The United States Ryder Cup team didn’t have many answers for the Europeans in Rome, but they had one.
Max Homa.
Playing in his first Ryder Cup, Homa was the best American player, his 3-1-1 mark being the only winning record for a team that was dealt a 16½-11½ defeat at Marco Simone Golf Club, extending its overseas losing streak into its fourth decade.
Additionally, Homa was the only American player to tee it up in all five sessions.
Homa and Brian Harman won two matches on Saturday, and Homa’s 1-up victory over Matt Fitzpatrick early in the Sunday singles session kept the flame of a potential American comeback burning despite playing from behind since the first session on Friday.
“I just started believing in myself more and more as the week went on,” Homa said. “It's just something I typically struggle with, and I honestly think that I'll take what I've learned here with me going further in my career.
“But I just had so much fun with my team. I love these boys so much. So, you just want to do your best and give the team the best chance they've got.”
“It has been a wild week. Win or lose, I told the boys who have played on this before, like since I have not, I said please don't take this for granted because this is the most fun I've just ever had on a golf course.”
Max Homa
In a Friday four-balls match with Wyndham Clark against Justin Rose and Robert MacIntyre, Homa had a putt on the 18th green to turn a tie into a victory. He missed, but the feeling stayed with him until he found himself in a similar position Sunday.
“Two nights ago, I wanted that opportunity,” Homa said. “I missed it against Rosey, and I wanted the chance again. So, I just told myself, this is what you asked for, so here's an opportunity,” Homa said.
He was referring to the final hole of his singles match against Fitzpatrick.
With the Europeans within a half point of clinching the cup, Homa was 1-up playing the par-5 finishing hole when he flared his second shot right of the green and into an unplayable lie. With a critical half-point on the line, Homa calmly accepted his medicine with a drop and saved par from the rough, holing a 10-foot putt after Fitzpatrick had failed to birdie the hole.
Homa gave all credit to his caddie, Joe Greiner, who suggested taking the unplayable lie after seeing where Homa’s ball had settled.
“Joe Greiner is the brains; I just swing it,” said Homa, 32, a six-time winner on the PGA Tour. “It was an awful break. I don't know how it didn't get into the bunker. And I was frustrated.
“My head was spinning. He said, ‘We're going to take an unplayable here. Chip it down to 10 feet, and you're going to make it.’ ”
Combined with his undefeated 4-0 mark in the Presidents Cup last fall, Homa is now 7-1-1 in international team play.
“It has been a wild week,” Homa said. “Win or lose, I told the boys who have played on this before, like since I have not, I said please don't take this for granted because this is the most fun I've just ever had on a golf course.”
SCORING
Ron Green Jr.