Does Max Homa have his mojo back? It looked so during the PGA Championship's second round
Does Max Homa have his mojo back? It looked so during the PGA Championship's second round
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Heading to the range to warm up for the second round of the 107th PGA Championship, U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Keegan Bradley stopped in his tracks outside the locker room when he eyed Max Homa heading his way.
'Maximus,' Bradley said, to get his attention. 'Thatta baby!'
And he leaned in for a bro hug.
That was the extent of their exchange, but that was all that was needed to be said.
Homa had just wrapped up shooting 7-under 64 at Quail Hollow, which included a near ace at the 340-yard par-4 14th. It was a nine-stroke improvement and secured Homa a late Saturday afternoon tee time.
Golf has been 'uncomfortable' for Max Homa
Even more importantly, it was further proof that Homa is coming out of the wilderness, a stretch marred by missed cuts and dreadful driving and all sorts of changes – from equipment to coaches to even his loyal sidekick, Joe Greiner, as caddie. Homa has gone from being a fixture on the last three American Cup teams – and arguably the best player on the losing side in Rome – to No. 30 in the current team standings and an afterthought for Bethpage Black. There's no doubt that Bradley would like for Homa to rediscover his mojo before too long, and Friday's round was a step in the right direction.
'You need that one round that tells you that you're back,' his new caddie, Bill Harke, said. 'You can't have your agent, your caddie or your coach telling you; you have to know.'
Homa said he's hit 'an absurd amount of golf balls' attempting to dig it out of the dirt. Even his T-12 at the Masters, he called smoke and mirrors. Golf has felt uncomfortable, his swing under new coach John Scott Rattan feeling foreign to him at times this season.
'I felt like I was so broken, and whatever the swing change was going to be was going to be some grand thing, like something I've never done before,' he said.
Homa thinks he's found his old swing
A few weeks ago, he and Rattan were in the thick of another range session, but it wasn't clicking. It made sense to Homa and he doesn't doubt that it was technically correct, but there was one big problem. 'It didn't feel like me,' he explained.
'I want to try to do it this way and just let me know if that looks OK,' Homa told Rattan.
His swing now? 'It feels more like me. It looks more like when I swung at my best, I think,' he said.
Homa notched his first PGA Tour victory at Quail Hollow in 2019. It's a happy place where he said he feels peace and comfort. He had full command of his game on Friday morning under overcast skies and muggy conditions without a breath of wind. "Go get'em, Max," a fan yelled, and Homa did just that. Starting on the back nine, he birdied Nos. 10 and 13 and then stepped to the drivable par-4 14th, guarded by water left, and smoked the shot of the day to inches.
'I was aiming one yard inside the right bunker, so I toed it like the perfect amount,' he said. 'I looked up slightly scared of it going left, but obviously it was still a good drive. I mean, you don't hit it there intentionally unless you're Scottie (Scheffler) or something.'
He chipped in for birdie at 18 with his lob wedge to shoot 30 – a nine-stroke improvement over a day earlier – and tacked on two more birdies and a bogey for 64, his lowest score in 70 rounds at majors by three strokes.
Bones helped Homa find a new caddie
During his post-round press conference, Homa said that when he and Greiner split, he didn't know who to ask to caddie for him, so he reached out to Jim 'Bones' Mackay, the longtime caddie and NBC golf commentator, who he counts as a good friend. Bones suggested Harke, and so far, the pairing is working. "You're in like a full relationship day one," Homa said. "You're out there with him, first day is probably eight hours. It's not exactly a normal first date."
Bones and Homa are members at the same golf club in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Bones admires how hard Homa works at his game. It's why he's confident Homa will work his way out of this latest valley.
'I don't worry about him at all,' Bones said. 'He works so hard and he's so committed to it and he's so darn talented. I don't worry that there is going to be good golf around the corner for Max.'
Nor does Bones think Bradley should lose faith in Homa for Team USA in late September.
'He played so well in Rome,' Bones said. 'Based on that alone, he should be considered right up until those decisions are made.'
Don't call it a comeback, but for at least one day at the 107th PGA Championship, Homa had found his mojo again.
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