Homa picks up second PGA win in his home state

SAN FRANCISCO: Max Homa roared to the finish with an eagle and three birdies on the back nine to fire a 65 and capture the PGA Tour’s season-opening Fortinet Championship in Napa, California.

Two of Homa’s three PGA wins have come in his home state of California. Homa attended Valencia High School just outside of Los Angeles and then spent four years on the University of California Berkeley golf team.

“I went to school here. I love the state of California,” Homa said after his win on Sunday.

Homa won at the Riviera Country Club earlier this year in the Los Angeles suburb of Pacific Palisades. His first career win was in 2019 at the Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina.

Homa began his blistering back nine rally by holing out from the rough from 95 yards on the parfour 12th and then followed it up with a birdie on the next hole.

He tapped in for another birdie on the par-five 16th and ran in an 18-footer on the par-four 17th. He parred the par-five 18th to finish at 19-under 269 and post a one-shot win over fellow Californian Maverick Mcnealy.

After a one-week break, the PGA Tour kicked off the 2021-22 season with The Fortinet Championship. The Tour will take a back seat this week to the Ryder Cup Championship which begins on Thursday.

Homa said failing to make the US Ryder Cup team motivated him to come from behind on Sunday and win.

“I only had two weeks off, but with disappointment comes a lot of motivation, and not making East Lake hurt, and not making the Ryder Cup team hurt,” he said.

“The last two weeks I worked my tail off. So it’s fun to get win in front of a bunch of friends and family.”