Max Homa calls out major championship troll the only way he knows how

Homa is the social media gift that keeps on giving.

Max Homa is the social media gift that keeps on giving.

The best follow in golf was back at it on Monday, but not for his classic swing video roasts. Homa, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour who has self-admittedly struggled in the major championships, called out an internet troll from his wife Lacey’s TikTok page for blaming her and his son, Cam, for his major woes.

“That kid and wife are keeping from majors. I’d tell them everyday you’re giving up green jackets for them. Just so they know!” the commenter wrote.

Well, Homa wasn’t having any of that and called out the troll the only way he knew how: with self-deprecating humor.

Classic Max. Just for fun, though, let’s take a look at the stats.

Homa was married in November of 2019 and Lacey gave birth to their son in November of 2022. He made 11 major starts in his pre-child major era and missed the cut seven times. When Homa did make the cut, he finished T-40 (2021 Open), T-48 (2022 Masters), T-13 (2022 PGA) and T-47 (2022 U.S. Open).

In four major starts in 2023 since Cam’s birth, Max has missed just one cut at the U.S. Open and finished T-43 at the Masters, T-55 at the PGA and logged his best major finish with a T-10 at the Open.

Homa will get his next shot at major glory at the 2024 Masters, April 11-14.

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Louis Oosthuizen teeters on missing three majors next season as three LIV golfers earn spots in 2023 British Open

Oosthuizen is teetering on the brink of missing three majors in 2023.

Unless the R&A announces a change in the criteria for earning spots in the British Open, South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen will have a chance to play next July at Royal Liverpool because he won the 2010 British Open at St. Andrews. All past winners are given a spot in the field until they reach age 60.

However, after tying for second at the 2021 PGA Championship, then being the runner-up at the U.S. Open and tying for third at the British Open that same year, Oosthuizen is teetering on the brink of missing the other three majors in 2023.

Last week, Golfweek explained to readers how pros earn spots in all four major championships, and while each uses a slightly different set of criteria to fill out their field, maintaining a high spot on the OWGR is a primary method elite golfers use. For instance, golfers ranked 50 or better on Dec. 31, 2022 can expect to get an invitation to compete in the 2023 Masters.

As of Monday morning, Oosthuizen is No. 49.

The OWGR does not award points for performances in LIV events, so like most LIV golfers, Oosthuizen’s spot on the OWGR has slowly risen since he was suspended from the PGA Tour. In his case, Oosthuizen has risen from No. 21 in early July to No. 49 on November 20. If he goes higher than 50, and he likely will in the next week or two, Oosthuizen will not meet any of the traditional criteria used by the Augusta National Golf Club to warrant an invitation. He also won’t have an exemption into next season’s PGA Championship. As for the U.S. Open, Oosthuizen will likely need to go through qualifying to get into the field at Los Angeles Country Club because the OWGR cutoff for an exemption has traditionally been No. 60 two weeks before sectional qualifying (May 23, 2023) or on the day of sectional qualifying (June 6, 2023).

Three other LIV golfers are likely feeling better than Oosthuizen on Monday because they appear to have earned spots in the field at the 2023 British Open.

Traditionally, golfers who finish in the top 30 in the DP World Tour’s Race to Duabi earn a spot in the following year’s British Open. Rory McIlroy won on Sunday, but Spain’s Adrian Otaegui finished 15th and fellow Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal finished 23rd. England’s Richard Bland finished 24th.

Those performances do not earn them a spot in any of the other three major championships and their world rankings of 98 (Otaegui), 86 (Larrazabal) and 89 (Bland) are not high enough to earn exemptions either.

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Why is the Official World Golf Ranking so important to LIV Golf? And how do pros qualify for majors?

Maintaining a high spot on the OWGR allows golfers who have never won a major to earn exemptions into future majors.

When stars like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau joined LIV Golf, many focused on the nine-figure contracts these major champions reportedly signed, and their suspensions from the PGA Tour. Then Brooks Koepka signed with LIV, followed by Bubba Watson, Joaquin Niemann and the 2022 Players Championship and British Open winner, Cameron Smith.

But starting in September, the conversation shifted to the value of something that money can’t buy, at least not yet — Official World Golf Ranking points. In a statement on Sept. 21, LIV Golf commissioner Greg Norman stated that not only should LIV Golf competitors start getting OWGR points for their performances, but they should also retroactively get points for LIV events they had already played.

In the following weeks, Patrick Reed, Graeme McDowell and other LIV golfers questioned the legitimacy of the rankings if LIV players continued to be denied points for LIV events.

The rankings are crucial to LIV Series golfers for reasons that go beyond pride. Maintaining a high spot on the OWGR allows golfers who have never won a major championship to earn exemptions into future majors, and while each championship uses slightly different criteria to create its field, they each reward golfers with a high rank at specific times with an exemption into their tournament.

As of now, the governing bodies of golf’s four major championships — Augusta National Golf Club, the PGA of America, the United States Golf Association and the R&A — have not announced any changes to qualifying criteria for 2023. If nothing changes, the exemption lists below will be how professional golfers get into the field of next season’s Masters Tournament, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and British Open, along with the ways that professional golfers who compete on the LIV Series have already earned spots.

Matthew Wolff’s strange season continues with WD from PGA Championship

The young PGA Tour star has battled a hand injury and has had several withdrawals and other lackluster performances.

