paired with before on the International roster.

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The post How this rare benefit helped Max Homa hit one of the clutchest shots of his life appeared first on Golf.

The post How this rare benefit helped Max Homa hit one of the clutchest shots of his life appeared first on Golf.

Preferred lies aren’t common on the PGA Tour, but they are employed, certainly far more commonly than they are in the majors. The final round at the Fortinet Championship Sunday was just such an instance. Due to heavy rain in the Napa, Calif., area, the Tour decided to allow the players to lift, clean and place their balls in closely mown areas.

Enter the lie Max Homa encountered with his fourth shot on the 72nd hole: a nervy, short-sided chip off a runoff area to a green running away from him. Nightmare stuff.

Two back of then-leader Danny Willett, who was staring down a birdie putt of less than 4 feet, Homa had one goal for his 30-foot birdie chip: send it to its home. When nothing less than a perfectly nipped shot will do, the lie is crucial. And here, Homa had the local rules in his corner.  

“Lift, clean and place,” Homa said Sunday evening. “I got to kind of pick my lie.”

Homa picked up his ball, wiped it clean and carefully placed it back down on a slight upslope.

It was a pressure-packed moment, but Homa, who had won four times previously on Tour, said he felt in control of his nerves, later adding that “I just had this calmness about me. I actually didn’t feel quite as nervous as I have before. I think experience has helped a bit in some of these wins.” That said, the shot was still a killer. “It was dead,” Homa said. “I mean, it was as short-sided as you could be. You couldn’t really stop it.” Well, unless you jarred it. At the very least, Homa now had a tasty lie from which to operate.

The contact was something close to perfect.

“It just felt like the whole week kind of hadn’t really gotten any, like, serious luck, and I clipped the pitch really good,” Homa said. “I spun it and once it hit the pin, it was almost like it spun straight into the ground. It was just one of those things.”

Willett, who grinned broadly after the ball dropped, looked some combination of amused and stunned, but probably more of the latter. “I expected him to do it,” Willett said, “but then it’s still a bit of a shock when it happens.”

An even bigger shock was still to come: Willett missed his birdie try from 3 feet, 7 inches and also his 4-foot-8-inch comebacker. A three-putt from less than 4 feet with the tournament in the balance. Homa was suddenly and stunningly the winner of the PGA Tour’s 2022-23 season opener.

Homa’s preferred lie will take nothing away from what was one of the great clutch shots in recent PGA Tour memory, but it still will go down as an interesting wrinkle in a Sunday afternoon full of them.

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The post This stunning three-putt cost Danny Willett nearly $600,000. Here’s how he explained it appeared first on Golf.

The post This stunning three-putt cost Danny Willett nearly $600,000. Here’s how he explained it appeared first on Golf.

Last season on the PGA Tour, Danny Willett attempted 148 putts from between 3 and 5 feet.

He made 135 of them. That’s a conversion rate of 91.22%.

So, when Willett sized up a birdie putt from 3 feet 7 inches on the 72nd hole of the Fortinet Championship Sunday, you had to like his chances.

By now, you likely know what happened next. Willett missed the putt, hammering it through the gentle left-to-right break. The comebacker was slightly longer — 4 feet 8 inches — but still a length from which Tour pros rarely miss. Willett? He botched it again, becoming the only player all week at the Fortinet to three-putt from within five feet while simultaneously kicking away a golden opportunity to claim his first title on U.S. soil since the 2016 Masters. Pick your favorite “s” word: stunning, shocking, startling, stupefying. They all applied.  

How did it happen? Some things are unexplainable. But Willett, to his credit, hung around on Sunday evening in Napa and did his best to unpack it all.

The context is important.

Just a few minutes before Willett addressed his first putt, you couldn’t have blamed him for already thinking ahead to popping bottles at his victory party. His closest chaser, Max Homa, was lying three off the green, needing a miracle hole-out to draw within one. Willett, meanwhile, had just stuffed a spinny wedge shot that left him within kick-in range. Homa looked primed to make par at best; Willett looked assured of a birdie. You could comfortably flip back to your favorite NFL team. The tournament was as good as over.

Again, you likely know what happened next. Homa jarred his chip. All Willett could do was munch on his gum and smile. He later said he had expected Homa to make it — that’s a wise strategy in match-play situations: expect the best out of your opponent so you’re mentally ready for anything — but deep down, did Willett really think Homa would make a 4? He couldn’t have. As Willett himself later said, “It’s still a bit of a shock when it happens.”

