Max Homa Ties For Fifth at John Deere

Without a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour in his previous 27 tournaments, Max Homa lined up a birdie putt on the eighth hole for sole possession of the leader in the final round of the John Deere Classic on Sunday.

It didn’t fall.

The 34-year-old Cal grad tapped in for par before a bogey on No. 9 coupled with a birdie by Brian Campbell dropped Homa two strokes off the lead.

An inconsistent putter was the difference for Homa at TPC Deere Run in Silvis, Illinois.

He wasn’t able to claim his first tour victory since January 2023 but he wound up in a six-way tie for fifth place at 16 under, his best finish on the tour since a tying for third at the 2024 Masters, 14 months ago.

“Super disappointing,” Homa said. “But game felt good, so that’s nice.”

Homa went home with a check for $278,250.

Ranked in the top-10 globally after that performance at Augusta National last year, Homa had dropped all the way to No. 99 entering this week. In 16 previous starts in 2025, he missed the cut seven times, withdrew from another event and finished in the top in the top-25 just once — a tie for 12th at the Masters.

He played steady golf all week and TV commentators remarked that Homa appeared more relaxed than he has been in months.

Homa talked Saturday about how how a more upbeat approach was impacting his performance.

Max Homa (T-2) explains how his renewed positivity is yielding results so far at the John Deere Classic. 👏 pic.twitter.com/s9ygdz11HI
— Golf Channel (@GolfChannel) July 5, 2025

This was Homa’s first visit to the John Deere since 2017. In recent years, this week has been about prepping for the trip across the Atlantic for the Open.

Homa won’t be part of the field at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland in two weeks. So he traveled the the Quad Cities and assembled rounds of 63, 68, 68 and 69 on the par-71 layout.

He might have been part of the playoff between 72-hole co-leaders Brian Campbell and Emiliano Grillo except for a series of putts that would not go down.

He missed a 6-foot par putt on the 15th that dropped him into an 11-way tie for fifth place at 15 under. He responded with a beautiful tee shot on the par-3 16th and a birdie that got him back to minus-16 and within a stroke of the four players tied for the lead.

But Homa missed a 10-foot birdie putt on No. 17 and a slightly shorter one on the 18th and could not make a move on the leaders.

Campbell, 32, who made his return to the PGA Tour this year after an eigjt-year absence, beat Grillo by tapping in a par putt on the first playoff hole. Both players shot final-round 67s to finish 72 holes at 18 under.

Campbell took home $1,512,000. Grillo won $915,600.

Kevin Roy and David Lipsky tied for third at minus-17.

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