NAPA, Calif. – Max Homa isn’t a superstitious guy, the type of defending champion that gets the same room number and eats at the same restaurants as the previous year when he shot a pair of 65s on the weekend at Silverado Resort’s North Course to win the Fortinet Championship by one stroke.
“I just go wherever my wife tells me,” he said. “I guess I’ve kept that the same.”
After 36 holes, he’s putting up a strong title defense, racing to a share of the lead with Englishman Danny Willett at 12-under 132.
“I’m very proud of one bogey,” Homa said. “I was hoping for no bogeys, but I’m very proud of one bogey, so that’s kind of how I try to go about and play golf.”
He’s seven strokes better through two rounds of this event than he was when he lifted the trophy a year ago, but Homa said his game doesn’t feel too different this go-round.
“I drove the ball unbelievable last year, if I remember right. This year, my mid irons have been really good, but it’s not too far off,” he said. “My game from last year all the way to now, from this event last year to now feels very similar, which is great. It’s just a testament to my coach, Mark Blackburn. It feels like I’m doing the same stuff, I’m just getting a little better at it, so it feels quite similar. I get on these greens and I feel like I read them really well.”
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Always a strong iron player, Homa ranked second in proximity to the hole in the first round (25’3”) en route to making birdies on five of his first 10 holes and shooting 65 on Thursday. He matched his hot start on Friday, including a 15-foot eagle at the par-5 16th. So far, he’s finding fairways to set up plenty of wedge shots, a part of his game that he says is vastly improved the last few years.
Can @MaxHoma23 be more dialed in? 😲 pic.twitter.com/Ubj609uf8u
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 16, 2022
“I didn’t launch it low enough, so it made my dispersion on accuracy a little bit off and it makes getting the number a bit harder, not as much spin when it goes that high, so change in technique,” he said. “That’s just my favorite thing to practice now. I like talking the launch monitors out and just grinding those. I do it when I’m home, I do it when I’m on the road. It’s kind of a fun game to play, so I enjoy working on it. Give me I guess a year now, year and a half now working on that has got me quite a bit better and I think a lot of it is just the joy of practicing it.”
Of those games he likes to play, he said, “I usually give myself a three-yard margin on the carry, and sometimes when I’m home I’ll try to hit little hooks, little cuts, just whatever, and pick numbers in my head, random. Just little stuff like that.”
Homa, who represented the stars and stripes in the Walker Cup in 2013, is counting the days until he makes his debut representing Team USA at the Presidents Cup.
“I’m proud that I haven’t jumped ahead a week and I told myself to get in some good form going into next week at the least,” he said.
He’s done better than that, so far. Homa is a Southern California native, who grew up on poa annua greens and gained nearly three strokes on the field with his putter on Friday. As a Cal Bears grad, he is cheered as well in the Napa Valley, which is situated 46 miles northeast of San Francisco, and has evolved into one of America’s greatest lures for those who count food and wine as passions. Homa already has joined his wife for meals at Ad Hoc, Botega and French Laundry.
“That one’s pretty darn good,” he said.
