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SAN DIEGO – Joe Greiner had never seen his boss and best friend, Max Homa, smile so wide.
This was on Thursday as Homa was playing on the North Course at Torrey Pines and Greiner, his dutiful caddie, pointed to Homa’s wife, Lacey, and newborn son, Cam, who had come out to the course and surprised him
“He was like a kid when he saw Cam,” Greiner said.
That smile may have been topped late on Saturday as Homa sewed up his sixth PGA Tour victory with a birdie at 18 to win the Farmers Insurance Open with wife and son watching from behind the green.
“If he screams at me, I will just be smiling ear to ear,” Homa said of returning to diaper duty. “He can poop away and I’ll just be here for him.”
Homa shot a final-round 6-under 66 at Torrey’s South Course to edge hard-charging Keegan Bradley by two strokes.
Homa’s last five wins have been in come-from-behind fashion. This time he erased a five-stroke overnight deficit, which had grown to as many as six, by the turn, canning a 7-foot birdie at nine to tie for the lead. He toured the front nine in 32 en route to his second victory of the 2022-23 Tour season, including his win at the Fortinet Championship in September, and fourth win in his native state of California.
Homa became a first-time parent on Oct. 30, but it was not without its fretful moments. Lacey underwent complications during Cam’s birth, Homa has said, requiring multiples surgeries and time in the ICU.
“She had a horrendous birth, it did not go well,” Homa said during his winner’s press conference. “It was the scariest – hard to say because it was an amazing day, get a new son, Cam. It was the worst day ever at the same time.”
Homa credited his wife for being “a rock star” as a mother, allowing him to practice and focus on his play, and he wanted to pay back her for those efforts.
“I feel like I’ve almost worked harder for this because I want to spend as much time as I possibly can helping her and being with Cam and doing all the cool things, catching some smiles here and there and getting screamed at,” he said. “But I also want to be the best golfer on the planet and she knows that and she just does an amazing job letting me do both…I work hard at two things now, so it feels a little bit more difficult but it’s a million times more rewarding.”
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In the final round, Homa got his first of three deuces on the day at No. 3, the first of four birdies on the opening nine. As the players turned for home, the marine layer gave way and Torrey Pines was bathed in sunshine. Among a stacked leaderboard, Homa shined brightest. He made the second deuce at No. 11, striping a 4-iron to 13 feet and rolling in the putt.
“When he made the one on 11, I said, ‘That’s a Tiger two right there.’ Cuz guys don’t make two there,” Greiner said.
But Homa surrendered the lead at 14 with his lone bogey of the day to drop back to 11 under. Homa saved his best swing of the day for the par-3 16th, flagging another 4-iron to 15 feet, the closest anyone got to the hole all day, and drained the putt.
“I’m not even looking at that pin,” Collin Morikawa, who played alongside Homa, said. “He didn’t miss a shot and that’s what you’ve got to do if you’re going to win out here.”
The closest tee shot of the day on No. 16.@MaxHoma23 cashes in with a birdie. pic.twitter.com/IOVjfl0IlW
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) January 29, 2023
Homa added a birdie at 18 for good measure to finish at 13-under 275.
Bradley carded the only bogey-free round of the day with a 6-under 66. But he pulled his second shot from 219 yards on the par-5 18th into the bunker left of the green, and he was unable to get up-and-down for birdie.
“The one shot I mis-hit all day,” said Bradley, who finished 11 under, a shot better than Morikawa (69), who was alone in third.
After holding at least a share of the lead after each of the first three rounds, Sam Ryder made a costly double bogey at 15 to fall out of the lead and finished T-4 (75). Jon Rahm, who entered the final round in second place with a chance for his third win in as many starts, struggled on the front nine and shot 74, settling for a T-7 finish, his fourth top-10 in four starts to begin the season.
Homa, who represented Team USA in his first international team competition at the Presidents Cup in October, has emerged as one of the game’s best players after twice losing his card and having to return to the Korn Ferry Tour. Saturday was a gritty performance that showed just how much he trusts and believes in his game.
“It’s really easy to fake-believe that you’re a really good player but now he walks around and you can just tell that he knows when he plays well he’s going to contend and that he should be one of the best players in the world,” Greiner said.
He’s earned the respect of his peers, who think Homa is just hitting his stride.
“It was only a matter of time before he put a string together like this,” Morikawa, a fellow Cal Bear, said.
“He’ll be challenging for No. 1,” CBS’s Colt Knost said. “He’s that good.”
Homa has become the rare social-media star, who also can pull off being a world-class player. If he can balance those acts, why not this parent thing too? He’s already looking forward to the day that he can tell Cam about the time daddy took down some of the best at Torrey.
“I will tell him this story ad nauseam and he will probably think I’m the worst for it, but this will be my corny dad story that I will tell every Thanksgiving or something,” he said, adding, “he’s not going to remember this, so I’ve got to win again.”
While there may be bigger victories still to come, Homa will always remember his first victory as a parent with a special keepsake. As he waited to do an interview, Homa took the Titleist golf ball he had used, which has the No. 25 inscribed on it, the basketball number of a high school buddy who passed away, and in black Sharpie he added, “For Cam.” Then he shoved it back into his pocket for safe-keeping and wiped his eyes.
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