A strange season continued for Matthew Wolff.

The former collegiate standout and NCAA champion, who won the 2019 3M Open in just his third professional start, withdrew Tuesday night from next week’s PGA Championship on the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort in South Carolina.

No reason was given for the WD.

Tom Hoge replaced Wolff in the field.

Wolff, 22, has been dealing with a nagging right hand injury and has often looked disgruntled on the course this year. After opening with a 78 in the Farmers Insurance Open in January, he withdrew because of the injury. He also withdrew from the WGC-Workday Championship at The Concession in February after posting an 83 in the first round.

In last month’s Masters, he was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.

In his most recent start, he and Collin Morikawa teamed up and missed the cut in the Zurich Classic the third week of April.

Wolff has not finished in the top 10 in his most recent 10 starts and has fallen from a career-high rank of 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking to 27th.

No one in golf expected this plunge from Wolff.

It was just six months ago that he led by two shots heading into the final round of the U.S. Open at Winged Foot. A final-round 75 had him finishing runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau, who won by six shots. In his next start, he tied for second in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. And in his debut in the PGA Championship in August, he tied for fourth.

Golf Futures: Updated Betting Odds for 2020 PGA Tour Majors

Looking at changes to golf futures betting odds for the PGA Tour’s three majors in 2020 following the Charles Schwab Challenge.

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The 2019-20 PGA Tour season resumed this past weekend with the Charles Schwab Challenge. Daniel Berger conquered a star-studded field for his first win since the 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic. In doing so, he vaulted to No. 31 in the Official World Golf Ranking and gained entry to the 2020 PGA Championship.

The first tournament in three months shook up the golf futures betting odds. Below, we’ll look at the updated odds for the 2020 PGA Championship, US Open and Masters as the PGA Tour season ramps up.

Golf futures: 2020 PGA Championship odds

Odds provided by BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Monday, June 15 at 7:50 a.m. ET.

When: Aug. 6-9

Where: TPC Harding Park, San Francisco

Favorites

NAME ODDS
Rory McIlroy +700
Jon Rahm +1000
Dustin Johnson +1200
Brooks Koepka +1400
Justin Thomas +1400
Tiger Woods +1400
Bryson DeChambeau +2000
Xander Schauffele +2200
Rickie Fowler +2500
Hideki Matsuyama +2500
Jordan Spieth +2800
Patrick Cantlay +2800
Patrick Reed +2800
Tommy Fleetwood +2800
Tony Finau +2800
Adam Scott +3300
Jason Day +3300
Justin Rose +3300
Webb Simpson +3300
Sungjae Im +4000
Collin Morikawa +4500

Long shots

NAME ODDS
Gary Woodland +5000
Henrik Stenson +5000
Marc Leishman +5000
Paul Casey +5000
Sergio Garcia +6600
Daniel Berger +8000
Francesco Molinari +8000
Shane Lowry +8000
Viktor Hovland +8000
Kevin Kisner +10000

Golf futures: 2020 US Open odds


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When: Sept. 17-20

Where: Winged Foot Golf Club, Mamaroneck, N.Y.

Favorites

NAME ODDS
Rory McIlroy +700
Dustin Johnson +1000
Jon Rahm +1000
Brooks Koepka +1200
Justin Thomas +1400
Tiger Woods +1400
Bryson DeChambeau +2000
Xander Schauffele +2000
Rickie Fowler +2500
Tommy Fleetwood +2500
Hideki Matsuyama +2800
Jason Day +2800
Jordan Spieth +2800
Patrick Cantlay +2800
Patrick Reed +2800
Tony Finau +2800
Adam Scott +3300
Justin Rose +3300
Webb Simpson +3300
Sungjae Im +4000
Collin Morikawa +4500

Long shots

NAME ODDS
Gary Woodland +5000
Henrik Stenson +5000
Marc Leishman +5000
Bubba Watson +6600
Phil Mickelson +6600
Daniel Berger +8000
Shane Lowry +8000
Viktor Hovland +8000
Kevin Kisner +10000

Golf futures: 2020 Masters odds


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When: Nov. 12-15

Where: Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Ga.

Favorites

NAME ODDS
Rory McIlroy +650
Jon Rahm +1000
Justin Thomas +1200
Brooks Koepka +1400
Tiger Woods +1400
Dustin Johnson +1600
Jordan Spieth +2000
Xander Schauffele +2000
Bryson DeChambeau +2200
Hideki Matsuyama +2500
Justin Rose +2500
Patrick Reed +2500
Adam Scott +2800
Patrick Cantlay +2800
Tommy Fleetwood +2800
Tony Finau +2800
Bubba Watson +3300
Rickie Fowler +3300
Gary Woodland +4000
Jason Day +4000
Sungjae Im +4000
Webb Simpson +4000
Marc Leishman +4500
Paul Casey +4500

Long shots

NAME ODDS
Collin Morikawa +5000
Phil Mickelson +5000
Henrik Stenson +6600
Lee Westwood +8000
Sergio Garcia +8000
Shane Lowry +8000
Viktor Hovland +8000
Francesco Molinari +9000
Scottie Scheffler +10000
Danny Willett +12500
Matthew Wolff +15000
Bernhard Langer +50000
Vijay Singh +75000

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