Max Homa took home more than $1.5 million Saturday afternoon with his win in the Farmers Insurance Open, finishing with a birdie at Torrey Pines in San Diego to beat Keegan Bradley and a cast of other major champions and up-and-comers on the PGA Tour.
How did he celebrate? With another victory at a popular municipal golf course, albeit this one with a much smaller payout.
Homa, now a six-time winner on the PGA Tour who has amassed more than $4 million in earnings in five events this season, shot 5-under 67 on Monday at Papago Golf Club in Phoenix to win the stroke-play pot in a popular skins game.
His prize from Monday: $400.
Not that we need any more reason to love and laud Max Homa, but two days after he wins his 6th PGA Tour event he shows up at a municipal course in Phoenix to play a weekly skins game. This is grass roots stuff and the essence of why most of us love this game. pic.twitter.com/jNBqH098Hc
— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) January 31, 2023
Before you start thinking he beat up on a bunch of locals with muni games, it’s worth noting the Papago skins game was brimming that day, as it usually is, with good players – pros and ams alike. Griffin Wood, who finished second, plays on the PGA Tour Canada series.
So tough spot to make rent money at Papago. Just an educated guess, but a par on the par-5 ninth hole probably didn’t pay in Monday’s skins pot. Like many skins game, it appears the entrants’ money was divided between a low-gross prize pot and a skins pot.
Papago ranks No. 20 in Arizona on Golfweek Best’s list of top public-access courses. The muni track not far from Arizona State University – Papago is home to the schools’ golf teams – has been reworked in recent years and is typically in excellent condition for a layout that sees so many rounds each year. As this writer will attest, the attached restaurant is top notch.
Oh I have video proof too https://t.co/xsSFI0WVBG pic.twitter.com/7sVOTKC9UK
— Monday Q Info (@acaseofthegolf1) January 31, 2023
All in all it’s a great look for Homa, who has become a legit star on the PGA Tour as well as on social media, where his quick wit and availability has started to create an almost-Arnold Palmer like following. It’s hard to imagine some PGA Tour winners mingling with a muni crowd, but as he has proved, Homa is a natural in just about any setting.
And Homa’s round answers a question many local golfers ask about their public-access home tracks: How would a PGA Tour star score here? The Papago crowd has its answer.