PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. – For Max Homa, the reality of winning the Genesis Invitational last year was even better than the childhood dream. As he returns to defend his title in this ritzy suburb of Los Angeles not far from where he grew up and learned the game in Valencia Homa said the fact that his name is etched in the record books as a champion of this event — which dates to 1926, alongside Harry Cooper (the first tournament winner) Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Phil Mickelson and many more — is hard to comprehend.
“Having a framed picture and glove and ball signed in the locker room’s weird. All of it’s very surreal,” Homa said.
After edging Tony Finau in a two-hole playoff for his second of now three PGA Tour titles, Homa recalled hoisting the trophy, taking the pictures and talking with his childhood hero Tiger Woods, but none of those rank as his favorite memory.
That came after all the festivities had ended, as Homa and caddie Joe Greiner were grabbing the final items from his locker and heading out of the clubhouse to the parking lot to leave and shared a quiet moment of celebration together.
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“It was just us two and for whatever reason, that felt very cool. You know, two kids from up the road, it kind of felt like the last people leaving the golf tournament,” Homa said. “As Jamie Mulligan, famous coach out here, he says, ‘Who did you beat,’ and you say, ‘I beat everybody.’ That’s what it felt like, we were the last people at the golf course at our favorite place to play on the PGA Tour. I don’t know, that was my favorite part of the day, honestly.”
Homa went on to win the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, in September, not too far from where he played his college golf in the Bay Area at Cal. He said his game is better than it was a year ago, meaning he’s flirted with winning more often and his bank account is heftier, but for the most part life hasn’t really changed.
“Same wife, same dog, we do the same stuff every week,” Homa said. “And my grind to get better hasn’t changed at all. It’s just that the spots I’m in come Sunday are significantly different than the spots I was in come Friday three years ago.”
His forgettable 2017 season when he earned $18,008 on the Tour, made just two cuts and played one Sunday is now a distant memory but still drives him to reach greater heights. Homa was in striking distance of the lead on Sunday heading to the back nine at the WM Phoenix Open but failed to deliver the goods, drifting back to a tie for 14th. He is still learning to come to terms with appreciating what he’s already accomplished without ever becoming complacent.
“It’s the hardest thing at least I found in learning about all this stuff or reading about all this stuff about happiness and gratitude,” he said. “I’m raised to step on someone’s throat and win at all costs and whatever … Now it’s also like I’m just supposed to be happy for the opportunity. So there’s a blend, but I think it comes from there’s a great book called the ‘Seven Spiritual Laws of Success,’ and one of them is the law of detachment. When you are kind of, when you pretty much are OK with whatever happens and you can only just put in what you can put in and you control what you can control, if you can get peace through that, then the rest of it just becomes its own competition and its own fun.”
It’s further evidence that Homa is trying to grow both as a golfer and as a person. He knows the journey may be as circuitous a route as his path to the winner’s circle, and he seems OK with that.
“Am I grateful last week that I got 14th? I was grateful that I got to be in the mix and you pick little spots. Am I happy I got 14th? No, but I’m grateful for how fun that event was and how I got to be in that mix,” he explained. “I would say that’s the most complicated part of it because at times I’m like, man, how do you be grateful for something when you’re pissed about it? I don’t know, I’ll get back to you maybe in 10 years when I start to figure that out.”