DUBLIN, Ohio — Max Homa seemed surprised that he has a chance to make next month’s U.S. Open field without enduring final qualifying this Monday.
Not that he was all that interested in the details.
A frustrating year has led to the point where he’s not exempt for the third major championship of the year. He's resigned to make the 156-man field by playing 36 holes on Monday, the day after he plays the final round of the Memorial Tournament.
“Is it an eye opener? I guess it wasn’t an eye opener, it was just a bummer,” Homa said of the realization that he would be forced to qualify.
“Just because you don’t start the year whatever I was in the world and think you’re going to fall that far. But that’s just golf so you just keep plugging along.”
Homa’s struggles this year have been well documented. He’s changed equipment, coaches and caddies. He’s had some serious low points, while sprinkling in signs of hope such as a tie for 12th at the Masters and a good start to the PGA Championship before falling off.
He started the Memorial tournament strong with a 4-under-par 68 to finish the first round in third place.
Apparently unbeknownst to him, a finish of second or better at the Memorial would earn him enough points via the Official World Golf Ranking to move into the top 60 and earn a spot for the U.S. Open via an exemption category that closes on June 8.
For a long time that option seemed remote at best.
A year ago at this time, Homa, was ranked 10th in the OWGR. He was still 40th at the end of the year. His Masters finish moved him to 67th after his rough start to the year. Entering this week he had dropped to 87th.
“I worried about it too much early in the skid and then stopped worrying about it lately,” Homa said. “So I’ll play some other tournaments to kind of make up for it. I never played well in the U.S. Open anyway, so at that point I probably would have missed the cut. So if I don’t get in, it’s all good. I just wanted to play because now that I’m a dad I would like to win something on Father’s Day. But if not I’ll just hang out with my son and it will be a great day.”
Homa hurt his chances on Friday by shooting 79 to fall well out of contention.
But he still plans to attend the qualifier on Monday at Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club in nearby Columbus, Ohio. He will have company at the 68-player qualifier, which is likely to yield five to seven spots in the U.S. Open at Oakmont.
Rickie Fowler, Padraig Harrington, Matt Kuchar and Patrick Rodgers are among players in the field.
There are 10 qualifiers on Monday, nine of which are in the United States and another in Canada that will help determine approximately 50 to 60 spots in the U.S. Open.
Homa has never fared well in the tournament, making just one cut in six appearances. He’s played five straight after first making the field in 2013 after having gone through 36-hole qualifying. That was just after winning the NCAA individual title at Cal, a victory that now earns a spot in the U.S. Open.
His 68-79 start to the Memorial is somewhat indicative of how things have been doing for the six-time PGA Tour winner. His game feels good at times but not enough to sustain it.
And he’s been dealing with the issues for 18 months.
“I think that run at the (FedEx Cup) playoffs right before the (2023) Ryder Cup, it just felt like I could do a lot with the golf ball,” Homa said. “Then kind of since then it was, I just felt like I was always fighting something. Then it just starts to get tiring.
“So I feel like, yeah, maybe a little bit at the PGA, a lot more at Philly Cricket (Truist Championship), and then the most here of just—it just felt like I could go out there and see what I wanted to do. And I didn't always have to hit the hardest shot, I knew that there was a shot I had up my sleeve that was going to feel easy and predictable. So it's been awhile.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as 'It's Been a While': Max Homa's Struggles Continue at Memorial.
