Max Homa and his wife, Lacey, welcomed a son, Cam in October. Homa joked on Twitter (what else is new?) that his little family got to spend Lacey’s first Mother’s Day in the air to Rochester and they were “with a bunch of strangers, just how she always imagined this day would go.” He appeared in the airport with a train of bags, including a car seat in a backpack.
Joking aside, Homa, twice a winner on the PGA TOUR already this season, is loving life. And now he hopes that joy will translate into a career-high result at a major.
“I'm pretty lucky and appreciative of everything that I've got going on, and then all the good golf is a cherry on top,” Homa said. “And a major would be – I'm not sure what's better than a cherry or taller on a sundae, but it would be awesome.”
Homa has very quickly moved himself into the upper echelon of superstars. While the casual golf fan will know him for his quick Twitter wit, his golf has been pretty darn good lately, too. Two wins in 2021, two wins in 2022, and a triumph at the Farmers Insurance Open in January have him ranked No. 6 in the world.
If there has been any omission to his on-course resume, it’s what has happened at major championships. In his career, Homa has just one result better than a tie for 40th, and that came at last year’s PGA Championship when he tied for 13th.
Homa admitted he puts pressure on himself with every golf tournament. They “felt like the end of the world” if things didn’t go well. That feeling was amplified at majors.
Homa has realized that, after an event is long in the rearview mirror, poor results weren’t as big as he thought. Homa said he’s been doing a better job this year of just going out, playing, and seeing where the chips fall.
So far, so good. He’s finished in the top 10 in half of his starts so far this season.
“I just think that mentally where I'm at this year is I just understand if I play well, I'll finish well; whereas sometimes, especially when you're younger, you come to these big, big events and you don't know if your great golf game is good enough to compete. I know that it is, which is nice,” Homa said. “And I also know that it doesn't need to be perfect, and those are at least comforting things.”
Speaking of comfort, Homa’s learning to find balance between being ‘dad’ and being a ‘pro golfer.’ He’s enjoyed the sleep when he’s by himself, but it’s less enjoyable when he wakes up, he said. Homa’s family was at Niagara Falls on Tuesday while Homa practiced. Cam has got a personality now and that makes everything more fun, he explained. The first Mother’s Day included two plane trips across the country, but a whole lot of love.
And that’s what Homa is focused on these days. With good results at majors hopefully to follow.
“I'm not sure anything could happen at this point that would change my life, but it sure would change my career. I think you win a major, and you just get vaulted. That might mean I might look at myself a little bit differently as a golfer, but my life,” Homa said, “I like my life.”