Suddenly, Willett had one putt for the win instead of two.

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Still…from a mere 43 inches! Not quite inside the leather, but not far outside it, either.

Willett had been paying close attention to the 11-foot birdie putt of his playing partner Justin Lower. The putt was on the opposite side of the hole from Willett’s shorty, but there still were learnings to be had when Lower’s try drifted by the hole.

“Justin’s obviously stayed right on the first one,” Willett said afterward, “which was a bit strange with how I was seeing mine, because I saw mine pretty nicely left to right.”

Seeds of doubt are never helpful on the greens, but are especially problematic when you’re staring down a putt for $1.44 million. Judging from his stroke, Willett didn’t want to give his ball much choice but to disappear into the hole. He rammed it. “I hit it obviously far too hard,” Willett said. The ball glanced off the left edge of the cup and left him nearly 5 feet coming back.

“He’s not done yet,” one of the announcers said.

“Not done yet at all,” said another.

Homa looked on pensively tugging on his beard.

Now, Willett faced a right-to-lefter, again from a distance from which he’d normally walk in putts. But when a PGA Tour title is on the line, the greens feel faster and the holes look smaller. Willett still had Lower’s putt on his mind.

“From where he was coming from, I thought it was straighter,” Willett said of his own par try. It wasn’t straight. Halfway to the hole, Willett’s putt tugged left. “Again, yeah, just ended up tailing off and missing,” he said.

Stunning, shocking, startling, stupefying.

In the moment, it was hard to recall a more jarring PGA Tour finish. The combination of Homa’s heroics paired with Willett’s heartbreak was almost too much to process. “That was crazy,” Homa said after the dust had settled and he’d claimed his fifth Tour win. “I still don’t really know what happened. Just kind of one of those weekends you just had to hang around I felt like.”

Hang around, because you never know what 72nd-hole pressure might do to a golfer.

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“On 18, it was a weird situation,” Homa said. “Danny hit a beautiful shot in there, and four feet for the win. It’s always going to be a bit trickier, but the way he was playing and the way he was putting, made an unbelievable putt on 17 for par. I kind of had to assume he was going to make it.”

On the PGA Tour these days, the guys like to talk a lot about legacy — i.e., one of the few things LIV Golf can’t buy. Fighting for titles isn’t so much about the money as it as about the chance to play for history. That may be true to many players, but the cash still matters. It always does. When Willett’s par putt on 18 nicked the left edge of the hole but didn’t drop, he had lost not only the chance to compete in a playoff for his second Tour win but also $568,000, the difference between first- and second-place prize money.    

If the Englishman was crestfallen, he did an admirable job not showing it.

“Disappointing way to finish,” he said. “But, you know, first [tournament] out of the season. Like I said, to be in contention, things are in a good place. Yeah, we’ll live to fight another day.”

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Max Homa has indisputably been one of the best golfers on the planet over the past 18 months.

Don’t believe me? Just take a look at his resume.

After his latest victory in Napa, Homa has four wins over that time period, matching the likes of Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and Xander Schauffele. His strokes-gained performance last season was 13th, and he finished fifth in the FedEx Cup standings. Oh, and he earned a spot on this week’s Presidents Cup team, too.

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Despite the trophies and the accolades, the naysayers persisted. Social media trolls insisted that his captain’s pick selection deserved an asterisk on account of the LIV defections. If the full roster of American players were available for picks, Homa would have been passed over.

Those doubters only served as added motivation for the 31-year-old.

“I’ve had a lot of people tell me if the LIV guys wouldn’t have left, I wouldn’t have made the Presidents Cup team,” Homa said. “So I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder this week.”

What does a Max Homa chip-on-the-shoulder performance look like? It ended with a must-make, walk-off chip in to seal a win.

“That was crazy,” Homa said. “I still don’t really know what happened.”

But while the walk-off chip in has grabbed a majority of the headlines, Homa’s consistency on the week can’t be overlooked. Over 72 holes, he made just four bogeys. He carded three rounds in the 60s despite a “cold” putter, and he became just the second player ever to go back-to-back in the event.

Tally it all up and it ended with yet another Homa win.

“[It’s] little bit like a dream,” he said. “And then oddly enough a little bit like this is where I’m supposed to be.”

Just don’t tell that to the social media trolls.

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The post Winner’s bag: Max Homa’s Titleist equipment at the 2022 Fortinet Championship appeared first on Golf.

The post Winner’s bag: Max Homa’s Titleist equipment at the 2022 Fortinet Championship appeared first on Golf.

