Max Homa Will Win the Wyndham Championship…if this Changes

I’m going out on a limb on Thursday afternoon: if Max Homa’s putter wakes up at all—and I mean AT ALL—he’s going to win the Wyndham Championship this weekend.

He flushed it around Sedgefield Country Club during the opening round, hitting nine iron shots to 15 feet or less—I double-checked, and I’ve confirmed that’s good. In all, he was seventh in Strokes Gained: Off the Tee and third in SG: Approach in the morning wave down in Greensboro, North Carolina.

The bad: he was 76th in SG: Putting, losing over two strokes to the guys with early tee times. That’s just not going to get it done—and he knows it.

Wyndham: How to Watch, Tee Times

“I mean, it was just kind of again about the highest I could have shot,” Homa said after signing his card. “Just haven't made any putts. Played awesome. I chipped one time. Frustrating score but it's a good start. If I can get some putts to go in, I could do some serious damage. I really like where my game's at, I just have to start to make something.”

Despite all the misses, he still shot a 4-under 66 and is just three shots back of early leaders.

But if the flat stick continues to be shy, he’ll have to focus on minimizing frustration. You can only hit the ball so close to the hole. He’s got to let the makes come to him.

But man, I can’t wait to watch him try to get back into the winner’s circle this weekend. It’d be one hell of a mic drop to get into the postseason.

As for some of the other names who played 18 holes Thursday morning, Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott—who needs a minimum finish of a two-way tie for third to make the playoffs—shot matching 5-under 65s. Spieth told the media Wednesday that he’s an offseason away from getting back to the height of his powers. Well, maybe he’s closer than he thinks.

Akshay Bhatia shot a 2-under 68, while Tom Kim signed for a 3-over 73 and is now in serious danger of missing the postseason—he needs a minimum finish of solo third to make it into the field for the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

The 23-year-old from South Korea will need something low on Friday to have any hope.