Max Homa said he’d carry his own golf bag if he had to when the PGA Tour resumes play. He’d even carry two if need be.
“It would stink but I guess we’d have to all finally blame ourselves for being unprepared,” Homa said in a conference call on Tuesday. “I play golf without (my caddie) carrying my bag when I’m at home. I hope they don’t make us carry the staff bag because that would get a little difficult but at this point I’d carry two staff bags to play some golf in a tournament if things could just go back to normal.”
Homa has been itching to get back to work for some time now after the COVID-19 global pandemic stifled the world and shut down the PGA Tour in March.
While Homa, one of the best Twitter follows in golf because of his wit and humor, has done his best in these difficult times in his Scottsdale, Arizona, home with his wife Lacey, and their dog. He misses his day job and hopes the PGA Tour can restart June 11 in the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.
This week is especially trying as Homa, the 2013 NCAA individual champion at California, was supposed to be defending his title in the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
Last year, Homa, 29, earned his maiden Tour victory by three shots as he held off a stellar group including Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, Sergio Garcia, Jason Dufner and Paul Casey.
“The walk up 18 and how electric and fun it was,” Homa recalled as his fondest memory of 2019. “It really felt like a dream coming true in real time, which is rare. I did media day there two months ago and I saw how excited everyone was.
“It’s one of my favorite cities and one of my favorite golf courses. It was a life-changing Sunday.”
‘Super not great’
Homa also had to deal with a taxing week in April, when his first appearance in the Masters was postponed to November.
“Super not great,” Homa described his feelings Masters week. “It just stunk. Wednesday I think hurt the most, not getting to play the par-3 contest because my wife was very excited to caddie and I was excited to blame her for a bad club. It was going to be awesome.
“But it’s hard to get too caught up with your sad feelings about not getting to play the Masters when people would do quite a bit just to go back to work or to be healthy. Hard to be down for too long.”
So I got a net for this quarantine. Didn’t realize my dog would be so proud. She celebrates with me after every single shot pic.twitter.com/mMLTymYF9r
— max homa (@maxhoma23) April 8, 2020
Homa has spent much of his time since the PGA Tour shut down practicing in his back yard, playing hide-and-seek with his dog and racing his wife for the remote. He’s been able to practice and play at local golf clubs in the Grand Canyon State. And “I’ve watched all the TV you can possibly watch,” he said. Just don’t ask him to go through another episode of Westworld.
“There are so many good shows. Just don’t watch Westworld – just too fricking confusing,” he said. “That’s just messed up my quarantine.”
Homa had six top-25s in seven starts this year when play was halted, including top-10s in the Farmers Insurance Open, Waste Management Phoenix Open and the Genesis Invitational. He hopes to recapture his good form whenever play resumes but basically, all he wants to do is get out onto the PGA Tour.
“It’s funny man, I miss the guys, I miss the banter,” he said. “I miss just playing golf with amazing golfers all of the time. I miss the competition. That’s why I love golf so much.
“This has made me appreciate it more. I think we’re all going to be probably a bit more jolly when we come back because we’re all going to realize just how lucky we are even more so than we already do.”
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