With a crazy finish on the 72nd hole, including a chip-in birdie from just off the green, Max Homa won his fifth PGA Tour title at the Fortinet Championship in Napa Valley California.

This is the Titleist equipment Homa used to take home the trophy.

Driver: Titleist TSR3 (Fujikura Ventus Black 6X shaft), 10 degrees

3-wood: Titleist TSR3 (Fujikura Ventus 8 TR Blue X), 16.5 degrees

5-wood: Titleist TSR2 (Graphite Design Tour AD XC 9TX shaft), 21 degrees

Irons: Titleist T100S (4-iron; KBS $-Taper 130X shaft), Titleist T100 (5-iron; KBS $-Taper 130X shaft), Titleist 620MB (6-9; KBS $-Taper 130X shafts)

Wedges: Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (46-10F degrees; KBS $-Taper 130X shaft), Titleist Vokey Design SM9 (50-12F, 56-14F and 60-04L degrees; KBS Hi-Rev 2.0 125S shaft)

Putter: Scotty Cameron Phantom X T5.5 Prototype

Ball: Titleist Pro V1

Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet

Want to overhaul your bag for 2022? Find a fitting location near you at GOLF’s affiliate company True Spec Golf. For more on the latest gear news and information, check out our latest Fully Equipped podcast below.

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The post After shocking 72nd-hole plot twist, Max Homa wins Fortinet Championship appeared first on Golf.

Max Homa was on the ropes. He had just left his third shot from the bunker at the par-5 18th at the Silverado Resort and Spa North Course short of the green.

His opponent, Danny Willett, was already one shot ahead and had less than four feet for birdie to seal the win.

The 2022 Fortinet Championship was over.

Until it wasn’t.

Homa holed his fourth shot from a collection area left of the 18th green…

…and then watched as Willett missed his birdie putt and then shockingly missed again, this one from about five feet, handing the first title of the 2022-23 PGA Tour season to Homa.

Under these stunning circumstances, Homa successfully defended his Fortinet victory from a year ago and started the new season with his fifth career Tour win.

“My coach just said just hang around, hang around, hang around,” Homa said after the win. “And I don’t know, last like three minutes are kind of a blur.”

Willett looked in control for much of Sunday’s final round. He quickly grabbed the lead from 54-hole leader Justin Lower with three birdies in the first eight holes.

Homa, who was tied with Willett through three rounds at 12 under, remained steady through the same stretch before pulling even with Willett early on the back nine thanks to three-straight birdies of his own.

Willett took control again on 14, hitting a miraculous second shot, which bended some 50 yards around a tree directly in front of him and setting up a birdie giving him a one-stroke advantage, which he took to 18.

The Englishman hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since his dramatic victory at the 2016 Masters.

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In that tournament, it was Willett who stole the show from Jordan Spieth who seemingly had the major locked up.

This time, however, it was Homa who took the title, and Willett who was left shell-shocked.

“I played really good golf, I played solid,” Homa said. “Danny and Justin both played great, but I just tried to play my game and just see where it got me. I don’t know, it was a wild finish.”

After holing his fourth, Homa looked at his caddie Joe Greiner, slowly walked over to him and let out a big scream in jubilation. His final-round 68 put him at 16 under for the tournament.

Willett simply smiled.

“I expected him to do it, but then it’s still a bit of a shock when it happens,” Willett said of the moment. “He played — we all played really good today. Like I said, bit of a shame to kind of finish how I did.”

In the end, Willett pulled his birdie putt by the hole and did the same on the par putt from slightly farther away, both catching the left lip.

“I hit it, obviously, far too hard,” Willett said. “I thought it was straighter … just ended up tailing off and missing left. Yeah, disappointing way to finish, but you know, first out of the season, like I said, to be in contention, things are in a good place. Yeah, we’ll live to fight another day.”

Homa kicked off the new PGA Tour season with a win and will take the momentum from Napa — plus his T5 finish at the Tour Championship last month — into his first team appearance at the Presidents Cup next week in Charlotte.

Homa was the only U.S. team member to tee it up in Napa, and the move paid off in the best way possible.

“I’m just happy to be in form, to represent my country, play with those boys,” Homa said. “They’re some good golfers, so I just wanted to come in in form. Honestly, I got a lot of people — I know this is Twitter, but I’ve had a lot of people tell me if the LIV guys wouldn’t have left, I wouldn’t have made the Presidents Cup team, so I had a little bit of a chip on my shoulder this week.”

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