Homa ‘came out of nowhere’ to win in Napa
NAPA, Calif. – When Max Homa holed his second shot for an eagle at the 12th hole at Silverado Resort & Spa’s North Course, he came off the green and said to Golf Channel’s John Wood, “My caddie is a genius.”
That would be Joe Greiner, who he’s known for 24 years, and suggested Homa lob wedge from 95 yards, land it on the front of the green.
Homa did just that and then it rolled like a putt to its hole, sparking him to play the final seven holes in five under and catapult past Maverick McNealy to win the Fortinet Championship by one stroke.
“Man, he came out of nowhere,” McNealy said.
Did he ever. Homa fired a pair of 65s on the weekend to shoot 19-under 269 at the 2021-22 PGA Tour season-opener for his third career PGA Tour title and second in his home state of California.
Homa entered the final round trailing by two, the same deficit he came back from in the final round of the Genesis Invitational, his last victory in February.
While that was a Hollywood story in his hometown, this was a victory not too far from where he starred for CalBerkeley in college and it came down to a battle with McNealy, one of the 54-hole co-leaders, who was World’s No. 1 amateur while a student at Stanford. All that was missing was the band.
Homa made birdies on three of the final four holes on his first nine to enter the trophy hunt, but his chances took a hit when his approach shot at the 10th caught a tree and he made bogey.
“It was a really bad break and I told him it would even itself out,” Greiner said. “It took two holes and it did.”
Before Homa’s heroics at 12, McNealy, who grew up in Portola Valley, California, and was seeking his first PGA Tour win, held a three-stroke lead and looked to be in control of the tournament. Greiner gave Homa the perfect number and he took care of the rest.