The Official World Golf Rankings currently have Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy listed as numbers one, two, and three respectively. It’s hard to argue that those guys haven’t been the most consistent golfers over the past six months or so. As you look down the list a little further, you’ll stumble across 32-year old Max Homa who currently ranks eighth in the world.
Max Homa’s Impressive Ascent Towards Top of OWGR
As recently as January 2020, Homa was barely in the top-100 in the world. His first career win on the PGA Tour came at the 2019 Wells Fargo Championship. He was best known for his back-and-forth social media interactions roasting fans who would tag him in videos of their golf swings. Many fans roasted him back for his inability to simply make the weekend at the tournaments he would play.
Homa missed the cut at the 2020 Masters Tournament that was played in November that season after being delayed by COVID. His slow ascent to the top began then as he made the cut in his next eight events including winning his second-ever tournament on the PGA Tour at The Genesis Invitational in 2021. He missed the cut at the ensuing three majors that year before making the weekend and finishing T-40 at The Open Championship.
He entered 2022 as the 35th-ranked golfer in the world as his ascent continued.
Homa added two more wins to his resume with triumphs at the Fortinet Championship and the Wells Fargo Championship. The Wells Fargo Championship served as his tune up for the PGA Championship last season where he netted his best career finish at a major with a T-13.
A little Monday morning golf swing inspiration from Max Homa’s winning press conference.
“It’s a beautiful game. Sometimes you’re just one good swing thought away from being good again.”pic.twitter.com/rZ1XBoXNg0
— LKD (@LukeKerrDineen) January 30, 2023
2023 Could Be a Turning Point
Homa’s 2023 season began with defending his title at the Fortinet Championship. Homa also pulled out the win a few weeks ago at the Farmers Insurance Open.
His worst finish so far this season through eight events is a T-39 at the WM Phoenix Open.
At The Genesis Invitational a few weeks ago, Homa went toe-to-toe with Rahm who ended up prevailing and taking home the tournament title and the title of being the number one golfer in the world. It was an impressive performance despite coming up just short after making some critical mistakes on the back-nine on Sunday while Rahm went into his dominant state of mind.
Homa’s jump to number eight is the first time he is ranked within the top-10 in his career. That’s quite an impressive accomplishment for a guy that won an individual NCAA Championship in 2013 at the University of California-Berkeley but didn’t find much success right away on the PGA Tour.
Homa Playing Best Golf As Major Season Approaches
To Homa’s credit, he certainly seems to have exercised his confidence demons that plagued him for much of his early career.
Besides roasting fans on social media, Homa often posted playful, yet self-deprecating comments about his golf game. It was clear that he didn’t believe he could hang with the stars of the game. Now, Homa seems to be in form and ready to make noise this major season.
Homa ranks fifth on Tour in scoring average at 69.3 with 28 rounds played so far this season. He’s gaining 2.264 strokes total this season which ranks third behind only Rahm and Tony Finau. He’s doing this with solid iron play and top-five-on-Tour putting as he is not one of the longer players on Tour. In fact, Homa ranks 53rd in driving distance at just a shade over 305 yards and 66th in driving accuracy hitting just 66.1% of fairways.
With The PLAYERS Championship and The Masters quickly approaching, it’s time for Homa to prove that he is an elite player that is capable of beating the current crop of young stars on Tour.
His rise to the top has been a slow burn but an enjoyable one as many finds find it easy to root for a guy like him.
