Cal Golf: Max Homa Revs Up With a 66 to Finish Tied for 13th at The Players

Cal alum Max Homa warmed up to shoot a final-round 66 on Monday, climbing to a tie for 13th place at The Players Championship.

By doing so in the richest PGA Tour event ever staged, Homa collected $327,222 — huge money for 13th place.

Australia’s Cameron Smith, who won the Sentry Tournament of Champions earlier this season, countered four bogeys with 10 birdies and a final-round 66 to win the title with a 13-under score of 275.

Smith pocketed $3.6 million, the biggest winner’s purse in Tour history. The total prize money for this event was a record $20 million.

He one-putted eight of his final nine holes and made a gutsy tee shot on the par-3 17th hole that is surrounded by water, leaving the ball 4 feet from the hole. That allowed the 28-year-old to make his record-tying 10th birdie and secure his fifth career PGA Tour title.

Smith was elated to have won with his mother and sister nearby after traveling from Australia for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began two years ago.

"It's really cool to have them here," Smith said. "My main priority was to hang out with them. Golf was second. It's nice to see them and nice to get a win for them."

Third-round leader Anirban Lahiri of India, seeking his first Tour victory, had a double bogey and an eagle on Monday and wound up one stroke back of Smith at minus-12. He shot a 69 in the final round and earned $2,180,000, the biggest paycheck of his career.

"I've been here seven years; haven't gotten over the line yet. That's definitely a monkey I want to get off my back,'' Lahiri said. "Today was as good an opportunity as any. I gave it a good go. Made some mistakes today that I could have avoided, but that's golf.''

Dustin Johnson shot a final-round 63 and moved up to a tie for ninth at minus-7, worth $525,500.

Defending champion Justin Thomas wound up in 33rd place at minus-3 and World No. 1 Jon Rahm was 55th after shooting a final-round 77 that included a nine on the par-4 fourth hole.

Three other Cal golfers, including Collin Morikawa, failed to make the cut on Sunday after the event was delayed by heavy rains and wind through the first three days.

Homa, 31, made it to the third round after the cut line was bumped from even par to plus-2. He played 10 holes of his third round on Sunday before darkness and was 10 strokes off the lead in 57th place.

He finished the third round at one-under 71 on Monday morning then put together his best 18 holes of the tournament, assembling eight birdies and to bogeys to vault into 13th place.

Cover photo Max Homa by Gary A. Vasquez, USA Today

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