Homa’s at home at Riviera, wins in playoff
He recovers from blown birdie putt on 18, beats Finau for 2nd Tour win
LOS ANGELES — Winning at Riviera was always a dream for Max Homa since he first attended the PGA Tour event as a toddler. He never could have scripted a finish like Sunday at the Genesis Invitational.
Homa missed a 3-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for the win. On the first playoff hole, he appeared to have no chance when his tee shot settled inches from a tree. He somehow escaped to extend the playoff, and won it on the next hole when hard-luck Tony Finau failed to save par from a bunker on the par-3 14th.
As much of a heartbreak as it was for Finau — his 10th runnerup finish worldwide since his lone victory in the Puerto Rico Open five years ago — the emotion was too much for Homa.
He grew up 30 miles away in Valencia. He grew up idolizing
Tiger Woods, the tournament host who presented him the trophy. He nearly threw it away with a 3-foot putt. And he walked off with his second PGA Tour victory.
“I’ve been watching this tournament my whole life,” Homa said, choking back emotions before he said, “Wow. I didn’t think it would be like this. … The city of Champions — Dodgers, Lakers, me now. It’s a weird feeling
Homa not only closed with a 5-under 66, he played the final 26 holes without a bogey.
This looked to be a storybook finish for Homa when Sam Burns, who had led from the opening round, ran into a string of bogeys on the back nine.
It came down to Homa and Finau, who saved par on the 18th for a 64, the low round of the weekend.
Homa made a 6-foot birdie putt on the par-5 17th to tie for the lead, and he stuffed his approach on the 18th for what looked to be a sure birdie. And then he missed. “You’re not supposed to miss a 3-footer in front of Tiger Woods,” Homa said. “I saw him yesterday and was too scared to talk to him. But he’s forced to talk to me now.”
UNCERTAINTY FOR WOODS: Tiger Woods says he’s doesn’t know when he will return from a fifth back surgery, and he could not give a definitive answer Sunday when asked if he would be at the Masters.
“God, I hope so,” Woods on the CBS broadcast of the Genesis Invitational.
Woods, at Riviera to hand out the trophy as the tournament host, had a microdiscectomy Dec. 23. It was the fifth surgery on his back, and the first since a procedure to fuse his lower spine in April 2017.
“I’m feeling fine,” Woods said. “I’m a little bit stiff. I have one more MRI scheduled so that we’ll see if the annulus (fibrosus) is scarred over finally and see if I can start doing more activities. But still in the gym, still doing the mundane stuff that you have to do for rehab, the little things before I can start gravitating towards something a little more.”
KORN FERRY TOUR: In Lakewood Ranch, Fla., Hayden Buckley won the LECOM Suncoast Classic for his first Korn Ferry Tour title, beating Dawson Armstrong and Taylor Montgomery with a 10-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a playoff.
The last alternate to get in the field Thursday, Buckley closed with a 1-under 70 to match Armstrong and Montgomery at 13-under 271 at Lakewood National in the tour’s first event since early October.