Golf is more than just a game to Max Homa.
The 34-year-old is in the midst of a nearly yearlong slump, having not secured a weekend tee time in an event with a cut since last July’s British Open. His struggles continued at this week’s Players Championship, shooting 79-71 to send him trunk-slamming Friday night by seven shots.
Afterward, he spoke to PGATour.com at TPC Sawgrass with his eyes welling.
“I know how hard I work; I know how much I care,” the six-time Tour winner said. “So it just feels more just sh---y for myself, like internally. I know people probably love this and some people probably hate it for me, but people like to laugh when people aren’t doing well. I would laugh at that, because I just don’t know what more I could be doing at the moment.
“It’s actually easier to deal with what I think people might think because it seems so silly because they’re not sitting on the range with me for X amount of hours.”
Homa’s play will have him outside the top 70 in the world rankings following the Players, a place he hasn’t been since before winning the Genesis Invitational in February 2021.
He’ll tee it up at Augusta National next month due to his T3 there last year; however, he’s currently on the outside looking in for the U.S. Open and British Open, needing to be inside the top 50 and 60 to automatically qualify for each.
This isn’t the first time Homa has seen the depths of his game. In 2017, he made only two cuts in 17 starts and lost his Tour card. But he would regain it and breakthrough for his maiden win at the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship.
As wild as it seems, Homa feels closer to the player who was a top 10 in the world two years ago than the one who hoping to just retain his Tour card.
“I know people probably think I'm crazy but like the work I’m doing is right, it’s just I’m not doing a very good job on the golf course of making that show,” Homa said. “I’m sure I’d get made more fun for saying how great I feel and shooting 80 or whatever. I’m not blowing smoke, but I’m also not scoring at all, so it’s just hard.”
And despite the downward trajectory of his game, the former Cal Bear is embracing the grind back to stardom—even if it isn’t embracing him back right now.
“It's hard to care this much about something and just not get anything out of it,” Homa said. “It’s like you're in a very toxic relationship. I might be the toxic one, but it’s still toxic."
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Max Homa, in Danger of Missing Majors, Describes 'Toxic' Relationship With Golf.
