CHAMP.@maxhoma23 x #GoBears 🏆

pic.twitter.com/eZOyCq7sNj

— Cal Men's Golf (@CalMensGolf) January 29, 2023

Max Homa wins it, and Collin Morikawa finishes third. Two Cal Bears in the Top 3 - what an awesome day for the Blue & Gold!

"This past Saturday, Max Homa earned $1.6 million for winning the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines. Two days later, he earned $677.50 for winning a skins game at his local municipal golf course.

The big picture: Celebrating a Tour victory with a round at the muni is very on-brand for the 32-year-old Homa part of a new generation of pro golfers committed to making the sport more approachable.

The Athletic named Homa their Golf Person of the Year for 2022, partly due to his success (he's ranked 13th in the world) but also because of his "regular guy" persona and ability to connect with fans.

Homa's relatability was on full display over the weekend, which began with him being mic'd up for a hole on CBS (an idea he pitched to the PGA Tour) and ended with him flushing irons at the local muni.

Between the lines: Papago Golf Course, the Phoenix-based track where Homa played on Monday, isn't like most munis. Arizona State calls the course home, and Homa isn't the first pro to show up for Monday skins.

"It's a unique game because although there's skins, there's also low gross, a deuce pot, low final 5 holes, etc," Homa told me in an interview.

The Cal-Berkeley grad won $400 for low gross, plus additional money for his back-nine 31 ($60), finishing T2 in par-3 scoring ($80.50), making a 2 ($27) and finishing second in "final five" scoring ($110), per Golf.com.

What he's saying: Homa, who lives in Scottsdale with his wife and newborn son, began playing at Papago during the early months of the pandemic.

"We would play most Mondays to get out and compete. ... It's golf in the truest form to me and there's some great players."

What makes Papago special? "I think the allure is the juxtaposition of pros playing there, mixed with Sunday golfers playing for an excuse to drink some beers with their buddies."

The last word: I was curious about Homa's mindset. How does one approach a low-stakes game two days after winning on the PGA Tour? Was he there to compete? Work on something specific? Just have fun?

"My mindset is the same as always. Shoot the lowest score I can, try some shots I've been working on, and kick everyone's ass."
Max Homa
Axios

Bonus article:

Max Homa isn't normal. He's far more interesting than that


https://golf.com/news/features/max-homa-story-not-normal/

okaydo said:

---

CHAMP.@maxhoma23 x #GoBears 🏆

pic.twitter.com/eZOyCq7sNj

— Cal Men's Golf (@CalMensGolf) January 29, 2023

---

Am I missing something? Where is he celebrating Wilcox? Just curious.

juarezbear said:

---

okaydo said:

---

CHAMP.@maxhoma23 x #GoBears 🏆

pic.twitter.com/eZOyCq7sNj

— Cal Men's Golf (@CalMensGolf) January 29, 2023

---

Am I missing something? Where is he celebrating Wilcox? Just curious.

---

He is a brand ambassador for Burns & Wilcox

juarezbear said:

---

okaydo said:

---

CHAMP.@maxhoma23 x #GoBears 🏆

pic.twitter.com/eZOyCq7sNj

— Cal Men's Golf (@CalMensGolf) January 29, 2023

---

Am I missing something? Where is he celebrating Wilcox? Just curious.

---

Go Wilcox!

I don't know if you guys saw this when I posted it in Shocky's thread, but if you want to see about 90 minutes of Max being entertaining and playing out of his mind, look up his match against Bob Does Sports on YouTube. He played his own ball against a three-man scramble. It's very good TV.

"The Cal-Berkeley grad won $400..."

Go Cal-Berkeley!!!!

LOL! I'm surprised no one saw this and went out of their mind yet.

okaydo said:

---

---

Nicely done. Do you happen to know how Firefox got its name?

Homa & Morikawa currently tied for 2nd in Genesis.



Update: Max tied for 1st and Collin for 3rd after Round 3.

I'm 4 episodes into Full Swing, the new Netflix series in golf (styled after Hard Knocks, the F1 series, and the tennis series). Max makes a few spot appearances in episode 4 and comes off very well. Down to earth, smart, funny. Very likable. I'll be rooting for him.

ColoradoBear said:

---

---

Haha. I was wondering if someone would post this. But you didn't include details on what Tiger is giving to Thomas after outdriving him....

I have insurance with Burns & Wilcox.
How did we get so lucky as to have not one, but two outstanding ambassadors in the world of golf? My wife thinks Max is handsome and it got her to sit and watch the 3rd and 4th rounds of the Genesis. That's a positive.

Collin finished the last three holes of the final round birdie, eagle, birdie. Taint bad.

Nice to see him smiling at the end.

GMP said:

---

I'm 4 episodes into Full Swing, the new Netflix series in golf (styled after Hard Knocks, the F1 series, and the tennis series). Max makes a few spot appearances in episode 4 and comes off very well. Down to earth, smart, funny. Very likable. I'll be rooting for him.

