PGA Championship: Max Homa Says Winning a Major Isn't a Life-Changer

Max Homa has won two tournaments each of the past two years and he and his wife have a baby daughter, so what could make life any better?

How about winning the PGA Championship this week at the Oak Hill Country Club outside Rochester, N.Y.?

Asked directly if winning his first major would change his life, the former Cal star said no.

“I’m not sure anything could happen at this point that would change my life, but it sure would change my career,” he said. “I think you win a major and you just get vaulted. They might mean I might look at myself a little bit differently as a golfer but I like my life. I can’t imagine much is going to ever happen the I’m going to all of a sudden say, `Oh, thank goodness. My life’s good now.’

“So I ‘m pretty lucky and appreciative of everything that I’ve got going on. All the good golf is a cherry on top and a major would be . . . I’m not sure what’s better than a cherry on top or taller on a sundae. It would be awesome.

“I don’t think golf changes our lives. But we do work at something and it’s always nice to see hard work pay off. I think I’d just be more proud of myself if I could clip off a major. But I’m not going to let that dictate my happiness in my day-to-day life.”

Homa and fellow Cal grad Collin Morikawa are among the pros given the best chance to compete for a title at Oak Hill.

Homa, ranked No. 6 in the world, has seven top-10 finishes this season and has earned more than $8 million in prize money. But his career-best tie for 13th at the PGA last year followed cuts the two previous years and a 64th-place finish in 2019.

Morikawa, 26, has slipped to No. 16 in the official world rankings although he has had a solid year by most measures. He has four top-10 finishes, including a runner-up performance at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. He tied for 10th at the Masters.

But the two-time major winner — including the 2020 PGA at Harding Park in San Francisco — has not won any tournament since The Open in Britain in 2021, nearly two years ago.

*** TEE TIMES: Homa will be matched with Adam Scott and Tony Finau in a group that goes off Thursday on the first tee at 10:36 a.m. PDT, and Friday on the 10th tee at 5:11 a.m. PDT.

Morikawa will play with Rory McIlroy and Justin Thomas, teeing off Thursday from the 10th tee at 5:11 a.m. PDT and Friday from the first tee at 10:36 a.m. PDT.

*** THE ODDS: SIsportsbook.com lists Homa and Morikawa both at +3300 to win this week, well back of co-favorites John Rahm and Scottie Scheffler, who are at +750. McIlroy is rated No. 3 at +1200.

*** WHAT THEY’RE SAYING: Golf Digest and CBS Sports both ranked the top players entering this week’s PGA event. Here are their top-5 and what they had to say about Homa and Morikawa.

Golf Digest’s Top 5: 1. Jon Rahm; 2. Scottie Scheffler; 3. Xander Schaffele; 4. Brooks Koepka. 5. Patrick Cantlay.

No. 9. Collin Morikawa
The short game remains a problem (161st in SG/putting). The second-shot game remains on point (fourth in approach, fifth in GIR percentage). Jason Dufner won the 2013 PGA at Oak Hill despite putting like a donkey, and though it’s not quite an apples-to-apples comparison given the course’s restoration, the soul of the place remains intact, which is why we think Morikawa has a shot at his third major championship.

13. Max Homa
Homa’s record over the past 12 months should place him inside out top 10. His record at majors should have him outside the top 50. The latter, and his performance from the rough (154th in hole proximity from the high stuff vs. 11th from the fairway) does give us pause, but expect Homa to get the major monkey off his back by finding his way onto the weekend leaderboard.

CBS Sports’ Top 5: 1. Jon Rahm; 2. Scottie Scheffler; 3. Xander Schauffele; 4. Jason Day; 5. Brooks Koepka.

13. Collin Morikawa

What a weird year for Morikawa. He's still one of the top eight in the world in terms of strokes gained so far this year, but much of that damage was done in January when he finished second and third at the Tournament of Champions and Farmers Insurance Open, respectively. Since then, he has just two top 10s (although they were at Riviera and Augusta National) and missed the cut at his last event (Quail Hollow) where he lost strokes in every category except ball-striking. Even more strange is the fact that this is the best approach season he's ever had and also the best his strokes gained numbers have been overall. It's tough to square that with how things have felt with Morikawa, to be sure, but it seems as if there's some valuable incongruence between perception and reality with him right now (and maybe always) that will be interesting to monitor. I don't think Oak Hill is the spot for him, but I'm definitely monitoring the situation.

17. Max Homa

We're probably the rest of 2023 of Homa not contending in majors from Homa not contending in majors being a real issue. The "hasn't contended in a major" thing is obviously real, but there's a difference between not contending in a major when you're ranked 110 in the world than when you're ranked sixth. The bigger short-term issue for Homa is that he's slumped a bit since the Players, rebounding only recently with a T8 at Quail Hollow. This course doesn't fit him as well as some others, and I don't expect him to win, but it would be great to see him get in the mix a bit and grab his first top 10.

Cover photo of Max Homa by Andrew Wevers, USA Today

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo