Max Homa Sounds Like He Needs a Break

It’s been a trying year for the former World No. 5.

Max Homa has gone through coaching changes, swing changes, caddie changes, hell, he even changed his clubs and apparel. But nothing has worked…yet. There’s always the hope that for a player of his caliber, he’s only a swing thought, a feel away from getting his game back. But through the end of June, it’s been a tough go for one of the most popular players out on TOUR.

He’s made 16 starts entering this week’s John Deere Classic, and he’s made just eight cuts and finished inside the top-25 one time (Masters, T-12). But since that outlier at Augusta National, Homa posted just one top-50 finish (Truist Championship, T-30).

But to his credit, he’s never stopped working.

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He’s at the range grinding week in and week out, trying to find it. But his game has done a pretty good job of hiding to this point.

“My game isn't particularly sharp,” Homa told the media at TPC Deere Run on Wednesday. “Obviously haven't played well this year or great lately either. You know, pieces of my game feel awesome. Just in general, I haven't played sharp enough…You never know. Everybody out here is so good, you can get hot any four days. Hopefully, this one is those four days.”

One thing that has helped put his struggles in perspective is his connection to the circuit’s fan base. The little kids who roam around TOUR venues don’t necessarily care about how well he’s playing; they just know that he’s one of their favorite players.

“I haven't had a very fun year and a half,” he said, “but when you get a bunch of kids coming up excited to get your name on their hat, at least it makes you feel good inside. Even if you made a bogey, it's definitely something that kind of gives a nice reality check.”

While he’s trying to recognize little wins when they happen, there have been a few guys he’s been able to rely on in the locker room.

“Played nine holes with Jason Day yesterday. We talked about a lot of things,” Homa said. “He's always a breath of fresh air out here. He's a wealth of knowledge. Justin Thomas has been like the greatest friend you could ever ask for through all of this. Collin Morikawa, too. Just talks to me all the time. On his off weeks he'll check in on me, how it's going. He did it all last week.

“So I have the utmost respect for him. I owe him a ton just giving his time and the fact that he really cares. So that has been really helpful.”

But as he continues to fight, it sounds like a break would do him wonders.

“It's hard to really get away from the game in the middle of the season,” Homa said. “We don't have loads of time off. I thought about skipping a bunch of events in the beginning of the summer, but I just don't think I have that in me. It's hard to get away from it. It's on your mind.

“Not gonna lie, I'm looking forward to whenever I'm done this year and just trying to get away from it.”

Part of getting away from the game is finding new hobbies, Max said.

“Going to try to make some things up at home and have some hobbies and do things that are not golf that bring me joy. Golf, you're just so tied into results. Once you go down that path it's hard to stop, so it's not like tons of fun. I want to find something that's fun that I feel like I can get better at.”

What could those new hobbies be? Max mentioned room for improvement when it comes to cookies and that he's considering picking up a rod to do some fishing.

“I can grill a little bit,” he said. “I can make a decent sauce for pasta. But I'm not super great at it. Fortunately, my son eats chicken tenders, so he probably thinks I'm a great cook.”

And that little joke at the end is why I think we all love Max Homa. Through all the struggles, through all the disappointments, the fun-loving, swing-roasting kid is still in there.

I don’t think I’ll ever root harder for someone to get back to the top of the world than Max.