AUGUSTA — Max Homa has become one of the more popular players on the PGA Tour both because of his success and his willingness to honestly interact with fans on social-media platforms.
Homa, now No. 5 in the world, has seen his popularity rise with his ranking. Approachable, honest and engaging, Homa has more than 559,900 Twitter followers – his buddy, fellow Cal Bear and frequent partner Collin Morikawa called him the “King of Twitter” – and 430,000 Instagram followers. He sends out a post or two every day and enjoys interacting with fans – even when they call him out.
For example, last week a follower posted a video of Homa’s rather deliberate approach to lining up a putt – one that left playing partner Mackenzie Hughes walking ahead and waiting impatiently on a bridge. Homa tweeted, “Will work on speeding the process up.” He even addressed it in his official Masters press conference Tuesday.
In February someone posted a video of a frustrated Homa making a poor shot from a fairway bunker and angrily throwing the club. Homa, feeling chastised, responded, “Can’t look less cool if I tried.”
The growth of his popularity might know no bounds if Homa finds a way to translate his on-course success to the major championships, starting this week at Augusta National. But he’ll need to change his trajectory, where his success in majors has not kept pace with his success in regular Tour events.
Homa will be making his fourth start at the Masters and the first three have been quite forgettable – two missed cuts and a tie for 48th in 2022, earning enough money to pay for a couple of trips to the merchandise center.
“My game has not been great when I’ve played here, so it’s been hard to take too much from those,” Homa said. “My game is in a better spot now, and I don’t have scar tissue on this place because it’s not like I’ve felt really good about my game and bad things happen. I’ve just played poorly. Hopefully learning from all that.”
Since leaving Augusta National last year, Homa, 32, has won three times and ascended to No. 5 in the world ranking. In 10 PGA Tour events, Homa has won twice – defending his title at the Fortinet Championship and winning the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines – and has finished among the top 25 nine times. That includes a runner-up performance to Jon Rahm at the Genesis Invitational and a T6 at The Players.
Homa, who has won six times on the PGA Tour, is eager to change his fortune in the major championships. In 13 starts, has missed the cut eight times and has only one top-25 finish, that coming when he tied for 13th at the 2022 PGA Championship.
“I have a poor record in majors,” Homa said. “I put enough expectations on myself. Expectations is something I work on all the time, as far as diminishing it, and this is a great opportunity to continue to do that.
“I believe that if I don’t play well this week, it does not mean I’m not a great golfer, and I’ve been telling myself that pretty much every week. So as much as I know that this is not just any other event, I have been practicing, essentially mentally, treating each event the same. And I’ve had good success, so I don’t see what that would not continue to happen.”
Homa attributes some of his problems at the Masters to poor chipping, an issue he has addressed aggressively.
“It’s hard to chip around here,” he said. “You have use imagination. I think adding some short game, creating spin, playing firmer golf courses better, that has helped me play a bit better. … I’m getting a little bit better every year at all facets.”
Homa will be paired in the first round with defending champion Scottie Scheffler and U.S. Amateur champion Sam Bennett.
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