---

I just finished all 8 episodes of Full Swing on Netflix, and I'm curious what others thought of the series. I'm a pretty big golf fan, and I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed by the series. There was a lot more golf shown that I thought there would be, and I already knew the outcomes and saw all the shots when they originally happened, so it was a little repetitive for me.

I loved Episode 4 with Joel Dahmen - that one was fantastic. The other 7 episodes were so-so. But I'm glad a streaming service is trying to make golf content, that's a win in my mind.

75bear said:

---

GMP said:

---

I'm 4 episodes into Full Swing, the new Netflix series in golf (styled after Hard Knocks, the F1 series, and the tennis series). Max makes a few spot appearances in episode 4 and comes off very well. Down to earth, smart, funny. Very likable. I'll be rooting for him.

---

I just finished all 8 episodes of Full Swing on Netflix, and I'm curious what others thought of the series. I'm a pretty big golf fan, and I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed by the series. There was a lot more golf shown that I thought there would be, and I already knew the outcomes and saw all the shots when they originally happened, so it was a little repetitive for me.

I loved Episode 4 with Joel Dahmen - that one was fantastic. The other 7 episodes were so-so. But I'm glad a streaming service is trying to make golf content, that's a win in my mind.

---

I think some of it is it's just not for you. In episode 1 they explained what birdie, par, eagle, etc. are. If you watched all these tournaments and remember them, it's going to be repetitive.

However, I'm surprised the behind the scenes stuff wasn't interesting to you. For example, Justin Thomas' conversations with his dad after round 3 of the PGA. Or Koepka coming to grips with the fact he stinks. Or Poulter wrestling with money and security for his family vs his desire to captain the Ryder Cup. Or Rory's attempts to move the PGA forward and modernize in response to LIV. All really fascinating stuff, whether you remembered who was going to win each tournament or not.

I thought the puzzling decision was making each episode centered around 2 players at the expense of any chronological storytelling. In one episode you've got the First LIV event, with guys like Dustin Johnson playing. In the next Dustin Johnson is discussing whether or not he's going to defect to LIV. Seems to me they could have been less rigid about the episode structure around 2 players and introduced everyone over the first 2-3 episodes, and then checked in with them as the season progressed chronologically.

GMP said:

---

75bear said:

---

GMP said:

---

I'm 4 episodes into Full Swing, the new Netflix series in golf (styled after Hard Knocks, the F1 series, and the tennis series). Max makes a few spot appearances in episode 4 and comes off very well. Down to earth, smart, funny. Very likable. I'll be rooting for him.

---

I just finished all 8 episodes of Full Swing on Netflix, and I'm curious what others thought of the series. I'm a pretty big golf fan, and I have to admit I was a little underwhelmed by the series. There was a lot more golf shown that I thought there would be, and I already knew the outcomes and saw all the shots when they originally happened, so it was a little repetitive for me.

I loved Episode 4 with Joel Dahmen - that one was fantastic. The other 7 episodes were so-so. But I'm glad a streaming service is trying to make golf content, that's a win in my mind.

---

I think some of it is it's just not for you. In episode 1 they explained what birdie, par, eagle, etc. are. If you watched all these tournaments and remember them, it's going to be repetitive.

However, I'm surprised the behind the scenes stuff wasn't interesting to you. For example, Justin Thomas' conversations with his dad after round 3 of the PGA. Or Koepka coming to grips with the fact he stinks. Or Poulter wrestling with money and security for his family vs his desire to captain the Ryder Cup. Or Rory's attempts to move the PGA forward and modernize in response to LIV. All really fascinating stuff, whether you remembered who was going to win each tournament or not.

I thought the puzzling decision was making each episode centered around 2 players at the expense of any chronological storytelling. In one episode you've got the First LIV event, with guys like Dustin Johnson playing. In the next Dustin Johnson is discussing whether or not he's going to defect to LIV. Seems to me they could have been less rigid about the episode structure around 2 players and introduced everyone over the first 2-3 episodes, and then checked in with them as the season progressed chronologically.

---

You're making a lot of very good points. I think I came off a little too harsh on the series. I did enjoy the behind the scenes stuff, including the scenes you mentioned.

It was a tough decision for the creators to make.... if they show more golf, the hard core golf fans will find it anti-climactic, but if they show more behind the scenes stuff it will come across like a Real Housewives show.

So I guess they tried to thread the needle, which is probably the correct decision. Perhaps my expectations were sky high, and that problem is on me.

I'm glad to hear you liked it. Hopefully a bunch of other people did as well, and the PGA Tour gains a bigger following.

And if I'm being super truthful, I am super bummed they left the Max Homa footage on the cutting room floor. Perhaps they're saving him to star in Season 2 (fingers crossed!).