Max Homa entered Sunday’s final round of the 88th Masters Tournament two shots back of leader, Scottie Scheffler.
Homa came out firing, hitting excellent iron shot after excellent iron shot. Unfortunately, his putter let him down as he missed a number of makable birdie putts on the front nine.
Despite that, the Burbank, CA native found himself tied atop the leaderboard as he stood on the 12th tee.
Homa then one-hopped the green with his tee shot as the ball nestled deep into a bush, leaving an unplayable lie. He would double bogey the hole and never quite recover.
“Would have loved the ball on 12 not to go in the foot of ivy,” Homa said after his round.
“12 is just hard. The wind isn’t where it feels, where it’s supposed to be. I hit it a foot to three feet left of where I’m looking, not trying to be perfect, just trying to hit it to the left center of that green.”
Meanwhile, Scheffler reminded everyone why he is the best player in the world right now. Scheffler ripped off birdie after birdie at Augusta National, making a difficult course look easy.
Following his round, Homa was asked whether it was easier to swallow the loss knowing it was to the World No. 1.
Homa answered in a way that only Homa would.
“I swallow just fine. I’ll be all right.”
It is quips like that have made the 33-year-old a fan favorite on the PGA Tour.
This is by far the closest Homa has come to a major championship. He has won six times on the PGA Tour and is the 11th ranked player in the world.
Yet, the reputation that has followed Homa has been that of someone who struggles in majors.
“The rhetoric on me, and this is from myself, as well, is I have not performed in these things [majors], and I performed for all four days. I didn’t throw a 65 in there and sneak my way in. I had to sleep on this every single day, this feeling and kind of this monkey on my back.”
Indeed, Homa played very well throughout the week. That is despite borderline unplayable conditions with wind gusts upwards of 40 miles per hour.
He will look to build upon this experience at the PGA Championship at Valhalla next month.
Kendall Capps is the Senior Editor of SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social media platforms.
